Font Romeu – A Modern Resort with a Fascinating History
Did you know despite its ultra modern facilites and inovations, Font Romeu in the Pyrenees is the second-oldest ski town in France, after Mont-Revard in the Alpes? It’s development as a ski resort and tourist destination started more than 100 years ago and took place in three phases.
PHASE ONE: First came le Petit Train Jaune
First, the Yellow Train, named after the colour of its rolling stock and the Catalan flag, built to connect the mountain towns with the plains.
It is the highest railway track in France, with the highest SNCF station and stunning views along the way. Building the line was no easy task however, requiring 65 bridges and viaducts, more than one for every kilometre of its 62.56 km length.
As roads improved, motor vehicles took over much of its original traffic, but the Train Jaune remains a commuter line as well as a popular tourist attraction. When winter snows close roads, Le Petit Train Jaune stays open, its snowploughs resolutely clearing the track ahead.
PHASE TWO: Then came le Grand Hôtel
Next came accommodation. At 1,312 to 2,213 metres above sea level, Font Romeu enjoys 300 days of sunshine a year, so it clearly had potential as a resort. In 1911, La Societé des Chemins de Fer et Hôtels de Montagne built Le Grand Hôtel overlooking the town.
And grand it was indeed when opened on 28th July 1913, with 200 rooms, apartments, elevators, electric lighting, an American bar, a casino, a garage and a shuttle bus service to the railway station. It soon became THE place to be seen in high society on both sides of the nearby Spanish border, and welcomed the Spanish royal family and famed painters Pablo Picasso and Salvador Dali amongst its many guests.
After three years of renovations, the Grand Hôtel l’Ermitage has now re-opened (December 2024) as a hotel restaurant, and describes itself as “modern accommodation in a place steeped in history” CHECK IT OUT HERE
PHASE THREE: The Ski Resort
The third phase began in the winter of 1920 when the Hotel offered its first winter program and Font Romeu became a ‘station de ski’.
Today Font Romeu is a busy ski town, twinned with the neighbouring Pyrénées 2000 to offer 60 pistes served by 25 lifts, and 110 kilometres of cross-country ski trails as well as paragliding, boarding, snow shoe walking, husky sledge riding and quad VTTs. It also attracts Olympic teams and great athletes for its biathlon facilities at its Centre National d’Entraînement en Altitude (CNEA) (“National centre for sports training at altitude”).
In fact, with this centre of excellence located in Font Romeu, the second-oldest ski town in France, after Mont-Revard in the Alpes, it is hardly surprising that many top French biathletes are P-O natives.
There are also 6 ‘ski de randonnée’ (cross country) itineraries, 3 of which are new. These are free access, or for 17.50 per day, you can use 2 télésièges to make the most of them.
WHAT ELSE?
Managed by the Communauté des Communes , there are 160km of pistes, spread out over 3 domaines for fans of nordic skiing
–La Calme (with 360 degrees panoramas)
Or how a about fun run, snake run, furious bag…..? What? Never heard of furious bag? Get up there and find out what it’s all about! 🙂
Coming soon….
A new double rail luge, running all year round, opens 1st July 2025 and will only cost 6.50 euros per go. The luge will take you to the heart of the local nature, skirting round rocks and trees.
Not into skiing? No need to miss out
Why not head up the mountain in the gondola as a pedestrian and walk along one of 6 trails (1, 2 or 3 km) .
(Prices per number of trips on the télésiège or télécabine: 1 = 8.20 euros 3 = 14.50 euros 5 = 22.50 euros)
But Font Romeu isn’t just about the snow
In this modern and lively all year round resort – with its casino/cinema/disco, outdoor museum, and plenty of hotels, bars, and restaurants – there are plenty of no-snow of opportunities of interest or for relaxation such as the natural hot baths at nearby Llo, Dorres or St Thomas. or numerous superb, marked hiking trails through fantastic countryside, worth exploring at any time of the year.
[/vc_column_text]
Font Romeu means ‘pilgrim’s fountain’, named after the Ermitage de Font-Romeu, built in the 17th and 18th centuries, on the site of a 1035 oratory. According to legend, a cowherd noticed his bull scratching at some water and bellowing loudly. There in the ground, he found a statue of the Virgin. Pilgrims on the Camiño de Santiago (St. James’s Way), en route to Santiago de Compostela in north-western Spain, heard of the miracle and stopped at the holy fountain, putting Font Romeu firmly on the map of Medieval Europe.
To this day, the meticulously preserved Hermitage at Font Romeu is still a stop on the Camino for pilgrims, who bathe in the interior basin and visit the magnificent Sunyer altar.
ANCIENT RESORT, ULTRA MODERN FACILITIES
Font Romeu may be the oldest ski resort in the Pyrenees, but it’s totally up-to-date with those modern services you may not want to entirely leave behind..
With fibre optics everywhere, backed up by satellite, you can get away from it all without getting away from it all! It also means that real time information is available on the slopes via 14 digital screens, installed at the entrances and strategic places on the pistes to provide skiers with non stop relevant updates..
THE WORLD’S LARGEST SOLAR FURNACE
The abundant sunshine that triggered the evolution of Font Romeu as a resort also led to the building of the world’s largest solar furnace.
The immense parabolic mirror, tall as the Arc de Triomphe in Paris, reflects the countryside and sky, giving an ever-changing patchwork view of the surrounding countryside that is beautiful and fascinating to watch.
LE MUSEE SANS MURS
Nature and art collide in this museum without walls.
Wander around sculptures and statues, the highest art gallery in Europe, starting in the centre of Font-Romeu opposite the tennis courts. museesansmurs.fr
A HISTORICAL HICCUP?
Why not visit the nearby Spanish enclave of Llivia, a little piece of Spain surrounded by France?
About eight square miles in area, with a population of around 1,000 people, Llivia is considered by some a bit of a historical hiccup. By a strange quirk of fate when the Treaty of the Pyrenees (1659) decreed that Spain hand over Roussillon and 33 communes of the Cerdagne to France, Llivia was classed a town, not a village. As the treaty stipulated that only villages were to be ceded to France, it remained, a small enclave of Spanishness.
With a fortified XVII century church, its other claim to fame is the ‘Oldest Pharmacy In Europe’, founded at the beginning of the 15th century and now a small museum with antique drugs, and one of the largest collections of prescription books in Europe.
EGAT
Follow the trail through the forest from Font-Romeu to the pretty village of Egat, a thirty-minute walk culminating in views to take your breath away.
Charity begins….in Font Romeu
The resort has recently spent 3.5 million on the new Gentiane chairlift, built to replace the old téléskis (button lifts) of Serrat de l’Ours and Soulane. Several disused telecabines will be auctioned off to to raise money for breast cancer. Last year they raised 72 000 for a charity for orphans. The chairlift can transport 2,000 skiers per hour!
For the techies….
Construction of the Les Gentianes chairlift requires much technical skill and much of it is done manually: installation of the support cable, splicing of the 38 mm cable and bringing together two cable ends to form an endless loop. One of the technicians explains:
“The cable is untwisted on both sides over a length of 46 meters. It is then alternately reconstituted, taking care to maintain the original diameter. Installed on the pulleys, it will rotate for hours, followed by an X-ray check”.
