All posts by Rosa

Hiking in the Pyrenees, Outdoor activities, The Pyrenees

10 reasons to visit the Central Pyrenees

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The Central Pyrenees is considered to be one of the most stunning parts of the Pyrenees. You’ll find stone villages, flower filled valleys, stunning mountains and many interesting places to discover.

Visit one of the oldest National Parks in Spain

Walking in the Ordesa National Park

Ordesa Canyon

Established in 1918 the Ordesa y Monte Perdido National Park was Spain’s first protected area and an is undisputed highlight of the Pyrenees. Covering an area of 156 square kilometres the park contains the stunning valleys of Ordesa and Añisclo. In 1997 it was made a world heritage site by UNESCO and it is also part of the Ordesa-Viñamala UNESCO Biosphere reserve.

Ordesa National Park highlights are its four deep canyons carved into the limestone. The Ordesa and Pineta valleys are glacial and the Añisclo valley and Garganta de Escuain were formed by rivers.

The Ordesa Valley is the most famous with cliffs rising over eight hundred metres on each side and Monte Perdido is perched majestically at the end of the valleys.

The Añisclo Canyon is over a kilometre deep and the high cliffs combined with the narrow, winding valley makes for spectacular views. The three peaks of Las Treserols – Monte Perdido, Cilindro and Pico Añisclo are the most recognisable in the park and form an impressive skyline for many walks.

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Walking in the Ordesa National Park
Hiking in the Pyrenees, The Pyrenees

Three ways to explore Ordesa National Park

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The spectacular canyons of the Ordesa National Park contain some of the best hiking in Spain. Its kilometre deep canyons are carved out of the limestone and have awe inspiring cliffs.

Hikes range from gentle walks in alpine meadows with the cliffs towering above you, to tough trails following narrow ledges high in the cliffs. There’s something for everyone in Ordesa!

The park is a UNESCO world heritage site due it’s biodiversity, and you’ll find the rare bone eating lammergeier here as well as ancient beech forests, beautiful orchids and lots of endemic flowers species.

One of the best and most important aspects of camping is how it helps you build and strengthen relationships. When you go camping with friends or family, you get a chance to talk and visit without distraction, even late into the night. Physical fitness: Time spent camping is physical time. To better better be prepared against animals and snakes you may run in to the way, visit campingfunzone.com for their vast information about camping, insects and animals.

Let our local guides show you the best Ordesa has to offer. We’ve three hiking holidays based in the Ordesa National Park – Canyons of Ainsa, Discover Ordesa and our Ordesa Self Guided itinerary. All have excellent hotels and each explores a different area of the park.

Read our full guide to walking in the Ordesa National Park.

With so many choices, you’ve no excuse not to come and discover the delights of Ordesa for yourself!

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The Pyrenees, Wine

Visiting the Sommos bodega

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Last Friday we went to Sommos, a winery in Barbastro in the Somantano wine region. We are going to include a visit to this bodega on our Riglos & Alquezar holiday so needed to check it out – it’s a hard job but somebody has to do it 🙂

casks at Sommos wines

Oak casks room, with temperature and humidity controlled.

The Somontano wine area isn’t that well known outside of Spain but produces some excellent wines – particularly reds – at excellent prices. The first vineyards started there in the late 1800’s but it didn’t become a ‘denominacion’ until the 1980’s.

Sommos winery has been designed by architect Jesús Marino Pascual and is known as the ‘Guggenheim of the Somontano’.

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