Urdos is the last village before Spain (or the first village in France!). Due to its location, it has witnessed the passage of armies, pilgrims and traders, who have stopped here to recover from the ascent to the Somport Pass. It is not chance that gave the Hotel-bar-restaurant “Les Voyageurs” its name. Ask them to tell you their story! Take the time to follow the lower street under the little-known gallery. South of Urdos, towards Somport, visit the Arnousse viaduct.

Close by there is an attraction which is invisible to those who know nothing about it – a technical feat of engineering, a spiralling railway tunnel. The entrance and exit of this tunnel are virtually one above the other. The coil carved out of the rock allowed trains to lose and gain altitude smoothly. On the way from Urdos to the Forges d’Abel, we pass the monumental entrance of the railway tunnel (now a Historical Monument) which leads to Spain 7,875 metres down the line.