Route nationale 618 or RN 618 was a French national road linking

Saint-Jean-de-Luz Saint-Jean-de-Luz (; ,Donibane Lohitzune
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(on the

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the ...

) to

Argelès-sur-Mer Argelès-sur-Mer (; ; ; ), commonly known as Argelès ( ), is a commune in the Pyrénées-Orientales department in the administrative region of Occitania, France. It is about 25 km from Perpignan. Geography Argelès-sur-Mer is located in ...

(on the

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern ...

). En route it crossed many of the famous passes in the

Pyrenees The Pyrenees are a mountain range straddling the border of France and Spain. They extend nearly from their union with the Cantabrian Mountains to Cap de Creus on the Mediterranean coast, reaching a maximum elevation of at the peak of Aneto. ...

, immortalized by the

Tour de France The Tour de France () is an annual men's multiple-stage cycle sport, bicycle race held primarily in France. It is the oldest and most prestigious of the three Grand Tour (cycling), Grand Tours, which include the Giro d'Italia and the Vuelta a ...

; hence its name was the "''Route of the Pyrénées''". In 1970, the road was down-graded and is now the RD 918 from Saint-Jean-de-Luz to

Arreau Arreau (; ) is a commune in the Hautes-Pyrénées department in southwestern France. It is situated on the former Route nationale 618, the ''Route of the Pyrénées''. Arreau is at the crossroads of the Louron valley and the Aure valley. Geogr ...

and the RD 618 from Arreau to Argelès Plage.

Itinerary

The places named in ''italic'' are mountain passes used in the

Saint-Jean-de-Luz Saint-Jean-de-Luz (; ,Donibane Lohitzune
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Cambo-les-Bains Cambo-les-Bains (; ) is a town in the traditional Northern Basque Country, Basque province of Labourd, now in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques Departments of France, department in south-western France. It lies on the south-western bank of the river Nive ...

Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port (literally "Saint John

t the T, or t, is the twentieth letter of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''tee'' (pronounced ), plural ''tees''. It is d ...

Foot of hePass"; ; ; ) is a Communes of France, commune in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques Departments of France, department in south-western France. It is close to Ostabat in the Pyrenean f ...

''Common with the former RN 133'' * Larceveau-Arros-Cibits *

Mauléon-Licharre Mauléon-Licharre (; , Occitan: Maulion e Lisharra), or simply Mauléon, is a commune in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department in southwestern France. It is the capital of the Soule (''Zuberoa'') historical Basque province. It is home to the ...

Issor Issor (; ) is a commune in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department in south-western France. See also *Communes of the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department The following is a list of the 545 Communes of France, communes of the Pyrénées-Atlantiq ...

''Common with RN 134'' *

Lurbe-Saint-Christau Lurbe-Saint-Christau (; ) is a commune in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department in south-western France. See also *Communes of the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department The following is a list of the 545 Communes of France, communes of the Pyr� ...

Arudy Arudy (; Gascon language, Gascon: Arudi) is a Communes of France, commune in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques Departments of France, department in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region of south-western France. The commune has been awarded one flower by the ''N ...

''Common with the former RN 134^BIS'' *

Laruns Laruns (; ) is a commune in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department in south-western France. It is situated at the confluence of two mountain streams, the Gave d'Ossau and its tributary, the Valentin. Formerly part of the province of Béar ...

*''

Col d'Aubisque The Col d'Aubisque () (elevation ) is a mountain pass in the Pyrenees south of Tarbes and Pau in the department of the Pyrénées-Atlantiques, in the Aquitaine region of France.Chany, Pierre (1988), La Fabuleuse Histoire du Tour de France, La Ma ...

'' *''

Col du Soulor Col du Soulor (elevation ) is a mountain pass in the Pyrenees in France, linking Argelès-Gazost with Arthez-d'Asson. It connects the Ouzom and Arens valleys. A road leaves the pass to the west to reach the higher Col d'Aubisque. The road over ...

'' * Arrens-Marsous *

Argelès-Gazost Argelès-Gazost (; ) is a commune and a subprefecture of the Hautes-Pyrénées department in southwestern France. The Pyrénées Animal Park is located in Argelès-Gazost. Population Climate See also *Communes of the Hautes-Pyrénées de ...

''Common with the former RN 21'' *

Luz-Saint-Sauveur Luz-Saint-Sauveur (; Gascon: ''Lus e Sent Sauvaire'', before 1962: ''Luz'') is a commune in the Hautes-Pyrénées department in the Occitania region of south-western France. It lies on the river Bastan, a tributary of the Gave de Pau. Its i ...

