Petit train d'Artouste — Attraction in Oloron-Sainte-Marie

If you're driving to and fro this attraction in a day, it's likely to take about 3.5 hours all in all.

With that tucked away, I do recommend visiting this place once in your lifetime. Sure, it's merely a train ride, with only one destination, with nothing except a lake and views, but it is the highest train in Europe. What this means is access is limited, no vehicles or planes or whatnot. It's a great family activity as the hikes are not too difficult.

Some tips to make the trip smoother Arrive early. Preferably 30 min before your train time. You need to take a cable car (15min) to reach the train station Pack your own lunch and snacks if you don't want to rush. There are multiple restaurants at the base of the cable car station, one snack bar at the train station, and only one bistro at the end of the train ride. The train is diesel powered, and the spout of the train in rather short. Sit further back in the train. Better to bring proper hiking shoes. Bring your own shade (cap/umbrella/jacket). It's either gonna be windy or very hot. If you have a young child, bring a child carrier. It's rather hard to find a parking in the main car park; however, there are more parkings behind the chalet/cable car...

We had rather a different experience compared to the rest of the reviews here. The cable car and train journeys were fantastic but we were very disappointed to only get an hour there to explore and which didn't give us enough time to get to the lake. As we were travelling with children upon arrival as there were so many people and a huge queue to use the bathroom. Then another queue and wait to buy a snack at the restaurant as the kids were hungry. So it left us little time to do much else. We asked if we could spend more time there to catch a later train back and were told no. So after paying over 100 euros for the experience we were rather disappointed that there seems to be no flexibility as to how long you can spend there. I don't know if there was a more expensive ticket that allows this but the booking form even though in english wasn't very clear as to what each tickets entailed. I think maybe if we'd paid an extra 40 euros we could have stayed extra time but after already paying so much this seems very extortionate and we were reluctant to do so. Also prepared for it to be extremely busy at the...

Without any doubt one of the best train rides you can take. If you can only manage one trip to take then don't miss this one!

The experience starts as you journey on up the twisty road from Laruns, quickly gaining height to Artouste Telecabine Station, where you board a telecabine (cable car). This takes you up the mountainside to the train station and restaurant.

We visited on a Saturday and found 2 petit trains were being used one a short way behind the other to take the many passengers. These trains are pulled by a small diesel engine.

The whole 55 minute trip provides stunning views of the Pyrenees as the railway clings to the mountainside. Originally built to take workers to a dam, that's where your destination is. You have 1 hour 20 minutes to spend here, and you can climb the steep path to visit the Lac d'Artouste and admire the views from there.

Then the train returns you to where you started so you can descend again by telecabine and shop the few shops below before back to your car.

What an unforgettable experience you will take...