Hotels in Cauterets

Cauterets is a small spa and mountain town deep in the French Pyrenees, built on thermal springs that drew Victorian tourists and, later, Sarah Bernhardt and assorted French literary types looking for a cure. Today it's known chiefly as a base for hiking into the Pont d'Espagne and Vignemale areas of the Pyrenees National Park in summer, and as a modest ski station in winter, with a compact, old-fashioned centre of stone townhouses and thermal baths still operating.

Be honest: it's a one-street town with limited nightlife, the ski area is small by Alpine standards, and much of it shuts down or slows to a crawl outside the two main seasons. With a population barely topping a thousand, there's no sprawl to navigate, and everything, spa, lifts, trailheads, is within easy walking distance regardless of where you stay. Stay right in the centre near the thermal baths, since it puts you closest to both the ski lifts in winter and the main walking routes in summer.