Snowshoeing in the Spanish Pyrenees

The Aigues Tortes National Park lies towards the middle of the Pyrenean range on the Spanish side rising to the French border to the north. It encompasses beautiful diverse scenery with mountain peaks reaching to 3017m at Besiberri. The Catalan name of the park translates into English as ‘winding streams’ which is apt indeed.

To explore winter snow covered valleys, we stay at the pretty village of Erill la Vall in the Val de Boi. The valley is particularly renowned for its Romanesque churches, dating back to the 11th and 12th centuries and little changed since those times. We will visit some on our walks. This particular feature of the walks is something the area is justifiably famous for. The remote nature of the valleys meant that the religious conflict that affected Europe in the Middle Ages passed by unnoticed. The same unspoiled peace and tranquillity allows the superb walking at any time of year. However, the valleys surely look at their very best under a blanket of snow.

We have a variety of walks to discover, either walking from the hotel or talking taxis further into the valley and explore further afield. Our local guide will arrange all the transport to make sure everything runs smoothly.

The region offers some of the darkest skies in Europe allowing us to enjoy superb star gazing. We will take an excursion out with a guide on one evening to have a look at the stars. Which evening we chose will obviously be weather dependent.