5-day snowshoeing tour in the Catalan Pyrenees

I will pick you up in Barcelona at 9 am. If you are unable to meet the group in Barcelona, these snowshoeing holidays will begin in Rialp, a small village in the Alt Pirineu Natural Park, set at 730m altitude, with only 670 full time residents.

After a 4.5-hour drive, we arrive at the hotel in Rialp where we leave our luggage. Then, we drive to Roni, a small village set at 1080m altitude, with only 50 full time residents. The nearest evidence of visitors here is the Port Ainé ski resort about 14km away.

Starting at Roni, we make a continuous ascent across deep forests to the ridge of the Serra del Llus range. Once there we will visit some bunkers built and used during the Spanish Civil War.

Distance: 8km ‐ Elevation gain: 405m ‐ Duration: 4 hours, including breaks

The scenic village of Farrera is just a 25 minute transfer and is a great location to begin our walk. Today our route takes us through the La Coma Valley. Here we find numerous ‘bordes’, or shepherd’s huts, used to keep cattle and store feed.

Traversing first deep forests, we pass through two small villages ‐ Farrera and Burg, both of which have fewer than 100 inhabitants. This insight into a traditional way of life in the remote countryside is what makes this walk memorable.

Distance: 7.6km ‐ Elevation gain: 566m ‐ Duration: 5.75 hours, including breaks.

After the walk we transfer to the village of Tirvia to visit the rhomboidal gravestones built around the time that the Cathar Perfect Bélibaste was arrested in the 14th century. To read more about Catharism, click here.

We also visit houses in Tirvia, including one with shrapnel marks on its façade, and another one where injured soldiers were treated. Tirvia was in the front line during the Spanish Civil War. It was completelly destroyed, and then rebuilt.

After our visit to Tirvia we transfer to Surp in the Assua Valley and visit cheese producer Clara Ferrando, who left her home near Barcelona to set up this sustainable and traditional cheese production in 2007. We will of course have the opportunity to try some of her award‐winning produce, accompanied with traditional wines of Catalonia. We end the day with a 15 minute transfer back to Rialp.

For the third snowshoe walk of the week we explore the Cardós Valley, half an hour drive away. Again, an area not well known among tourists. We enjoy dramatic landscapes on our way to _Pla de Nequa_at 1978m. The trail crosses forests of birch, scots pines and dwarf mountain pines until we reach the Pla itself and enjoy the panoramic views over the whole valley and its surrounds.

Local folklore has it that this was the site of sabbath celebrations by witches during the Middle Ages. As such a well known Catalan writer based his novel ‘The witches of Pla Negua’ here.

Distance: 12.3km ‐ Elevation gain: 782m ‐ Duration: 6.8 hours including breaks.

After our walk we transfer to Rialp (30 mins) and visit a local not‐for‐profit association (Obrador Xisqueta) trying to maintain the local tradition of woolwork and thus guarantee extra revenue for the local shepherds who sell it, as well as the craftspeople who produce the woolwork itself. We haven’t included this visit in the price, because sometimes Obrador Xisqueta has no staff available to lead a visit.

We finish with a transfer back for our Hotel in Rialp.

After breakfast we head off to Planes de Son, our starting point today, passing by Son, a village at 1390m famous for its Romanesque bell tower.

On our way to the Fogueruix Pass at 2110m, we get into the Aiguestortes national park and can stop at the Pla de la Font mountain hut and crane our necks at some of the highest peaks in the area that tower above us. The pass itself lies between the Son Valley and the Espot valley. We descend via another route back down to the Planes de Son

Distance: 11.5km ‐ Elevation gain: 695m ‐ Duration: 7 hours including breaks.

The day finishes at Rialp, where our guide Miguel will give the group the chance to try some of the local produce, including cheese and sausages from the Pallars Sobira region, all washed down with wine from the south of Catalonia.

Today, our circular walk will take us to the summit of Torreta de l’Orri (2439m), a peak located at the top of the Port-Ainé ski resort. It represents the highest point we will reach during the tour and from here we will be rewarded by breathtaking views of Catalonia, and of the other peaks of the Pyrenees.

After having taken some moments to admire the beauty of the area we will follow a crest line to then continue into a dwarf-mountain pine forest called Duc.

Distance: 14.5km/ Elevation gain: 480m/ Duration: 7 hours including breaks

After the walk we transfer back to Barcelona where we arrive in the evening.