Pau Travel Guide, France

Pau is the capital city for the agglomeration of Pau-Pyrénées, with 14 villages and 140.000 inhabitants, being the second largest city of the department of Aquitaine, in the south-west of France, after Bordeaux. The city is especially known for its ultra-modern infrastructures, its sportive dynamism and historical patrimony.

Pau Travel guide- climate

Situated at the foot of the Pyrénées Mountains and one hour from the Atlantic Ocean, Pau enjoys a mild climate. The humidity is quite high but it is not so obvious. Summers are dry and winters are rainy. With some 1900 hours of sun per year, the maximal temperatures are around 20-30 degrees Celsius and the minimal are above 0 degree Celsius.

It has a university campus welcoming 13,000 students, with some high economical specializations: aeronautics, petro chemistry, informational and communicational technologies.

Pau Travel guide -Festivals

There is always something going on in Pau. With some twenty festivals and a very rich associative network, Pau is a cultural capital. The following spots: Pau Orchestra Pays de Béarn, the new National Music and Dance School, Le Zénith – an impressive concert hall – by the way Lenny Kravitz will be at Pau Le Zenith on the 29th of April 2009 on his Love Revolution Tour –, le Palais des Congrès are famous all around France, not to mention that the locals are very keen on going out and participating in the city’s cultural life.

Pau Travel guide- sports

Pau is a city that loves sports very much. It is here that the first golf club was started, in 1856, brought here by the English. The Élan Béarnais basketball club is very famous as well, being very popular among the locals. Le Centre de Sers – a place for horse races can lodge 600 horses and their coaches and even 1000 during competitions. It was also Pau that received the first piloting school established by the Wright brothers.

Pau Travel guide-Nature

Pau is situated in a case of greenery. The Pyrénées Boulevard offers a magnificent view to the Pyrénées Mountains and the Midi d'Ossau Peak. The parks and the gardens host exceptional vegetation and many remarkable trees – more than 30,000 in the city only. It is one of the European cities that have the most square kilometers (80 m2) of greenery per inhabitant. During your Pau travel, you’ll discover plenty of outdoor activities: walking, fauna and flora discovery, hiking, ski, climbing, water sports.

Once in Pau don’t miss L' Office du Tourisme, opened from 9 am to 6.30 pm, a place where you can discover the city’s many faces. There are many circuits waiting for you, giving you another look on history, gardens and the unusual.