We now offer the option of staying in self catering apartments on our self guided walking holidays.

The spacious Rincon del Andrea self catering apartments are based in Biescas. One, two and three bedroom apartments are available and each has a lounge/diner, bathroom and great views. The apartments are ideally located to reach the great hiking in both the Valle de Tena and the Ordesa Valley

All are well equipped with washing machine, TV, DVD player, microwave, hob, fridge, toaster and free Wi-Fi internet connection.

Read more about our self catering holidays

Lounge and diner area

Bedroom in Rincon del Andrea

Watching the Tour de France last summer

The Tour de France schedule has been released for 2012 and once again it’s passing close by us. Our Peaks & Passes walking holiday on the 15-22 July will be a Tour de France special and on the rest day we’ll go and see the race which is a fantastic event. This year the stage is just 4 days from the end of the race and the penultimate mountain stage so we’ll really be at the business end of the race and everything will be up for grabs.

Last summer we had a great day watching the Tour at a fantastic spot just outside Laruns. We made a day out of it taking a picnic, sampling some beautiful French cheese and relaxed waiting for the riders to come past.

The caravan passing by before the riders

Before the riders come past it’s the craziness of the caravan when we all become kids again and collect the Tour de France key rings, souvenir sweets and other tat that get’s thrown out by the passing vehicles!

The peleton approaching

Watching the peleton go past is quite incredible. So many riders packed so closely together you can’t believe they don’t crash at every corner. It’s a fantastic event, a great day out and a must for any cycling fan – why not come along and see the Tour with us next summer!

You can view the full Tour de France 2012 schedule here.

The Cascada del Estrecho in the Ordesa Valley

The waterfalls in Ordesa are in full flow at the moment with the warm early summer weather melting the snow from the peaks above. You pass a series of fantastic waterfalls as you walk along the valley floor with my favourites being the Casacada del Estrecho and the Grados de Soasa.

The woods are also very pretty at the moment with the bright green new leaves of the birch trees contrasting with the darker green needles of the evergreen pines and silver fir.

The cliffs of Ordesa with beech and pine woods below

Today was just a short stroll in the valley with friends and we  followed thepath along the valley floor alongside the Rio Arazas. The water is always beautifully clear. You can find stone fly larvae in many of the rockpools which is a sure sign of clean, pure water.

Looking down the valley along the Rio Azaras to the peak of Peña Otal

It was our daughter Isabels first trip to Ordesa – at 6 months old I think she was the youngest hiker in the valley that day!

Isabel taking the easy option

The Grados de Soasa

The cirque of Rincon de Balsera

Explored the remote Ibon de la Sierra and was rewarded with great views and wildlife including a lammergeier, chamois, kestrels and my first marmots of the season.

It’s an area of the Valle de Tena that I’d wanted to hike in for ages but never seemed to get round to it. It’s a long walk in but really worth it as you get to some really wild valleys lying under the imposing peak of Punta Escarra.

Stemless Gentians - one of my favourite early flowers

The weather’s been beatiful the last couple of weeks and the spring flowers are really starting to come out. Saw my first orchids of the season – elder flowered orchids. These come in both yellow and purple but both are the same species and can be seen in their thousands in June. In sunnier spots gentians were out too – mainly spring gentians but a couple of patches of lovely stemless gentians.Where the snow had recently melted a few alpine snowbells were coming out too – these are fantastically delicate and spring out of the ground as soon as the snow cover has gone.

Alpine snowbell

The marmots have come out of hibernation and I heard lots of warning whistles and saw plenty of them grazing on the fresh grass.

My first marmot of the season

Also saw a group of Chamois – one of which posed silhouetted on a small peak nearby.

Chamois posing on a ridge

When I got to Ibon de Sierra I was quite surprised to find it covered in ice which was a bit surreal as I was hiking in sorts and t-shirts. I was even more surprised to see several fully grown frogs swimming under the ice – they must survive all winter under there.

Ibon de la Sierra

The wildlife highlight of the day was a lammergeier flying close overhead. I could really see it’s colours and get an idea of it’s huge wingspan (which can be over 2.5 metres). Its always a delight to see these vultures.

Great day out and a good new area discovered that I’m sure I’ll be visiting again this summer.

The cliffs of Peña Oroel

Peña Oroel at 1769m stands just outside Jaca and it’s cliffs are home to dozens of Griffon vultures. Being slightly south of the main chain means that you get fantastic views across a vast number of peaks. In fact Aneto, Possets and Perdido – the three highest peaks in the Pyrenees can be seen from the summit. I was surprised to hear that our friend George whose lived in the area for almost 30 years and climbed more peaks than I can name hadn’t been up there so last Friday we took a quick trip to the summit.

The walk starts at a lovely restaurant and bar called ‘El Parador’ and the views are already pretty good from here and it’s a great place to lunch outside on the terrace. From here the summit looks pretty imposing and fairly impossible to reach but in fact a well graded path snakes it’s way through the woods and it only takes about an hour to gain the summit ridge. Spring has arrived to the lower altitudes of the Pyrenees and the woods were full of Hepatica as we wandered up.

George on the summit ridge

Once you reach the ridge it’s about a kilometre walk to the highest point which is marked with a large cross. The views on this section are fantastic both to the north to the snow capped higher peaks and to the south to the cliffs of Riglos.

Views north to the main Pyrenean peaks

As you walk you can peer over the edge for a 500m vertical drop to the woods below. It’s a popular vulture roosting point too and you’re almost guaranteed to see Griffons there. On the southern side of the ridge the weathers quite warm and you get some flowers that aren’t seen so often in the main range. There were some lovely wild daffodils out with really large flower heads – usually we get the much smaller narcissus only 10 cm or so high. Crocus Nevadensis is another flower that you get here and further south but rarely in the higher mountains.

Wild daffodils (narcissus pseudonarcissus)

Crocus Nevadensis

As well as all of the peaks you get great views down onto the town of Jaca. The pentagonal citadela is really obviuos as is the bright shiny new ice skating rink.

Looking down onto Jaca

We sat and had lunch on the summit taking in the views and the sunshine before making our way back down. Complete route is around 7km with 600m of ascent and takes about 4 hours.

Peña Oroel is just one of the many routes that we have route cards for on our self guided walking holidays – why not come over and see the views for yourself?