A Stroll in the Pyrenees

Leisurely routes reveal the high mountains
 

Holiday Highlights

Boutique experience | Stay at a high-quality, family-run hotel with spa.
Choice of trails | A range of leisurely routes to lead you through the mountains.
Scenic rack railway | Experience the dramatic journey to the sanctuary of Núria.
Traditional cuisine | Authentic Catalan dishes showcasing regional produce.
Convenient access | Enjoy easy travel from Barcelona via local train.

Price from
£1050pp
A Stroll in the Pyrenees . 7 nights
Price from
£1050pp
A Stroll in the Pyrenees . 7 nights
Price from
£1050pp
 

Holiday information

 

A walking holiday in the Pyrenees

Enjoy wonderful views and excellent hospitality at a boutique spa hotel perched above the traditional village of Ribes de Freser. This holiday allows you to experience authentic Pyrenean life as you savour contrasting, leisurely routes at your own pace.

Your hotel serves as the perfect base for scenic walks and access to the high mountains, providing you with unparalleled vistas of the unique surrounding landscapes. An experience you won’t want to miss is the rack railway journey to Núria, where the mountains rise to meet you after a picturesque incline of 1,000 metres.

In this lesser-known mountainous region, the trails are usually very quiet, and there is a surprising array of gentle options. As you discover new hidden corners and inspirational viewpoints daily, you can look forward to evenings spent relaxing over authentic Catalan cuisine, from delicious cured meats to locally caught trout to the irresistible regional wines.

Easily accessible from Barcelona by local train, this holiday also offers a seamless travel experience, avoiding the lengthy transfers that often characterise mountainous locales.

 

 

Itinerary

The key to Inntravel holidays is flexibility. You can start on the day of your choice and are free to add extra nights.
There’s no fixed itinerary, so take your pick of our suggested walking routes as the mood takes you.
  • The average maximum daytime temperatures and monthly rainfall relate to the nearest weather station and are intended as a guide only.
    Average temperatures and rainfall
      Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
    °C 8 9 12 13 17 21 25 25 20 16 11 9
    mm 62 59 84 124 141 111 75 75 96 107 97 62
  • An introduction

    The Pyrenees are the ultimate walking destination, with thrilling routes that reveal high peaks, traditional stone villages, and a wide variety of flora and fauna. This holiday offers a different take on this unspoiled region – foregoing taxing hikes in favour of gentle but wonderfully rewarding strolls.

    Some of our recommended routes lead directly from your hotel, while others make use of the region’s spectacular rack railway and local trains to explore further afield (pay locally for all rail travel).

  • Choice of routes: 6km to 8.5km
    Explore the beautiful surroundings of your mountain base.

    Ribesaltes & the Town Promenade (grade 1): 6km, 2.5hrs; ascent/descent 240m
    This figure-of-eight route makes for a great introductory walk. Setting out from your hotel, follow a quiet lane above Ribes de Freser and savour panoramic views of the surrounding hills. Your return route into the village brings you onto the Town Promenade – a plane tree-lined path that was created to provide access to Ribes’ springs when it became popular as a spa destination. Pause for refreshments in the village before returning to your hotel.

    Ribes de Freser to Ermita de Sant Antoni (grade 1-2): 8.5km, 3.5hrs; ascent/descent 480m
    A more challenging option that weaves up through woodland to reach the hill-top hermitage perched above Ribes de Freser. Enjoy the superb, 360-degree views over the village and beyond – and perhaps break for a picnic – before snaking your way back down the hillside to Ribes.

    Planoles to Ribes de Freser (grade 1-2): 8km, 3.5hrs; ascent 290m/descent 360m
    Planoles – a mountain hamlet where life hasn’t changed for centuries – is the starting point for this relaxing route. Having arrived here by local train, you walk back to Ribes along the course of the railway line and Rigard river.

     

  • Choice of routes: 3.5km to 6km

    Ribes de Freser is the starting point for the dramatic rack railway journey up the Núria Valley via Queralbs. Take full advantage of this to enjoy one or more of the following routes – or simply to enjoy the spectacular train ride and visit to Núria itself. At 1,960 metres above sea level, and surrounded by high peaks, the Sanctuary of Núria is one of Catalonia’s holiest and most remarkable sites.

    Queralbs to Estret del Forn (grade 1): 5km, 2hrs; ascent/descent 105m
    From the timeless mountain village of Queralbs, a leisurely trail leads to Estret del Forn – a narrow gorge forged through the rock by the River Tosa. Return by the same route and spend time exploring Queralbs itself before catching the train back down to Ribes.

    Queralbs to Ribes de Freser (grade 1-2): 6km, 2.5hrs; ascent 250m/descent 470m
    Also beginning in Queralbs, this route descends gradually down the valley via Pyrenean hamlets and exceptional viewpoints – as you walk you may well spot the little blue trains of the rack railway on their spectacular climb through the mountains.

    Circular walk to the east of Núria (grade 1-2): 3.5km, 1.5hrs; ascent/descent 185m
    This third option mixes pine forest with ski slopes and grassy pastures on the valley's eastern side, as well as featuring an artistic Stations of the Cross section.

    Circular walk to the west of Núria (grade 2): 4km, 1.5hrs; ascent/descent 195m
    A short but exhilarating circuit traversing the steep, forested, western side of the valley, where views can bring about a sharp intake of breath. Descend via a rocky trail, back to the valley's centrepiece lake.