Barèges Barèges (; , , in the Gascon dialect) is a commune in the Hautes-Pyrénées department, administrative region of Occitania, southwestern France. It is situated in the valley of the Bastan on the former Route nationale 618 (the "Route of the P ...

*''

Col du Tourmalet Col du Tourmalet (; elevation ) is one of the highest paved mountain passes in the French Pyrenees, in the department of Hautes-Pyrénées. Sainte-Marie-de-Campan is at the foot on the eastern side and the ski station La Mongie two-thirds ...

'' * Sainte-Marie-de-Campan *''

Col d'Aspin Col d'Aspin () (elevation ) is a mountain pass in the French Pyrenees in the department of the Hautes-Pyrénées. It connects Sainte-Marie-de-Campan, in the upper Adour valley, with Arreau, on the Neste (river), River Neste. Details of the climbs ...

'' *

*''

Col de Peyresourde The Col de Peyresourde () (elevation ) is a mountain pass in the central Pyrenees on the border of the department of Haute-Garonne and Hautes-Pyrénées in France. It is situated on the D618 road between Bagnères-de-Luchon and Arreau. Details ...

'' *

Bagnères-de-Luchon Bagnères-de-Luchon (; ), also referred to as just Luchon, is a Communes of France, commune and spa town in the Haute-Garonne Departments of France, department in the Occitania (administrative region), Occitanie region of south-western France. T ...

''Common with the former RN 125'' *

Saint-Mamet Saint-Mamet (; Gascon: ''Sent Mamet'') is a commune in the Haute-Garonne department in southwestern France. Population See also *Communes of the Haute-Garonne department The following is a list of the 586 communes in the French depart ...

*'' Col du Portillon'', Spanish frontier. ''Route interrupted by the Spanish border'' * Chaum *'' Col des Ares'' * Juzet-d'Izaut *'' Col de Portet d'Aspet'' * Saint-Lary *

Audressein Audressein (; ) is a commune in the Ariège department in the Occitanie region of south-western France. Geography Audressein is situated on the former Route nationale 618, the "Route of the Pyrenees", at the start of the climb to the Col d ...

* Saint-Girons *

Massat Massat () is a Communes of France, commune in the Ariège (department), Ariège Departments of France, department in southwestern France. It is situated on the former Route nationale 618, the "Route of the Pyrenees". History The area dates b ...

*''

Col de Port A col is the lowest point on a mountain ridge between two peaks; a mountain pass or saddle. COL, CoL or col may also refer to: Computers * Caldera OpenLinux, a defunct Linux distribution * , an HTML element specifying a column * A collision sig ...

'' *

Tarascon-sur-Ariège Tarascon-sur-Ariège (, literally ''Tarascon on Ariège''; Languedocien: ''Tarascon d’Arièja'') is a commune in the Ariège department in southwestern France. Tarascon-sur-Ariège station has rail connections to Toulouse, Foix and Lato ...

''Common with RN 20'' * Ur *

Font-Romeu Font-Romeu-Odeillo-Via (; ), or simply Odeillo, is a commune in the Pyrénées-Orientales and Cerdagne near the Spanish border in the south of France. It comprises the villages of Odeillo and Via, as well as Font-Romeu, one of the oldest ski reso ...

Mont-Louis Mont-Louis (; or ''el Vilar d'Ovansa'') is a Communes of France, commune in the Pyrénées-Orientales Departments of France, department in southern France. Geography Mont-Louis is located in the canton of Les Pyrénées catalanes and in the ar ...

''Common with RN 116'' * Bouleternère *

Amélie-les-Bains-Palalda Amélie-les-Bains-Palalda (; ) is a commune in the Pyrénées-Orientales department in southern France. It is situated in the Tech valley, and combines the old and the new with a mix of narrow cobbled streets and modern accommodation. It has b ...

''Common with the former RN 115'' *

Céret Céret (; ) is a Communes of France, commune in the Pyrénées-Orientales Departments of France, department in southern France. It is the capital of the historic Comarques of Catalonia, Catalan comarca of Vallespir. Geography The town lies in ...

Le Boulou Le Boulou (; ) is a commune in the Pyrénées-Orientales department in southern France. It is situated 12 km from the Spanish border. Geography Localisation The town of Le Boulou is located in the canton of Vallespir-Albères and in ...

*Argelès Plage 618 {{france-road-stub