Grande Cascade de Gavarnie

The Cirque de Gavarnie, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, offers a magnificent setting for the Grande Cascade de Gavarnie. This magnificent waterfall, which is the tallest in France, dives 425 meters and is encircled by the soaring limestone hills of the Cirque de Gavarnie.

The cirque is shaped like an amphitheater, with walls rising 1,500 meters, three separate terraces, and a circle of more than six kilometers. The Cirque de Gavarnie has served as an inspiration for poets, painters, scientists, and mountaineers ever since the 18th century. Because of its enormous size, Victor Hugo called the circular rock wall a "colosseum of nature". The Cirque de Gavarnie is currently a part of the Pyrenees region's Parc National des Pyrénées (Pyrenees National Park). The Grande Cascade de Gavarnie is surprisingly accessible given its beauty. The lovely village of Gavarnie is the starting point of a quiet, nearly flat trail that travels through the Vallée de Gavarnie (valley), alongside the Gave de Pau (stream), and through forests to the Cirque de Gavarnie. At a leisurely pace, the hike takes two to three hours to complete.