Posets-Maladeta Natural Park

Self-guided hiking in the shadow of the biggest mountains in all the Pyrenees!

Dates

From Mid-May to end of September

Level

3 - moderate

(see levels)

Self-Guided

Hike at your own pace with our maps & notes

Accommodations

Day hikes sleeping in a hotel each night

5 Days/4 Nights

Can be longer or shorter

INTRODUCTION

Join us on this carefully curated itinerary to explore Spain’s Posets-Maladeta Natural Park, home to over 200 summits exceeding 3,000 meters. This is where you'll find the biggest mountains in the entire Pyrenees, including the 2 highest of all - Aneto and Posets. High summits, glaciers, magnificent waterfalls, canyons, and fertile lands of forests and meadows, offer a fantastic contrast of colors and landscapes – nature at its finest and a superb environment for any outdoor lover.

Located in Huesca province, in the autonomous region of Aragón, this one of the true crown jewels of the Pyrenees. You’ll sleep in the ancient town of Benasque, capital of the still-remote Benas valley, allowing you to closely experience traditional culture and get a sense for the area’s fascinating history. The many valleys of the Posets-Maladeta Natural Park offer more choices for outdoor activities of differing levels of difficulty and views, than any other single base anywhere in the Pyrenees.

As always on our trips, you'll have great food, excellent wine and comfortable accommodations, in combination with superb hikes in some of the most spectacular terrain in Europe!

DAY 1: ARRIVE IN BENASQUE & 1st HIKE

Morning pickup in Barcelona & transfer by private taxi (for those without a rental car) to the pretty stone-built medieval village of Benasque in time for lunch. The drive itself is spectacular, especially the final sections through the narrow chasms and gorges! After checking in to your comfortable hotel, explore the twisting streets and try one of our lunch recommendations. Afterwards, if time allows and you want to hike, take a short ride in a 4x4 taxi shuttle up to a smaller village high in the mountains for a "warmup" hike on ancient trails linking 3 waterfalls.

Transfer time from Barcelona to Benasque: approx. 3 h 45 min.

Overnight: Benasque. 3* hotel (1st of 4 nights)

DAYS 2, 3 & 4: HIKING IN THE POSETS-MALADETA NATURAL PARK

From our base in Benasque, there are more hiking options of differing levels of difficulty and views, etc than any other single base anywhere in the Pyrenees. Our self-guided package of notes and maps will have plenty of choices - select one each day depending on your interests and local conditions. Here are some examples:

Mountain Huts - 2 different options to visit manned huts in impressive settings, starting point for many classic climbs to the many 3,000 meter plus summits all around them.

Passes to France - 2 different options, follow ancient trails used by smugglers, bandits and travellers to cross high passes between France and Spain, offering fantastic views throughout.

Pico Salvaguardia - an easy, non-technical ascent to a summit right on the France-Spain border, a fantastic viewpoint over the highest peaks in all the Pyrenees.

Meadows and lakes - a gentle option is to visit the Plan de Aiguallut, idyllic grassy meadows in the shadow of Aneto, traversed by the meanders of waters draining down from the highest summits in the Pyrenees. This hike can be easily extended to visit a lovely alpine lake just on the border with Catalunya. These hikes can also be combined with the hike to the Renclusa mountain hut. A more challenging but still easily doable option is to hike up the Estos Valley and detour to visit a remote set of glistening alpine lakes.

DAY 5: DEPARTURE AND END OF TOUR

For those without a rental car – we’ll arrange a taxi transfer to Barcelona or Zaragozaor or another destination of your choice.

BENASQUE - our favourite lodgings are in a 3* comfortable and characterful family-run hotel in the old quarter. A historic stone-built village with a fabulous setting in the heart of the Benas Valley, Benasque is home to the headquarters of the Spanish Mountaineering School and is the hub of a dynamic local tourism industry centered around outdoor adventure sports, nature and culture; many refer to it as the Spanish Pyrenees version of Chamonix in the French Alps!

We will be happy to provide specific details of our accommodations upon request.

NOTE: for those seeking an even higher standard of lodgings, a modern 4* hotel is available too.

Overall Level: 3 or "Moderate". Each day our self-guided trips offer an easier/shorter option of level 2 - 3 (easy to moderate), and a longer, more challenging option (3 – 4 ). The hikes described above are our preferred suggestions for reasonably fit hikers, but in the package of route options we provide, you’ll have a wider range of options, including some very easy ones if you just want to take it easy!

Remember, you can always hire a local mountain guide on any day if you want more of a challenge!

Distances: from 5 to 19 km (3.1 to 11.8 mi) depending on route

Elevation gain: from +200 to 1000 meters (+656 ft to +3281 ft), depending on route

Time: from 2 to 7 hours, depending on route choice

Terrain: Mostly hilly with occasional steep and/or rocky ascents/descents (use of hands not required!). Typical walking surfaces include medieval “paved” paths and sheep drovers' trails, forestry tracks, grassy meadows & paths and rocky mountain trails.

Benasque is approximately 3 hours 45 minutes drive from Barcelona and 2 hours 40 minutes from Zaragoza. There are high-speed AVE trains from Madrid to Zaragoza, taking less than 2 hours.

We can arrange a private transfer between Benasque and Zaragoza or Barcelona. Transfers can also be arranged to & from other areas of interest in northeast Spain such as Pamplona, Bilbao or San Sebastian.

We can also easily arrange a transfer between Benasque across the Spain-France border to/fromToulouse (3 hours 20 minutes), which has a major international airport.

Medieval mountain villages – our itinerary includes overnights and visits to various of these stone-built cradles of authentic rural Aragonese culture. You’ll be able to observe traditional lifestyles, architecture and customs, where local inhabitants harvest their fruit and vegetable orchards, and tend their livestock as in years gone by.

France’s Pyrenees National Park - just across the ridge and some hikes offer the chance to cross the border and visit this superb protected area!

Glorious views, exuberant flora and abundant fauna – a nature photographer’s dream. A great location for alpine flowers, including the famed Eidelweiss. Marmots and chamoix observe us from rocky perches and birds of prey soar overhead, including the Lammergeier – one of Europe’s rarest birds of prey.

Begin & end in Barcelona – explore the architectural, culinary and cultural jewels of Spain's most dynamic city.

Option to hire a local mountain guide on any hiking day - all our self-guided routes are designed to be safe but having a private local guide adds special value to your experience. A guide provides in-depth insight to local nature, fauna, flora, geology, customs and culture as well as adding an extra measure of safety if you want to do something a bit more adventurous!

BOOK, CUSTOMIZE OR CREATE

This sample itinerary has been designed to showcase just some of the main highlights of the Posets Maladeta Natural Park. It can be booked just as described above, but it’s also 100% customizable and can be used as the foundation around which we can build a personalized trip just for you Make it shorter or longer. Add rest days or mix hiking days with other adventure or cultural interest activities. We operate in a variety of areas on both the Spanish and French sides of the Pyrenees as well as northern Spain in general, so we can easily craft a completely personalized trip, combining differing activities and experiences in various locations. We want to create a memorable travel experience just for you! No itinerary is too complicated for us to arrange…any number of days, at any time of year, for any size group. Pick this or another of our suggested itineraries and we'll customize it to meet your party’s criteria...or…let’s work together with you to craft a personalized, tailor-made itinerary to suit your interests, level of physical challenge or technical difficulty, and other criteria. Just send us an email or send in our contact form describing your idea in as much detail as possible and we’ll get back to you…and together we’ll start making your dream become reality!

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Trekking in Posets-Maladeta Natural Park