Cauterets
1,730 mBottom of the pistes
2,416 mTop of the ski area
29 kmAlpine pistes
17Ski lifts
Not published by any source: adult day pass.
Cauterets is a spa town, a ski resort and a commune in the Hautes-Pyrénées department and the region of Occitanie in south-western France.
Live webcams
All webcams (8) →VillageSkaping
Village · CasinoSkaping
Cirque du Lys · PanoramaSkaping
Each player is the camera operator’s own, loaded only when you ask for it — it may set its own trackers.
Official players of the resort, live image. 4 more cameras on the webcam page. Checked on 12 September 2026.
Snow, opening and weather
Snow report →Open pistes and lifts will appear here during the season, as published by the resort. Out of season we show nothing rather than a misleading zero.
Right now at the LAC D'ARDIDEN-NIVOSE station (2,445 m)
Source: Météo-France, LAC D'ARDIDEN-NIVOSE weather station, 6 km away. Hourly measurement — not the resort’s own snow report.
Avalanche danger
3-day forecast
Village 1,730 m · top 2,416 m
Forecast corrected for altitude; fresh snow = forecast total at the top; UV = peak of the day. Beyond 3 days, check the resort’s own report. Source:Open-Meteo.
Seven criteria rated from 1 to 5 stars, in half-stars, from this page's sourced data. A rating is a rank among the 315 French resorts we cover — 5 stars means “among the best in France on this point”, not “perfect”. Nobody types these in.
- SnowCan you count on the snow?3 / 5
Top of the ski area: 2,416 m · Bottom of the pistes: 1,730 m · Days above 30 cm, December to March, model: 5%
- Ski areaIs there enough to ski all week?3.5 / 5
Km of pistes at the resort: 29 km · Lifts: 17 · Balance between piste levels: 85%
- ValueIs the lift pass reasonable for what you get?n/a
Not rated: no official price list could be found.
- Families and beginnersIs it right for children and beginners?2.5 / 5
Share of green and blue pistes: 43% · Magic carpets: 3 · Sledging runs: 2 · ESF ski school · Ice rink, pool, rail sledge…: 2
- AccessIs it easy to get to?3 / 5
Average drive time from 20 major cities: 7 hr 21 · Nearest railway station: 33 min · Station-to-resort shuttles per day: 5 · Nearest airport: 47 min
- Atmosphere and après-skiIs there life in the evening and off the slopes?3.5 / 5
Bars and pubs: 6 · Nightclubs: 0 · Restaurants: 27 · Upcoming events: 1 · Collective tourist beds: 1,586 — index: what the map and the listings publish
- Luxury and comfortHow upmarket is the resort?1 / 5
5-star hotels: 0 · 4-star hotels: 0 · Share of hotel rooms in 4 and 5 stars: 0% · Spas and saunas: 0 · Jewellers, watchmakers, fashion boutiques: 0 — index: what the map and the listings publish
“Atmosphere” and “Luxury” are indexes: they count what OpenStreetMap and the event listings publish within 2.5 km (bars, nightclubs, rated hotels, spas, upcoming events), not what you experience there. A zero means “nothing mapped”, not “nothing there”. Sources per criterion: snow (altitudes declared by the resort (ANMSM, official website), STRMTG register, OpenStreetMap; snow depth observed at the Météo-France station, ERA5-Land model) ; ski area (figures declared by the resort (ANMSM, official website), national lift register (STRMTG), OpenStreetMap) ; value (the resort’s official price list) ; families and beginners (OpenStreetMap pistes, price list, ESF ski school, Famille Plus label, OpenStreetMap leisure) ; access (OSRM drive times from 20 cities, SNCF stations, GTFS shuttles, airports) ; atmosphere and après-ski (bars, nightclubs and restaurants within 2.5 km (OpenStreetMap), upcoming events (OpenAgenda), collective tourist beds (INSEE)) ; luxury and comfort (rated hotels within 2.5 km (OpenStreetMap) and by category across the commune (INSEE), spas and boutiques (OpenStreetMap), day pass price).
