The Arán Valley is a Spanish region with its own personality. It is in full Central pyrenees. In fact, thirty percent of its territory is within more than two thousand meters of altitude and its northern part serves as a border with French. To the south and west it borders Catalonia (to which it belongs) and Aragon respectively, while to the east it does so with the Lleida region of Pallars Sobira.
The complex orography of the Aran Valley has led to the fact that it has always maintained a certain degree of autonomy (in winter it was isolated from the rest of Spain) and even developed its own dialect derived from the Occitan language of southern France: the aranese. But if this region stands out for something, it is for its imposing and wonderful nature, with the ski resort of Baqueira-Beret, as well as for its enormous monumental heritage. Within the latter, the numerous romanesque temples that are scattered throughout its thirty-three locations. If you want to know the Arán Valley, we invite you to follow us.
What to see and what to do in the Aran Valley
The capital of the region is Viyella fabric, which also communicates it by road with France. Therefore, we are going to begin our journey through this town, located on the shores of the Garonne river, and then continue with others that are also worth visiting. All of them respond to the traditional style of the Lleida mountain, with stone houses and slate roofs in narrow and steep streets.
Viella, capital of the Aran Valley
This small town of barely four thousand inhabitants is, however, very important from a historical point of view. And this is reflected in its many monuments. Own old town it is in itself, with its medieval houses and narrow streets.
In addition, in it is the church of san miguel, a beautiful sample of the so-called Aranese Gothic built between the XNUMXth and XNUMXth centuries. And, next to this, the other many temples that respond to the most genuine Catalan Romanesque. We are talking about churches such as those of San Martín de Aubert, San Pedro, Santo Tomás or San Martín de Gausach.
However, if you want to know what life was like in the towns of Aran, you must enter the Valley Museum, an ethnographic gem found in the General Martinhon Tower, a manor house built in the seventeenth century. And, if you want to complement it, you can also visit the Wool Museum, which reflects the importance of the textile industry in the development of the area.
On the other hand, if you like skiing, you have very close to Viella la Baqueira-Beret station, with more than one hundred kilometers of tracks for all variants of this sport, including the snowboard.
On the other hand, if you prefer something simpler like hiking, you will be interested to know that the municipality of Viella is entirely in the Aigues Tortes National Park and San Mauricio Lake, an extensive high mountain territory with an extraordinary environmental wealth. You can do different routes through it, but in all of them you will see extraordinary landscapes of glacial lakes such as the Cake of Rius and high peaks like the Peguero Peak, the Montardo or Great Enchanted.
Among those routes, the so-called Fire cars, which consists of touring the park's refuges and that you will have to do in several days, since it is fifty-five kilometers long and has a cumulative difference of nine thousand meters.
Salardu
This town is the administrative center of the High Aran, which, together with the previous one, is the most important municipality in this wonderful region. Salardú is a small town of barely six hundred inhabitants that, however, is in a privileged location, just four kilometers from Baqueira-Beret and surrounded by peaks such as the mauberme or baciver.
But above all, this small town in the Aran Valley holds a treasure. It's about the Romanesque church of San Andrés, built in the XNUMXth century. On the outside, the impressive side portal with five archivolts and the octagonal bell tower stand out, which was added in the XNUMXth century and ends in a belfry.
Regarding the interior of the temple, it is decorated with seventeenth-century wall paintings and dominated by the carving of the Christ of Salardú, dated in the twelfth century and equally Romanesque. Finally, next to this church you will find the coquette Plaza Mayor, with numerous bars and restaurants.
Nail
Very close to the previous town, you will find Unha, a population of just one hundred inhabitants where you can visit the Romanesque church of Santa Eulalia, from the XNUMXth century, although its octagonal bell tower is from the XNUMXth century, and the Co de Brastet, an old manor house from the Renaissance period.
escunhau
What was said for Unha could help us to advise you what to see in this town. It also has just one hundred and ten inhabitants, and it also has a XNUMXth century Romanesque church, that of San Pedro, and with an aristocratic house, Co de Perejoan, although this was built in the fourteenth century.
Bossost
Located on the banks of the Garonne River and very close to the border with France, you have this small town full of charm, with its traditional houses with black roofs. It also houses a Romanesque wonder, the Church of the Assumption of Mary, built in the XNUMXth century and one of the best preserved in the entire Arán valley. It has a basilica floor plan and stands out for its north portico, with a black marble tympanum and a pantocrator.
Furthermore, Bosòst is a place of reference for hikers. Numerous routes depart from it, among which the so-called Protector of the Six Hermitages and the one that leads to the remains of the medieval castle of Soala de Casteràs. In one of the caves next to it, a primitive chapel has also recently been discovered.
