While Athara Adventures will guide tours in several locations, we chose to ground our business in the Occitan region of France. The fantastic network of trails, local cuisine, and spectacular views provide plenty of reasons to love the area, but there is another reason to consider visiting this unique region: its long history of comradery and courage.

We often hear from folks who say they would love to experience one of our tours, but are not sure how to gauge their level of fitness. Our response to this is: train hard – hike easy.

Join Athara Adventures co-founder Seoka Salstrom on Friday, March 3, 2023 at Omer and Bob’s in Hanover, NH to learn more about what our new business has planned and how you can join in on the adventure! Light snacks and beverages of the French Pyrenees region will be served. RSVPs requested. See you there!

The Ride of the Five Castles is your chance to have an adventure with jaw-dropping views, heart-pumping climbs, and a delightful, uniquely French experience. The five Cathar castles: Aguilar, Peyrepertuse, Queribus, Puilaurens, and Puivert, once formed the border with Aragon (Spain). Magnificent feats of engineering, these fortresses are candidates for the UNESCO World Heritage List of sites.

Athara Adventures ranks our hiking trips from one to five. Here, we explain the general benchmarks for how we level each tour so you can pick which one fits you best.

There are some items that go into everyone’s pack, no matter the trip, whether hiking or mountain biking. We touch on these in our FAQ’s section, but we’ve fleshed out some of our favorite items here.