61 pistes, by level
13 green13 blue31 red4 black
- Skiable vertical
- 686 m
- Cross-country skiing
- 3 named trails — 23 km of marked loops (11 km of distinct track: the loops overlap), 4.7 km from the resort
Ski-area figures — bottom, km of pistes, pistes by level: OpenStreetMap (1 Oct); top, lifts: STRMTG — French national lift register (1 Jan) .
The ski area in figures
Measured on 7 October 20263 kmLongest piste — Crêtes (blue), 522 m of vertical
522 mBiggest vertical without changing piste — 2,422 → 1,900 m, 3 km
2,416 mHighest lift top — Breche (chairlift), national lift register
25,733Total lift capacity, people per hour — 17 installations: 2 gondolas, 5 chairlifts, 7 drag lifts, 3 magic carpets
25 yrsAverage age of the lift fleet — oldest 1964, newest 2023
2,600Biggest lift, people per hour — Cretes (detachable chairlift, 2004)
11 kmTotal length of lifts — 12 lifts mapped
203 haSki area boundary (OSM)
829Inhabitants — Cauterets (INSEE 65138)
Measured on OpenStreetMap (altitudes: IGN RGE ALTI), not taken from the brochure. The vertical above is that of one piste, not of the whole ski area. Population: INSEE municipal population via geo.api.gouv.fr.
Source: national register of mechanical lifts (STRMTG, CAIRN), fleet as of 1 January 2025 — lifts attributed to Cauterets only (“CAUTERETS”), magic carpets included.
Staying and hiring gear in Cauterets
The partners covering this resort, shown side by side, and the shop to kit out before you leave. Some links earn us a commission — never at the expense of the price or of the data.
Collective accommodation
1,586 bed spaces in tourist residences, holiday villages and hostels
- 8 hotels · 152 rooms (4 × 3★, 2 × 2★)
- 1 holiday village or family centre · 151 bed spaces
- 4 tourist residences and apartment hotels · 1,435 bed spaces
- 7 campsites · 478 pitches
Commune: Cauterets · INSEE tourist accommodation survey, 2026, read on 12 September 2026. Collective accommodation only — privately let flats and second homes are not counted. INSEE dataset ↗
Stay & accommodation
Holidu
Holiday-rental comparison site.
Ski Planet
Self-catering flats and all-inclusive ski holidays at the foot of the slopes, since 1999.
Montagne Vacances
Flats and chalets in the resort, at direct prices.
Ski hire
Skiset UK
Skiset’s UK site: ski hire in the resort shops, booked in English, paid in pounds.
Gear & equipment
Absolute Snow
UK ski and snowboard shop — delivers to UK addresses only.
Hardloop
Mountain gear shop: ski touring, avalanche safety, winter clothing.
Beyond skiing at Cauterets
Without skis on — 0 km of snowshoe and walking trails · 2 sledging runs
Ice rink
- Patinoire de Cauterets · OpenStreetMap
Cinema
- Le Casino · OpenStreetMap
Source: DATAtourisme (open data), within 10 km of the resort; places in a large town of the valley are left out. Checked on 12 September 2026. Lines marked OpenStreetMap come from the map, within 3 km — opening times on site. Opening times and prices are the operator’s — check before you go.
Ski schools and practical information
Ski school
ESF Cauterets
48 instructors
🇬🇧 29 English-speaking instructors — lessons in English available
🗓️ This school sells its lessons online — book ↗
Source: esf.net
Tourist office
Office de tourisme
📍 Place Maréchal Foch
In case of accident
112 — the European emergency number, free of charge, triggers mountain rescue. On the pistes, the ski patrol number is printed on the piste map and at lift ticket offices. Piste rescue is charged: check your insurance or take the option sold with the lift pass.
