The stage from here to Roncesvalles is 27 km long and involves climbing some 1300m.
With a rucksack weighing 7-12 kg, allow about 8 hours. Very bad weather or fog can set in without warning, making route-finding difficult. It’s essential to start early : at latest 9.00 a.m., according to the season. You ‘II need warm clothes (sometimes even in summer) an a good waterproof at any time of the year.
Take enough water when you set off, as the water sources on the way can dry up.
To find your way to the route Napoleon : go down the rue de la Citadelle, over the river and up the other side to the Porte d’Espagne; there’s a big sign saying Chemin de St-Jacques. Soon you turn right, up hill, on the rue du marechal Harispe.
Fill your water-bottle opposite the panorama (1). At the Virgin of Biakorri (or Orisson), don’t turn left (2).
Bear right off the road at a spot marked by a cairn, then a cross, towards the col de leizar Atheka and Bentarte (3).
Follow a barbed-wire fence as far as a spring and cross a cattle-grid; a little further on, go straight on, on a rising path (4).
When you reach the col de Lepoeder, it’s better not to take the path going straight down through the woods (5).
Turn right on to the road (you can short-cut across the air-pin bends) which leads (GR11) to the historic col d’Ibarleta, where the original chapel end hospital stood. From here, the historic path goes down, past the Ornithology Centre, to the left of and parallel to the main road, to the Abbey of Roncesvalles.
