Las Bardenas
As much as I love the Basque country, it must be said that the weather there is sometimes capricious.
Our stay in Bidart was no exception to the rule, so we looked for a place where rainfall is rare and that's how I found the Bardenas desert.
It is located in Spain 2h30 from Bidart, between Pamplona and Zaragoza.
The desert can be visited by car (on a track that is not really passable unless you come in a 4x4), by mountain bike (electric or not), or on foot (not recommended because the desert is huge and you will only see it a small part).
Being more or less experienced athletes, we naturally turned to electric mountain biking to allow everyone to enjoy crossing this desert without pain (or almost 😝).
We contacted David from Bardenas Bike (a few days before), because he was the first one to come out on Google and the site looked OK.
We agree on the date and time of the meeting and David brings us the mountain bikes at the entrance to the park (in the parking lot of the tourist information center Bardenas exactly).
Count 50€/electric bike/day with helmet + repair kit + double saddle protector (very important for those who don't often cycle 😄).
We had looked up a route on wikiloc but David recommended a variation that took us through some not-to-be-missed viewpoints. For information, David, in addition to being very friendly, speaks very good French.
I used the Maps.me app to find my way around the desert, but maps are also available for free at the information center.
After a quick but complete brief from David on how the bikes work, we set off towards the desert.
A few minutes after our departure, we overlook the site and the view is already spectacular with sometimes lunar landscapes.
Our circuit must be about 42 km (46 in reality 😅) and we leave with a clear sky but the heat remains very acceptable.
I don't have a GPS track to share with you but we did a relatively classic circuit with a small detour to take a little height and enjoy some viewpoints.
We had brought our little picnic and had lunch in the shade of an abandoned house.
NB: plan enough water, it gets hot quite quickly and shade points are rare
In summary, apart from a few sore buttocks, we had no difficulty pedaling our 46 km in about 5 hours (including the lunch break). The electric assistance of our bikes helped us a lot and allowed us to have a great day.
This natural park offered us a nice contrast to the greenery of the Basque country.
Small bonus to this excursion:
We stopped in San Sebastian on the way back to enjoy the famous pintxos of the Basque country Español.
Contact
Adresse
1562 Rue Bassilour
64210 Bidart
Téléphone
+33 (0)5 59 41 90 85
Equipements
- Wi-Fi GratuitParking Gratuit
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