El Pailles

The El Paillès campsite and leisure residential park belongs to the commune of Osséja, a mountain village in the Cerdanya, in the Pyrénées-Orientales, at an altitude of 1,240 metres, at the foot of the Puigmal massif and very close to the Spanish border. The site backs onto the Osséja forest and is rated 3 stars.

The site is made up of two areas. On the campsite side there are 52 pitches, where rental chalets, spaces for tents, caravans, motorhomes and vans, two Muscade tents in summer and privately owned chalets are mixed together. On the residential park side, 35 wooden chalets, two of them adapted for guests with reduced mobility, form a small village with the reception and an activity room. Rental is by the night or by the week.

As for opening, the chalets can be rented all year round: the Bleuet (22 m², 2 people), the Perce-Neige (30 m², up to 6) and the Edelweiss (35 m², up to 7). The two models of rental tents, by contrast, are seasonal: the Baroudeur from April to October, the Muscade in July and August. The heated pool opens only in July and August. The website does not publish precise dates for bare pitches.

Two employees work on site all year round. The campsite also highlights long-stay offers, last-minute offers and group rates, along with a room for 40 people for workshops or seminars.

Hiking, mountain biking and fishing around the village, snow activities and winter sports in the Pyrénées-Orientales, free escape game in Osséja.

Comfort here stays simple, with no restaurant or bar: for meals, you need to go to the village of Osséja. On site, a small honesty-based shop runs on trust, with everyone leaving whatever they wish for the next campers. Reception also sells hiking guidebooks and advises on routes. It is open from Wednesday to Sunday, from 9am to 12pm and from 2pm to 6pm, and closed on Mondays and Tuesdays.

The campsite area has two renovated washroom blocks, one of them accessible to guests with reduced mobility, and all pitches have electricity; a European plug is needed to connect. Toilet paper and toiletries are not provided. A free hotspot is available in the activity room, limited to 30 minutes every 6 hours, while wifi in the chalets is paid.

The chalets are equipped for a full stay, and guests can rent sheets, baby equipment (chair, travel cot, bath), a raclette machine or an electric barbecue, as open flames are forbidden. The heated pool operates only in July and August; it is next to the children’s play area and the floodlit pétanque court. The two chalets adapted for guests with reduced mobility have ramps, wide spaces and spacious showers. Pets are accepted, on a lead and never left alone in the rentals.

The Osséja forest begins at the campsite exit: trails, picnics, mushroom picking, wildlife and plant watching. A forest road climbs to the ridges and to border marker 504, from where the panorama stretches over Catalonia, the Cadí range and the Carlit massif. The Vanéra river allows fishing or a summer cool-off.

The campsite offers a free outdoor escape game, “L’Héritage des Contrebandiers”: 14 puzzles spread around the village, over about 2.5 km, for the whole family. On site, the floodlit pétanque court, the play area and the heated summer pool complete the offer, with no organised entertainment.

Further afield, the Cerdanya, the Capcir and the Haut-Conflent offer hikes around the lakes of Bouillouses, Font-Vives or Matemale, along the Angoustrine and the Carol valley, in the Puigmal massif, the Carlit massif and the Eyne valley. Visitors can also see the castle of Llívia, the Belloc chapel in Dorres or the Llo chapel above the Sègre gorges.

Outside summer, the campsite points to mountain biking, fishing, snow activities and the winter sports of the Pyrénées-Orientales, as well as autumn walks, with tips published on its website for camping in this season.