Follow the remarkable story of one of the most extraordinary Allied agents of the Second World War. The Limping Lady Trail is a unique six-day historical expedition through the French and Spanish Pyrenees, retracing the dramatic escape route taken by Virginia Hall, the legendary spy known to the Gestapo as “The Limping Lady.”Combining a three-day guided mountain trek with immersive historical exploration, this journey brings to life the resistance networks, escape lines and clandestine operations organised by the Special Operations Executive.

In 1941, working for the Special Operations Executive, Virginia Hall arrived in Vichy France posing as a journalist. Operating from Lyon, she built one of the most effective resistance networks in southern France, coordinating agents, organising escape routes and supporting the growing resistance movement.

Her success soon attracted the attention of the Gestapo. Led by the infamous Klaus Barbie, German intelligence launched an intense search for the mysterious female agent they called “The Limping Lady.”

In November 1942, after German forces occupied Vichy France, Hall was forced to flee. Despite having a wooden prosthetic leg, which she nicknamed “Cuthbert” she crossed the Pyrenees on foot into Spain in winter, an extraordinary physical and mental achievement. After the crossing she was arrested by Spanish authorities and briefly imprisoned before being released through diplomatic pressure from the United States.

Remarkably, in 1944 Hall returned to France once again, this time working for the Office of Strategic Services. Disguised as an elderly milkmaid, she organised Maquis resistance groups, coordinated supply drops and helped sabotage German lines ahead of the Allied landings in Normandy.

The Limping Lady Trail is more than a mountain trek. It is an opportunity to walk the same landscapes where courage, resilience and determination shaped one of the most extraordinary espionage stories of the Second World War.

This October, join us as we retrace the remarkable journey of Virginia Hall.

Expedition Highlights

Three-day guided trek across the French and Spanish Pyrenees • Visit to a French Resistance museum in Toulouse • Follow historic escape routes used by Allied agents and evaders • Explore key wartime locations including Mantet and Villefranche-de-Conflent • High mountain crossing near Pic de la Dona • Evening readings from SOE dispatches and wartime accounts • Regional French and Catalan cuisine • Cultural insights from local Pyrenees guides

Expedition Overview

This expedition explores the wartime escape lines used by Allied agents, resistance fighters and downed airmen attempting to flee Nazi-occupied Europe. Participants will learn about the famous Pat O’Leary Escape Line, one of the most successful escape networks of the war, which helped hundreds of Allied personnel escape across the Pyrenees to Spain.