Guidebook – L'Ariège à pied

From the gentle foothills to the proud verticality of the Pyrenees, Ariège delightfully offers every pleasure that hiking has to give.

Lying between Atlantic and Mediterranean influences, the département is marked by its climatic, geographical and cultural diversity, and is home to many places steeped in history, including decorated caves (Upper Palaeolithic), the Gallo-Roman city of Saint-Lizier, Romanesque chapels, Cathar citadels (Foix, Montségur, etc.) and, tucked away in the heart of the mountains, the old iron mines of Biros or Vicdessos.