Val D’aran

Pyrenees

Encuentra un viaje

PYRENEES, MUCH MORE THAN WE THINK

DISCOVER THIS MOUNTAIN RANGE AND ITS VALLEYS AT ANY TIME OF THE YEAR

The Pyrenees are a mountain range located between the north of Spain and the south of France. These mountains, which begin on the shores of the Mediterranean at Cap de Creus, continue to the Atlantic, ending in the Basque Country. A winter and summer destination.

Skiing in the Val D’aran

We have discovered that this valley is an ideal destination, both for its Baqueira Beret ski resort, and the Aigüestortes National Park.

Whether you want to ski in the surroundings of one of the best ski resort in the Pyrenees (Baqueira Beret), ski in powder snow or get to know Aigüestortes Natural Park and practice mountain skiing, this is your valley.
The Val d’Aran is the only Pyrenean valley with an Atlantic slope. A valley with spectacular landscape and summits that’s surrounded by mountains with peaks of over than 2,500 meters.
But the Val d’Aran isn’t only about mountains; it’s also culture – it has its own language, rooted in its Occitan influence- and, naturally, wonderful cuisine.

We’ve chosen this place because its northern orientation offers us snow conditions that are unique in the Pyrenees.

But there’s more to the valley than skiing, as it’s also an amazing place to go mountain biking, climbing, or trekking in the summer.
Baqueira-Beret offers slopes of 1,000 meters with great off-piste skiing areas, with access to places like Montgarri, where we escape to after making a single off-piste descent and where we’re picked up by motorbikes that take us back to the ski station along with our mountain guides.
The Aigüestortes-Sant Maurici National Park is a paradise for mountain skiing or climbing. Its winter route takes us to different guarded mountain refuges each day after climbing 1,500 meters and then enjoying an extraordinary descent.

It will seem that time has stopped

Its orientation has kept the valley’s essence over time

The Val d’ Aran was very isolated until 1948 because of its climate (with large snowfalls that closed the passes), and unusual terrain (surrounded by mountains of 2,500 meters). The easiest natural way out of the valley was towards France, which is why there are still strong ties with the Occitan culture of the south of France. As you can see, this valley is much more than mountains and natural parks.

Gastronomy and culture in the valley

Delight your taste buds with the most authentic flavours of Pyrenean culinary specialities, and discover the cultural wealth of the Aran Valley.

The Val d’Aran is full of traditional villages with their typical “bordes”, mountain houses that have a special charm. It can still convey its culture and what life here was like in the past. Nowadays, these tiny villages offer us wonderful restaurants and the valley’s magnificent gastronomy.

Our base camp: Vielha

Our base camp in the valley is in Betren (Vielha), in the offices of Guide Valdaran, our partners in this adventure.

Vielha is the capital of the valley, but once here you must get to know villages like Arties, Salardú, and Bagergue to really understand where we are. All of them are Aranese cultural heritage listed and preserve authentic jewels of Romanesque and Gothic architecture, like the churches in the villages of Salardú, Escunhau, and Casarilh. Their historic buildings take us far back in time, and the imposing bell towers and the pointed roofs are still characteristics of the villages’ silhouettes.
The Romanesque route of the Val d’Aran takes us to the region’s 15 most important churches.