Bausen, a journey into the past of the Aran Valley
It is one of the most curious towns in the Aran Valley for its old stone houses and black slate roofs that will make you feel in the middle Middle Ages. How could it be otherwise, Bausen also has a wonderful church, although in its case it was built in the XNUMXth century. It is that of Sant Pèir ad Víncula, with a classic-style façade and a Roman-era stele next to its entrance.
On the other hand, in the small town of the Arán valley is the Carlac's Enchanted Forest, a set of thousand-year-old beech trees that twist on their trunks forming a magical landscape. On the way to it, you can also see the little hermitage of San Roc.
Bausen even has a romantic story. In the XNUMXs, a couple loved each other dearly, but the local priest refused to marry them because they were distant relatives. I asked them for a large sum of money to do it and they did not have it.
Despite everything, they decided to live together and had a child. But at the age of thirty-three, the woman, whose name was Teresa, died. Again the priest refused to bury her in the cemetery. But this time the residents of Bausen, outraged, gave him a burial with all honors in the civil part of the cemetery. There you can still see his grave, in which, they say, his son frequently lays flowers.
Arties
Also in the municipality of Alto Arán you will find this town of barely five hundred inhabitants and famous for its hot springs. They are sulfurized and you can enjoy them in a swimming pool complex open to the public.
Afterwards, we recommend that you take a walk through the picturesque main square from the town, where you will see a monument to the Bruna de los Pirineos breed cow. And also that you visit the impressive Romanesque church of Santa María de Arties, perfectly preserved, as well as that of Sant Joan, Gothic and with an octagonal bell tower. The latter is also a museum with exhibitions on the Aranese culture.
Other towns in the Arán valley
Although the ones we have recommended are the most interesting towns in the area, you can also visit others that you will love as well. For example, Canejan, which offers you one of the best views of the valley; garós, with its church of San Julián, or tredos, the last one before reaching Baqueira-Beret and which has a hotel that can only be accessed on foot or by snowmobile.
Gastronomy of the Arán Valley
You cannot leave the Arán Valley without trying its delicious cuisine. Being a mountainous and cold area, Aranese cuisine is strong and tasty. Typical products include: miel; The Sausages like the sausage, the salchichón (which they call xolis) And the black bolh, a recipe for blood sausage; the jams and cheese made with raw cow's milk such as brosat.
For its part, the typical dish par excellence in the valley is the Aranese pot, a caloric and very tasty stew that is prepared with broth, pork, beef and chicken, pasta, vegetables and legumes. Similar to this is the casolada, with potatoes, vegetables, and pork ribs and bacon. You can also order the stew, which has game meat, onion, garlic, red wine, thyme, bay leaf and pepper. A good example of the latter is the civet of senglar, which is made with wild boar.
Other classic recipes in Aran are the patarns, a simple potato soup, bread from the day before, oil and salt; the cheeky, a homemade mashed potatoes; the coquela chicken, which is prepared with carrots, leeks, celery, garlic and onion, or the duck confit, inherited from French cuisine.
As for pastries, we advise you to try the trunks, some fried pasta with anise grains. And also the coquilhons, which are made with flour, sugar, eggs and liqueurs. All this without forgetting the popular crespets.
What is the best time for you to visit the Aran Valley
The region belongs in its great majority to the Atlantic river basin. The Garonne river runs through it to make a difficult journey and lead to the French Gascony, Near Bordeaux. For this reason, the climate of the Arán Valley is Ocean, with cold winters and abundant snow together with mild summers that barely exceed fourteen degrees in the mountains and seventeen in the plains.
But, more important than the weather when recommending a time for you to travel to the Aran Valley is the reason for your visit. If you want to ski, logically the best time for you to go is winter or spring. However, if what you are looking for is to know its beautiful towns and its wonderful Romanesque route, while hiking, the right time for you to visit is summer. In any case, all the seasons of the year are good for you to discover this unique place.
How to get to the Aran Valley
The Lleida region does not have communication by rail or airport. The closest are Lleida and of Tarbes, in France, which are 165 and 161 kilometers respectively. Regarding the train, the closest station is the Luchon, Gallic town that is 40 kilometers away.
Instead, you have buses from the nearest cities such as Barcelona, Lleida, Zaragoza or Tarragona. But, if you prefer to travel in your own car, there are mainly three routes. From Pallars, you have the road C-28, which crosses the entire valley through the Bonaigua pass to the border of Pont de Rei. From Ribagorza, it is the N-230 that joins it with Arán through the Viella tunnel. Finally, from France, the best route is the one that comes along the N-125 and which becomes, after crossing the aforementioned border of Pont de Rei, in the N-230.
In conclusion, the Arán Valley is a beautiful region of the Lleida Pyrenees that has everything to conquer you. To their wonderful mountain scenery and its ski slopes adds an impressive monumental heritage, with special importance of its romanesque route, and a gastronomy as forceful as it is delicious. All this without forgetting its excellent hotel offer. Don't you want to meet him?