Sleeps | 6 |
Bedrooms | 2 |
Half Baths | 1 |
Space | 527 sq. ft. |
Property type | apartment |
Minimum Stay | 3 - 7 nights |
Two bedroom apartment in the elegant Helios building in Bareges, perfect for ski and summer holidays. First floor (with lift), bright and spacious, on two levels, huge terrace with brilliant views over the mountains. Free high speed wi-fi.
Bareges has the largest ski area in the Pyrenees with 125 kms of pistes served by a modern lift network, cross-country and snowshoe trails. Lift passes, ski school and ski hire can all be arranged. Easy access to ski lifts. Bareges in summer is a delightful Napoleonic spa village and the ideal summer base for exploring - a paradise for walkers and naturalists, it lies on the fringe of the National Park in an area of outstanding natural beauty. Upon arrival you will receive our comprehensive package of local information which includes walking routes around Bareges and the National Park, wildlife information, places of historical interest (castles, churches and ancient villages), adventure activities- white water rafting, mountain biking etc
Two bedroom apartment in the elegant Helios building in Bareges, perfect for ski and summer holidays.
First floor (with lift), bright and spacious, on two levels giving brilliant views over the mountains. Free high speed internet (wi-fi).
Bareges has the largest ski area in the Pyrenees with 125kms of piste served by a modern lift network, cross-country and snowshoe trails. Lift passes, ski school and ski hire can all be arranged. Easy access to ski lifts.
Bareges in summer is a delightful Napoleonic spa village and the ideal summer base for exploring, a paradise for walkers and naturalists, it lies on the fringe of the National Park in an area of outstanding natural beauty. Upon arrival you will receive our comprehensive package of local information which includes walking routes around Bareges and the National Park, wildlife information, places of historical interest (castles, churches & ancient villages), adventure activities- white water rafting, mountain biking etc.
ski: Bareges has the largest ski area in the Pyrenees with 50 ultra modern lifts and 150kms of piste, the ski area goes up to 2900m at the famous Pic du Midi. A free ski bus collects you from the apartment and takes you to the slopes takes in just 5 minutes, with no walking!
walking: From your doorstep miles and miles of beautiful footpaths for all interests and abilities- a paradise for walkers and naturalists
Butterflies: The butterfly capital of the world! 120 species in the Bareges valley alone!
We have been living in this beautiful part of France since 1987 and are on hand to offer lots of good advice to make the most of this wonderful area
Jude Lock / Peter Derbyshire purchased this apartment in 2005
The Helios is an elegant period building with a magnificent location. It is perfectly placed for exploring this beautiful area and for skiing the largest ski resort in the Pyrenees, all village facilities are within walking distance. There is a heated pool in summer.
The largest ski area in the Pyrenees, immediate access to a fantastic local footpath network. Heated open air swimming pool.
Security deposit of 100 Euros required.
Please ask for shorter periods or long lets.
We had a wonderful stay at the Helios in Bareges. The apartment was very well equipped, warm and comfortable and has great views of the Pyrenees. It also has wifi that was good enough to do some very heavy duty design and publishing work that I had actually arranged to return to London early to complete. Comfortable chairs and good lighting meant evenings in front of the telly (including a BBC channel) were possible.
Barges is quite unusual for a ski resort in that it is a "real” village – complete with a school, several bars, a few restaurants and a well-stocked supermarket. It is just a few minutes' drive or (free) bus ride from the ski slopes. The bus stops outside the Helios. Good walks are said to start within a few metres.
Barges is part of “Grand Tourmalet” the largest French Pyrenean ski area and we had large amounts of great snow and saw loads of runs from easy to expert and heard about, but did not try, a long off-piste run from the nearby attraction of the Pic du Midi observatory – doable only with a qualified guide, I believe.
Self-catering is a great option in Bareges because we discovered that its excellent butcher, a few metres away from the Helios, specialises in the only appellation controllé lamb in Europe – bred, raised and slaughtered in the area, it's a revelation for carnivores. The apartment had a full complement of cooking equipment and a good micro/oven to enjoy our purchases. Village restaurants were also good. Try the Isba for traditional French catering and Le Hotel Central for upmarket and modern cuisine.