Off the pistes: off-piste and ski touring
The resorts for off-piste skiing →Ski touring routes described
12 ski touring routes documented within 10 km of Cauterets — up to 1,450 m of climb.
| Summit and route | Ski grade | Climb | Altitude | Aspect | From resort |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cap des Blanques · Depuis la ferme Igau en circuit | 2.1 · E1 · PD | 879 m | 1,098 → 1,977 m | NE | 1.7 km |
| Soum de Craboutas · Depuis la ferme Igau | 3.3 · E1 · PD+ | 856 m | 1,098 → 1,941 m | N | 2 km |
| Plateau de Peyre Haute · Depuis Aulian | 3.2 · E2 · PD- | 1,165 m | 1,650 → 2,411 m | SW | 2.4 km |
| Pic Wilson · Traversée S-N | 3.1 · E1 · AD- | 1,320 m | 1,098 → 2,400 m | SE · E · NE | 2.5 km |
The other 8 routes, with grades and vertical →
Not a piste. Neither marked, nor patrolled, nor secured: transceiver, shovel, probe, the day’s avalanche bulletin and, better still, a guide. Ski grade (1.1–5.6) = steepness and commitment; exposure (E1–E4) = consequence of a fall.
Source: Camptocamp.org topo guide (CC BY-SA), routes starting within 10 km, read on 13 October 2026. Descriptions and photos are on Camptocamp; an empty cell is a field nobody has filled in. Camptocamp ski touring routes ↗
Piste map
Open on OpenSnowMap ↗Official piste map
Pistes coloured by level, lifts as lines. The resort’s official map is the reference in season.
Base map © OpenTopoMap (CC-BY-SA) · pistes © OpenSnowMap (CC-BY-SA) · data ©OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL).
Getting to Cauterets
From Paris: 9 hr 13 (859 km) by road.
By road
- From Pau: 1 hr 19 · 72 km
- From Toulouse: 2 hr 36 · 209 km
- From Bordeaux: 3 hr 21 · 281 km
- From Perpignan: 4 hr 26 · 404 km
- From Montpellier: 4 hr 53 · 439 km
From other major cities (15)
- From Clermont-Ferrand: 6 hr 29 · 577 km
- From Marseille: 6 hr 34 · 602 km
- From Valence: 6 hr 43 · 637 km
- From Grenoble: 7 hr 40 · 728 km
- From Lyon: 7 hr 51 · 736 km
- From Saint-Étienne: 7 hr 54 · 615 km
- From Nice: 8 hr 11 · 760 km
- From Chambéry: 8 hr 25 · 787 km
- From Annecy: 8 hr 50 · 846 km
- From Paris: 9 hr 13 · 859 km
- From Genève: 9 hr 20 · 884 km
- From Dijon: 9 hr 23 · 873 km
- From Besançon: 9 hr 59 · 932 km
- From Nancy: 11 hr 30 · 1084 km
- From Strasbourg: 12 hr 23 · 1169 km
Excluding traffic and winter conditions; passes closed in winter are avoided.
By train
Lourdes station
main station, high-speed trains · then 33 min drive (31 km)
- From Lourdes station (stop “LOURDES - Gare SNCF”): line 965 — LOURDES - VALLEES (.liO 65), 1 hr 03 to the “CAUTERETS - Gare” stop — 5 departures a day on weekdays, 4 a day at weekends · first 07:10, last 19:20 · timetable from 15 December 2026 to 15 April 2027 · official timetable ↗
Direct journeys read from the official timetable files published on transport.data.gouv.fr — no connections.
By plane
- Tarbes-Lourdes-Pyrénées (LDE): 47 min by road · 43 km
- Pau-Pyrénées (PUF): 1 hr 26 by road · 81 km
Take me there
These links open the app with Cauterets as the destination. Your starting point is never sent by us — the app asks you for it, if you agree.
