Blogging from the Pyrenees
Phil & Anna have been living in the Pyrenees for over 17 years and love the culture, wildlife and mountains here. We run Hike Pyrenees, which organises guided and self guided hiking holidays in the Pyrenees and other areas of Spain. Our blog tells about our adventures hiking, snowshoeing and skiing in the Pyrenees and we hope to explain some of the fascinating flora, fauna and history of the area. We hope you enjoy reading!
Valle de Tena Explorer: sunshine, wildflowers and mountain adventures
We had some great early season weather on our Valle de Tena Explorer trip last week. It’s always a delight to welcome people to our home village of Biescas. The wildflowers are simply stunning this season and at this time of year we’ve the trails to ourselves and the mountain tops are still white with snow.
The Peaks of Ordesa
From the Monrepos pass you get a superb vista across the Pyrenees including this fantastic view of the Ordesa National Park. You can see ten of the 3000m peaks, the cliffs of the Ordesa Valley and even the Faja de las Flores. Click on the photo to get a larger clearer…
¡Guerra! – the Spanish Civil War
Recently I read ¡Guerra! by Jason Webster – an excellent, very readable account of the Spanish Civil War and highly recommended to anyone wanting to know more about this devastating period of Spanish history. The book alternates between historical accounts of…
Skiing at Formigal
Went skiing up at Formigal yesterday and snow conditions were better than expected after last weeks warm weather and rain. It was clear and sunny and I actually felt quite warm as I took the first lift up. I did have a lot of layers on (‘like an onion’ as…
Hiking in the Valle de Acumuer
Beautiful weather in the Pyrenees last weekend after a week of rain and cloud. On Sunday I went to explore the Valle de Acumuer which I’d looked at lots of times but not walked in before. We started in the village of Acumuer which is in a lovely location with a…
Summer 2011 Stansted to Zaragoza flights on sale
Ryan Air have just released their flights for summer 2011. Zaragoza is the most convenient airport for the Aragonese Pyrenees and Ryan Air has flights from Stansted on Sundays, Mondays, Wednesday and Fridays. Hike Pyrenees transfers meet the Sunday evening flight….
First snowshoeing trip of the season
It’s been snowing heavily in the Pyrenees for over a week now but the weather cleared on Friday and Saturday and it was time to dig the snowshoes out of the back of the cupboard for the first snowshoe outing of the season.The ski resort of Astun was our…
Spain’s saffron harvest
Saffron is the most expensive spice in the world and sells for more than $4000 a kilo. Production is hugely labour intensive with the delicate task of removal of the stamens only possible by hand. Good report on the BBC on how Spain is hoping this years saffron…
New Portsmouth to Bilbao ferry service
Brittany Ferries have announced a new Pourtsmouth to Bilbao service starting March 2011. There will be twice weekly sailings and the service will operate alongside it’s existing Santander service from Portsmouth and Plymouth. The ferry is a great way to get to…
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The Ordesa NP
Guide to hiking the spectacular canyons of the Ordesa National Park
Pyrenees butterflies
Gallery of the spectacular butterflies and moths we have in the Pyrenees
Village to Village
Hotel to hotel hiking in the high Pyrenees
Geology of the Pyrenees
Discover how the Pyrenean range was formed
Hike the GR11
A practical guide to hiking the GR11
Wildflowers
Discover the spectacular flora of the Pyrenees
Bearded vulture
This huge bone eating vulture is one of the Pyrenees emblamatic species