You should not miss Les Thermes, the village’s recently modernised spa – apparently they were built by Napoleon for wounded veterans of La Grande Armée because the local hot springs are reputed to be particularly efficacious for gunshot wounds. Today you can get a mud bath or a massage; a bain hydroxeur – available in a room for two (or solo) – is good fun – a super-strength jacuzzi.
Local bars are full of character(s), including, on our trip, French soldiers learning to ski whose politeness and good manners were a revelation to a couple of Brits.
The owners Pete and Jude are extremely knowledgeable and very helpful and keep the apartment spotless. It was as described in their materials.
We would certainly recommend this apartment.
One note of caution: The pre-book-only shuttle bus from Lourdes airport to Bareges seems a great idea, but it is obviously having teething problems, so make sure you have a print-out of your online
Thank you for all you did for us to make our holiday in Bareges
so lovely again, we both had a great time and YES we will be back.
Again many many thanks.
BILL& EVE
We stayed in Helios 107 last year and 106 this time. Both apartments were very clean and kitted out with all you could wish for.
Peter and Jude, the owners, live locally and are able to answer every query plus they make every effort to make your stay as hassle free as possible.
Peter collected us from the airport at Pau and Jude welcomed us at the apartment. They organised ski passes for us and advised ski hire and ski school that we were coming and we got special rates.
Bareges is a completely unspoilt village with butcher, baker, small Spar type shop and some excellent bars and restaurants.
The village boasts a thermal spa which is being completely refurbished and updated and will be great once it's finished. I was only able to use a part of it, however it's due to be finished at the end of February 2009.
My husband and son have enjoyed excellent skiing this year. All the runs were open, the snow was superb and it was never horrendously busy.
I was able to go on some walks even though there was lots of snow and best of all the sun shone every day. I also took a local bus down the valley to Luz St Saviour where I visited their thermal baths.
Peter and Jude have put together a brilliant info folder that gives lots of ideas on how to pass your time whilst staying in their apartments during both winter and summer seasons. Their website has lots more information too.
Nous avons été très bien accueillis par Peter et June dans la belle résidence Hélios au charme suranné, et nous avons passé un séjour très agréable avec nos deux ados dans ce duplex douillet.
Bareges is a delightful Napoleonic village situated at the heart of the central Pyrenees in an area of great natural beauty unspoiled by the passage of time, and offers the perfect base for exploring. Bareges and the Grand Tourmalet is also the largest ski area in the Pyrenees. The valley is the entry point into the Pyrenees National Park and the Neouvielle Nature Reserve and contains many exceptional sites including the magnificent Cirque de Gavarnie (a UNESCO World Heritage Site). The village is situated on the mythical Col du Tourmalet with the Tour de France passing most years. Over the centuries the the local countryside inspired many famous writers including Victor Hugo and George Sand. It is also here that the golden age of Pyrenean exploration started. The seventeen picturesque villages of the Pays Toy (the local area) cling resolutely to the mountainsides, each with their own particular character and local heritage of 12th century churches, ancient streets and monuments.
Other Activities: white-water rafting, birdwatching, trout fishing,
Ski: Bareges (La Station du Tourmalet) has the largest ski area in the Pyrenees with 125kms of pistes served by an ultra modern lift network. The interlinked ski areas have wonderful skiing for all abilities, wide sunny cruising pistes in La Mongie, challenging forest runs above Bareges, a huge snowpark, a pretty beginners area with user friendly 'moving carpet' lifts. The adventurous will love the brilliant off-piste descent from 2900m (9500ft) from the Pic du Midi. The whole ski area has snow cannon coverage to guarantee snow cover. You can ski back to the village on a variety of runs. There are excellent ski schools who offer lessons and guiding for all levels, including children from the age of 4 and a number of hire shops. After a day on the slopes what better way to relax than in the Napoleonic spa baths which offer pools, Jacuzzis, massages, steam rooms, beauty treatments.