Charging an electric car
8 charging stations within 2 km
9 charging points · up to 44 kW
- CU-SDE65-LUZ2-65120-1 · Load Stations · 1 point · 22 kW · 0.1 km
- FR-S65-E65138-002 · Load Stations · 2 points · 44 kW · 0.1 km
- CU-SDE65-CAU1-65110-1 · Load Stations · 1 point · 22 kW · 0.2 km
- CU-SDE65-CAU1-65110-2 · Load Stations · 1 point · 22 kW · 0.2 km
- FR-S65-E65138-003-1 · Load Stations · 1 point · 22 kW · 0.2 km
Freely accessible charge points read from the French national EV charging database (data.gouv.fr ↗, operators’ own declarations), checked on 9 October 2026. Check availability before you leave: the database says what is installed, not what is free tonight.
Road conditions
From 1 November to 31 March, snow chains or winter tyres are compulsory in most mountain areas (French “Loi Montagne II”).
Driving times computed on the OpenStreetMap road network (OSRM), SNCF stations (open data), airports (Wikidata). Indicative, not a timetable: allow extra time in snow.
What's on around Cauterets
All events →-
27 November 2026 · 09:00
INNOV'ADOUR#5 - Le forum annuel de l'innovation et des transitions
Casino de Cauterets · Cauterets
Événement La French Tech
Source: OpenAgenda, agenda “La French Tech Pyrénées Adour” · View on OpenAgenda ↗
Also near: Luz-Ardiden (4.1 km)
Events published on OpenAgenda by the agendas named above, kept when they take place within 10 km of the resort. We organise nothing: times, prices and cancellations are the organiser's.
Introduction from the English Wikipedia article (CC BY-SA).
Frequently asked questions
How high is Cauterets?
The Cauterets pistes start at 1,730 m, and its ski area rises to 2,416 m.
How many kilometres of pistes does Cauterets have?
Cauterets has 29 km of slopes, 17 lifts.
What is the longest piste in Cauterets?
The longest piste is Crêtes: 3 km (blue run), for 522 m of vertical. Measured on the OpenStreetMap map, segments of the same name and level joined end to end, altitudes from the IGN RGE ALTI terrain model — a resort sometimes advertises a longer run by chaining several pistes.
How high do the lifts go in Cauterets?
The highest lift, Breche (chairlift), tops out at 2,416 m. Source: STRMTG, French national register of mechanical lifts (CAIRN database), file dated 1 January 2025.
How many lifts does Cauterets have, and what is their capacity?
The French national register of mechanical lifts records 17 installations at Cauterets (2 gondolas, 5 chairlifts, 7 drag lifts, 3 magic carpets), for an authorised capacity of 25,733 people per hour, of which 2,600 for Cretes alone. The fleet spans 1964 to 2023, an average age of 25 years. This count covers the resort itself, magic carpets included, not the whole linked ski area — a resort brochure often announces a different number. Source: STRMTG, French national register of mechanical lifts (CAIRN database), file dated 1 January 2025.
How do I get to Cauterets?
By road, Cauterets is 1 hr 19 from Pau (72 km), excluding traffic and winter conditions. By train, the nearest station is Lourdes (main station, high-speed trains), 33 min by road from the resort. From Lourdes station, line 965 — LOURDES - VALLEES (.liO 65) reaches the “CAUTERETS - Gare” stop in 1 hr 03, 5 departures a day on weekdays, 4 a day at weekends. The nearest airport is Tarbes-Lourdes-Pyrénées, 47 min away.
How long is the drive from Paris to Cauterets?
9 hr 13 for 859 km from central Paris, excluding traffic and winter conditions. Computed on the real road network (OpenStreetMap): allow more on a school-holiday Saturday.
Is Cauterets good for beginners and families?
43% of the pistes are green or blue: a rather technical area.
Nearby resorts
Full page in French. The French page carries the editorial guides and a few extra readings; every figure, webcam and price on this page is the same one. Cauterets in French →
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