Les Angles between Skiing, Forest and Culture

Les Angles is a ski resort in the heart of the Catalan Pyrenees Regional Natural Park. If you are looking for a hotel in Les Angles, you can choose the focus of your stay based on the different activities available in the area: winter sports, cycling and hiking sit alongside Romanesque architecture and seasonal water activities. The distinctions below can help you match your interests to the specific activities on offer locally.

Ski Area and Bike Park

The Les Angles ski area lies at an altitude of 1,600 to 2,400 metres, covers 55 kilometres of pistes and has an 800-metre vertical drop. Conditions vary by season; check them for your travel dates. The snowpark is primarily designed for freestyle. If this is important to your plans, you can treat it as a separate focus alongside the pistes.

The Angles Bike Park combines downhill trails with options for different experience levels: it has nine downhill trails and five difficulty or experience levels. The total trail distance is given as 30 kilometres, with a 500-metre vertical drop; the number of trails, measurements and routes may change. The five levels describe a different aspect of the offering from trail length and elevation. For a more concrete idea, there is a green beginner trail: it runs through the lower forest and features bridges and picnic areas.

Forest Trails and Mountain Activities

The hike through the Forêt de la Matte is very easy, about six kilometres long and takes approximately two hours. It passes through a forest of Scots pines and regularly follows the shore of Lac de Matemale. This tour therefore combines forest and lakeshore; its length and approximate duration also give you a concrete basis for planning your day.

The themed trail “À la découverte de l’antre des mystères” offers a different focus. It leads to a hidden wetland in the forest of Les Angles and includes explanatory signs. While the Forêt de la Matte trail runs through a pine forest and along the lake, this themed trail focuses on the wetland and its explanations.

Lou Bac Mountain also offers a distinct mountain activity: its monorail toboggan run follows a 2,000-metre descent through the forest. It covers 430 metres of elevation; the descents have a gradient of up to 70 percent and a maximum speed of 42 km/h. The trail length and elevation difference describe the scale of the run, while the gradient and maximum speed are other features. Lou Bac Mountain is accessible via the Télécabine Les Pèlerins.

The Télécabine Les Pèlerins takes passengers from the village of Les Angles to the Plateau de Bigorre, at an altitude of 2,100 metres. The plateau is the starting point for numerous hikes and is accessible to everyone. This combines convenient access from the village with a starting point for a variety of hikes, though the two types of access need not offer the same experience.

Romanesque Heritage and Seasonal Water Sports

The Église Saint-Michel preserves Romanesque stonework. The apse, a Lombard arcaded frieze, dentil friezes and the façade can still be seen on the church. These different architectural elements give the building a distinctive character. The Porte-Tour des Angles is also part of the village’s history: it is the most important surviving remnant of the medieval castle from which the present-day village developed.

For water activities, Club Nautique L’Ourson offers pedal boating, canoeing, stand-up paddleboarding, kayaking and windsurfing, as well as catamaran sailing and sailing in 420 and Caravelle dinghies. Every week, the club runs sailing courses for Optimist boats and catamarans, as well as windsurfing courses. Water activities are seasonal, and dates may vary. If you are planning to take a course, check the current schedule before your stay.

Discover more destinations: Campoussy, Prunet-Et-Belpuig, Planèzes, Fuilla, Taillet, Puyvalador, Escaro, Clara.

For the overview of the wider region: Pyrénées-Orientales.