Pyrenees With A Caravan

We've done the N20 from Toulouse, up through Foix, Tarascon, Ax-les-Thermes, and over the border at Bourg-Madame (which is a strange hybrid of French shops up to half way and then  Spanish thereafter) then Puigcerda and then down to Barcelona on the E9.  This is a very 'towable' route, if you want to go through the Pyrenees rather than explore them, for those who just want a direct route through 'the middle'.  Plenty of places to stop on the way

Thank you ValDa. I want to keep all my route options open, so that will be very helpful if I do venture over to that part of the Pyrenees.

We came through the Bielsa tunnel a few years ago. We stopped at a site near Ainsa having come up the Spanish side without a problem. Descending on the French side was a different matter; the descent was about 10% for about 10 miles. The result was that the caravan brakes were virtually burnt-out by the time we reached the bottom. When we got back to home we had to have the brakes re-lined and a new brake hub was needed on one side. We have not repeated the exercise since.

Thank you for the info Landyrover. That does not sound good. I will definitely add that route to my "avoid list". 

I forget which guide book it was, but it assured us that if we went up high around Fort Romeu there would be 300 days of sunshine a year. Perhaps. But we discovered we were firmly in the remaining 65 days so didn’t hang around and went downhill to Perpignan and the coast. 

Yep, mentioned that tunnel on page 1 of this thread.

We did it the same way as you but in a Motorhome. Luckily the brakes were OK but boy did they get hot.

We did manage to pause once or twice on the way down. Wouldn't want to attempt it with a caravan in tow.