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Bagneres de Luchon


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My wife and I are travelling out to Luchon later this month to see what the area has to offer with a view to settling there

There seems to be very little mentioned about BdL within these forums (fora?)and I am enquiring if anyone is familiar with this region and can let me know more about the infrastructure, ski-ing, weather etc.along with anything else that might be useful.(there,that seems vague enough !)

Many thanks
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We live about half an hour's drive from Pau and over Christmas we made a trip to BdeL with some visitors. We were amazed at how busy it was, thronged with skiers and queues for the lifts. Friends say it is busy all year round as it is popular as a spa and with summer visitors because it is pretty and there is a fair amount going on. I guess it depends what you are looking for: we were pleased to go back north to the quiet countryside where we live, where the weather (away from the mountains) tends to be better. But if you want a bustling little town with summer and winter interest I think it has a lot going for it - and of course you are only half an hour's drive from Spain!

Hope you find what you are looking for,

Val
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Are you needing/intending to work when you move? Most opportunities would be in the Toulouse area which would be quite a long drive.

I agree with Val's points, very pretty place, but could be difficult to live there with the busy seasonal traffic of people and cars. Advantage is that BDL has a train station unlike some other resorts in the Pyrenees (and its proximity to Spain for cheaper fuel, alcohol and tobacco is a huge plus!).

Maybe a village further north is worth looking at - gives you more flexibility of visiting other interesting places and you would probably get more for your money than in Bagneres which is quite an upmarket spa town .........?

Bonne chance!
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The purpose of going is to visit a property suitable for conversion into apartments for short term holiday letting. From what I am hearing, being a busy town with year round trade, but also scenic, it does seem that it seems suitable albeit there appears to be a fair bit of competition if the Luchon tourist website is anything to go by

Still, lets have a look first, no trace of rose tinted glasses here!

Thanks to all who have responded, anything else gratefully received

Steve Howard
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  • 4 months later...
Steve

My husband and I are in the process of buying a house in Artigue, near Luchon, aiming to move in late August this year.

We've just got back from spending some time in the area (Feb to mid-May) and whilst not staying in Luchon spent a considerable amount of time there. Superbagneres/Peyragudes are the local ski resorts and this year had a bumper season with snowfall from December through to the beginning of May. Although all the resorts closed 12th April they were definitely still skiable past that date. Mid-Feb to Mid-March is really busy with the school hols and people I spoke to made the point that the Pyrenees (although further from Paris) are much cheaper and much less crowded than the Alps (and much more accessible to the Toulouse/Bordeaux area).

We haven't spent a summer season there yet but walking and other outdoor activities certainly seem popular, one house we went to look at the old guy selling it mentioned that the year-round population of Luchon is aprox 6,000 swelling to about 30,000 during the holidays.

Outside the main school holidays it is much quieter and half the town seems to take the opportunity to head off on their own hols so restaurants/hotels etc all tend to close down for a few weeks.

Let us know how you get/got on....
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