Pyrenean range · Catalunya · Aragón · Navarra · Basque Country · France
Twelve hundred kilometres coast to coast along the GR11 line: high-mountain tracks, passes, glacial lakes and border valleys over 12 to 14 days.
es.wikiloc.com
See Marco Alonso's original track on Wikiloc
Real GPS-tracked Transpirenaica 4×4 crossing: 1,059 km in 7 days, 9,462 coordinates, moderate difficulty — download the GPX and plan your own Pyrenean crossing.
Download the track on WikilocThe Transpirenaica is the Pyrenees' mythic road: a full crossing of the range from the Mediterranean to the Cantabrian, tracing the line of the GR11 — the long-distance footpath officialised in 1985. Our Defender interpretation starts in Llançà on the Costa Brava and ends 1,200 km later at the Faro de Higuer on the Basque Atlantic. Seventeen stages string together forest tracks, alpine passes, minor roads, and two dips into France — one beside Catalonia, another beside Navarre — where the language, the food, and the feeling of being underway all shift. We've selected it as one of our Tier 1 routes because it's probably the most ambitious drive a Defender can do without leaving the near-home region: real high Pyrenees, southern Europe's only glaciers, glacial lakes under 3,000-metre peaks like Aneto (3,404 m), and a travel rhythm that asks as much of the vehicle and the roof tent (or camper cell) as it does of the boots. It's not a weekend route; it's a month compressed into two weeks, or a month if you can spare it.
What you'll find
- The Pyrenean range coast to coast — 1,200 km
- 17 stages tracing the GR11 line (officialised 1985)
- Cap de Creus · Vall d'Aran · Ordesa · Selva de Irati · Higuer
- Glacial lakes under 3,000-m peaks (Aneto 3,404 m)
- Selva de Irati — Europe's second-largest beech-fir forest
- Over 50 % on forest track — Defender territory
- Valley cooking — ternasco, migas, Idiazábal, pintxos
- Bivouac or camper cell — nights under Pyrenean sky
- Ideal 12–14 days · realistic 10 · immersive 21+
On the road
- Duration
- 14 days
- Distance
- 1200 km
- Terrain
- Mixed
- Difficulty
- Challenging
- Best season
- Summer (July–August) is the safest window for open high-mountain tracks and long days; late May–June and September work equally well and avoid the tourist peak and August fire-risk closures. Winter is out: several tracks are cut off by snow.
Gallery
Suggested itinerary
Day 1
Llançà (Costa Brava, Mediterranean start)
Day 1 · 10:00Starting point. Coffee at the harbour, ritual seaside photo, and departure inland via Cap de Creus.
Day 2
Camprodon (Ripollès, first Catalan week)
Day 2 · 17:00Base for the Balandrau massif and the border tracks into France. Menú-del-día dinner in the village.
Day 4
Puigcerdà (Cerdanya, plateau crossing)
Day 4 · 16:00Crossing the Cerdanya plateau. Good moment to check pressures, filters, and do a proper resupply before the high Pyrenees.
Day 6
Vielha / Vall d'Aran (Minas de Liat, Pla de Beret)
Day 6 · 18:00Base for two demanding days: climb to the Minas de Liat above Bagergue and a Pla de Beret day with views onto the Aneto massif.
Day 9
Torla-Ordesa (Alto Aragón, Ordesa and Bujaruelo)
Day 9 · 17:00Natural overlap with our Ordesa — The Four Valleys route. Base for the Bujaruelo track and the park entrances. See that route sheet for the daily detail.
Day 11
Jaca (Alto Aragón, transition to Navarre)
Day 11 · 15:00Last Aragonese night. 16th-century citadel, honest Jacetania cooking, and jump-off point for the Ansó, Hecho and Roncal valleys.
Day 13
Selva de Irati (Pyrenean Navarre)
Day 13 · 13:00Europe's second-largest beech-fir forest. Loop track in good condition; if the trip lands in October, reshape the schedule — the colours are worth it.
Day 14
Faro de Higuer (Hondarribia, Atlantic arrival)
Day 14 · 16:00Endpoint. Photo with the two number plates — Mediterranean departure and Atlantic arrival — and a first beer at Hondarribia's old harbour with the Defender in view.