Pau
France
A Victorian winter resort with a promenade facing the whole wall of the Pyrenees, an hour from the high valleys
Photo by David Samacoïts-Etchegoin on Unsplash
Photos by Alejandro Sanz, Tim Oun, Jametlene Reskp and Lukas Igos on Unsplash
Best time to visit all of France
June to September for the mountains, and May and October for the town (the high passes are snowbound in winter)
Climate month by month
The next sixteen daysOpen-Meteo
Average high and low · °C
Rainfall · mm per month
Best months to visit This month · wettest 115mm in Nov
Where it is
43.30°N, 0.37°W Open in Google Maps
Things to do
A week easily- Walk the Boulevard des Pyrénées at breakfast, before the haze, with the orientation table to name the peaks
- Drive up the Ossau valley over the Col d’Aubisque, when it is open, and down into the next valley
- Walk to the foot of the Cirque de Gavarnie, and go early because by midday it is a procession
- Taste dry and sweet Jurançon at a domaine and buy at the door
- Eat in the Hédas, the old ravine quarter below the château
Pau travel tipsthe general rules
Currency budget France
Good valueEuro, and cards everywhere in town. Mountain refuges, village car parks and farm cheese sellers in the valleys are where cash still matters, so carry some notes up.
ATMs & cards
Draw in Pau or in the valley towns — Laruns, Oloron-Sainte-Marie, Argelès-Gazost — from a bank’s own machine. Higher up there are none. Refuse the conversion.
Avoid these
- Euronet
- standalone machines in shops and tourist streets
Use these instead
- Crédit Agricole
- BNP Paribas
- Société Générale
- La Banque Postale
French bank machines are normally free on their side for foreign cards. Refuse the conversion offer, and draw before driving into the mountains.
Wherever you are: if the machine offers to charge you in your home currency, decline. That is dynamic currency conversion and the rate is set by the ATM's operator, not your bank.
Safety all of France
SafeThe town is calm and safe. The risk is the mountains: weather changes within an hour, summer afternoons bring thunderstorms on the high ground, and snow lies on the passes well into spring. Start walks early, check the forecast for the valley you are in rather than for Pau, and tell someone your route.
Where to walk, and where to pay attention (7 areas)
Comfortable, including after dark
Worth more attention
- the high mountains on a summer afternoon — thunderstorms build quickly over the ridges; be off the tops by early afternoon
- the mountain passes outside summer — the high cols close for snow, and the signs at the bottom say so
- mountain roads with cattle and sheep on them — the animals graze unfenced and the bends are blind
Our own assessment, not a sourced index.
Entry & visa France visa rules
No visa needed
Freedom of movement — no time limit, and no visa. Bring a passport or national ID card.
Other passports
No visa neededup to 90 days
90 days within any 180-day period, counted across the whole Schengen area, not per country. ETIAS, a paid online authorisation, is being introduced for these passports — check the official link for whether it applies to your travel dates.
Visa required in advance€90 (Schengen short-stay visa)
A Schengen short-stay visa is applied for before travel, at the consulate of your main destination.
How to get it: Apply at the consulate or visa centre of the country you will spend most time in, typically 15 working days ahead and no more than six months before travel.
Entry rules change often and depend on your passport, not where you live — the official page above is the authority, and the airline checks before you board.
Health & emergencies all of France
Excellent and cheapRequired to enter
No vaccinations are required for entry from Europe or North America.
Jabs worth having, and what happens if you need a doctor
Worth having
- Routine vaccinations up to date
Getting treated
EU/EEA and Swiss visitors are treated on the same terms as residents with an EHIC or GHIC card; UK visitors use a GHIC. Everyone else pays, and travel insurance is worth having for the repatriation cover rather than the treatment.
Orientation, not medical advice — entry rules change and what you need depends on your own history. Check with a travel clinic four to six weeks before you go.
Food tip
Very goodGarbure, a cabbage and confit soup for after a walk; poule au pot, which Henri IV promised every peasant on Sunday; Ossau-Iraty sheep’s cheese, bought from the farm in the valleys. Jurançon comes dry and sweet, and the sweet goes with foie gras. Béarnaise sauce is named after the region and was invented near Paris.
Travel tipsGetting around
Limited- UberWorks here
- BoltWorks here
- G7Works here
- FREE NOWWorks here
G7 the taxi fleet, by app
- Against a taxi
- Much the same. The flat airport rate is a taxi rule and the apps price against it.
Time zone and your working day
Europe/Paris — 6 hours ahead of you
2 hours of overlap with a 09:00–17:00 day where you are — 09:00–11:00 your time, 15:00–17:00 theirs.
No overlap with a 09:00–17:00 day where you are. Working from here means one of you keeps odd hours — their day starts at 03:00 on your clock.
office hours both at once night
Their 09:00–17:00 is 03:00–11:00 on yours.
The difference from the UK, Europe, the US and ten more
Worked out against America/New York, which is where this request looks like it came from.
eSIM
A data eSIM for France, installed before you fly and working the moment you land:
Works here
Works hereRevolutIn the app
Must-see
Travel tipsNearby day trips
Travel tipsSay a few words
French
- HelloBonjourbon-ZHOOR
- PleaseS'il vous plaîtseel voo PLEH
- Thank youMercimer-SEE
- Yes / NoOui / Nonwee / non
4 more phrases
- Excuse meExcusez-moiex-koo-zay MWA
- How much is it?C'est combien ?say com-BYEN
- The bill, pleaseL'addition, s'il vous plaîtla-dee-SYON
- Cheers!Santé !son-TAY
Open with bonjour before anything else. Launching straight into a question without it reads as rude, and explains a lot of reputed French coldness.
Travel tipsReligion
Catholic, and strictly secular
Laïcité is a constitutional principle: religion is kept out of public institutions, and conspicuous religious symbols are banned in state schools. Cover shoulders in cathedrals.
Travel tipsDo's and don'ts
Do
- Say bonjour before anything else, every single time you enter a shop
- Keep your voice down in restaurants and on public transport
- Keep both hands visible on the table while eating, wrists on the edge
- Dress a notch smarter than you would at home — it changes how you are treated
Don't
- Do not ask for a doggy bag or substitutions; the dish arrives as the kitchen intends
- Do not start with English without at least attempting bonjour, parlez-vous anglais
- Do not tip more than rounding up — service is included by law
- Do not eat while walking; it reads as slightly uncivilised
Where to stay in Pau
No Holistay rentals in Pau yet — the platform is just opening up. Every listing here will have a video tour and the option to negotiate the nightly price directly with the host.
In the meantime, here is Pau on the sites that do have the inventory — each search is already filled in:
- Booking.com hotels, guesthouses and apartments — the widest coverage almost everywhere
- Airbnb whole homes and apartments, and the better option for a week or more
How to get there
Fly into Pau Pyrénées PUF
30 minfrom the airport· 10 km as the crow flies
30 min on Idelis line 17, roughly hourly and not on Sundays; 15 min by taxi.
Also worth pricing: Biarritz BIQ — more routes, including from the UK; an hour and a quarter by road or a little longer by train.
Google Flights · Rome2Rio for the trains, buses and ferries as well as the flights