  • Ripoll & Puigcerdà

    Alternatively, take the local train to discover the towns of Ripoll and Puigcerdà. Although there's great walking to be had from both destinations, these are lovely places to discover in their own right, with superb architecture, inviting restaurants, and pretty streets perfect for pottering.

    Visit & walk from Ripoll (grade 1-2): 6km, 2.5hrs; ascent/descent 260m
    Handsome Ripoll is a fascinating town to explore, and of particular note is its Benedictine monastery, considered one of the finest examples of Romanesque architecture anywhere in Spain. We also suggest a circular walk from Ripoll, taking you onto the hill above the town and up to the viewpoint at Sant Roc, with great panoramas all around.

    Visit & walk from Puigcerdà (grade 1): 7.5km, 2.5hrs; ascent/descent 65m
    Continue on the local train higher into the mountains to visit the Cerdanya – a historic region that spans both France and Spain. Your specific target is the traditional town of Puigcerdà, home to one of the largest mountain valleys in Europe. Take time to stroll around the town before journeying by bus or on foot to Llívia, a Spanish enclave within France. Llívia is a delightful village, crowned by a ruined castle whose 360-degree views extend over the entire Cerdanya region. Return to Puigcerdà by bus, then catch the train back to Ribes.

 

Accommodation

Enjoy the best of both worlds at your hotel – a secluded and peaceful setting above Ribes de Freser, with the village centre and its amenities just a 10-minute walk away.
Resguard dels Vents Hotel-Spa
 

Extend your stay

 
Prices & travel options
All prices are in £ sterling (GBP). If you'd like to see what they equate to in your currency, use the converter. For general information on pricing, see the 'your holiday price explained' page.
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  • 7 Nights: 01 April 2025 - 26 October 2025

    Start any day | End by latest date(s) shown above

    Starting Price Single room
    1 - 13 Apr 2025 £1070 £620
    14 - 20 Apr 2025 not available not available
    21 Apr - 31 May 2025 £1120 £610
    1 - 24 Jun 2025 £1185 £645
    25 Jun - 3 Jul 2025 not available not available
    4 - 31 Jul 2025 £1240 £680
    1 - 10 Aug 2025 £1195 £685
    11 - 24 Aug 2025 not available not available
    25 Aug - 30 Sep 2025 £1195 £685
    1 - 19 Oct 2025 £1050 £605
    3rd & 4th person discount -£20
    Single traveller supplement £20

    Includes accommodation, meals and services integral to the holiday as described, plus walking notes and maps, but no travel from the UK, nor any connecting travel from the airport unless stated below.

    Book your flights through us and we'll find the best route and times to suit you. Please contact us to find out more about our flight booking service. We can also book connecting travel - see below.

  • Extra nights (£ per person per night) in a double or single room

    Resguard dels Vents Hotel-Spa , Ribes de Freser (B&B) Double room Single room
    01 Apr - 30 Apr 2025 £105 £210
    01 May - 03 May 2025 £120 £240
    04 May - 19 Jun 2025 £105 £210
    20 Jun - 26 Oct 2025 £120 £240
  • RECOMMENDED AIRPORT(S):
    Barcelona, Girona 
    As an alternative to flying, we can arrange rail travel from London  

    Travelling from the UK

    Travelling from outside the UK

    If you are flying from outside Europe,  we recommend flying via Barcelona. To discuss onward connecting travel to the start of your holiday, please contact us.

    Outward route Airline
    Belfast Intl. - Barcelona easyJet,  jet2 
    Belfast Intl. - Girona jet2 
    Outward route Airline
    Birmingham - Barcelona jet2,  Ryanair,  Vueling 
    Birmingham - Girona jet2,  Ryanair,  TUI 
    Outward route Airline
    Bournemouth - Girona Ryanair 
    Outward route Airline
    Bristol - Barcelona easyJet,  Ryanair 
    Bristol - Girona jet2,  Ryanair,  TUI 
    Outward route Airline
    Nottingham East Midlands - Barcelona Ryanair 
    Nottingham East Midlands - Girona jet2,  Ryanair 
    Outward route Airline
    Edinburgh - Barcelona Ryanair,  Vueling 
    Edinburgh - Barcelona (via Paris) Air France 
    Outward route Airline
    Glasgow - Barcelona easyJet,  jet2 
    Glasgow - Barcelona (via Amsterdam Schiphol) KLM 
    Glasgow - Girona jet2 
    Outward route Airline
    Glasgow Prestwick - Barcelona Ryanair 
    Glasgow Prestwick - Girona Ryanair 
    Outward route Airline
    Leeds Bradford - Girona Ryanair 
    Leeds Bradford - Barcelona jet2 
    Leeds Bradford - Barcelona (via Amsterdam Schiphol) KLM 
    Leeds Bradford - Girona jet2 
    Outward route Airline
    Liverpool - Barcelona easyJet,  Ryanair,  Vueling 
    Liverpool - Girona Ryanair 
    Outward route Airline
    London City - Barcelona British Airways 
    Outward route Airline
    Gatwick - Barcelona British Airways,  easyJet,  Iberia,  Vueling 
    Gatwick - Girona TUI 
    Outward route Airline
    Heathrow - Barcelona British Airways,  Vueling 
    Outward route Airline
    Luton - Barcelona easyJet,  Ryanair,  Vueling 
    Luton - Girona Ryanair 
    Outward route Airline
    London Southend - Barcelona easyJet 
    London Southend - Girona Ryanair 
    Outward route Airline
    Stansted - Barcelona Ryanair 
    Stansted - Girona jet2,  Ryanair 
    Outward route Airline
    Manchester - Barcelona easyJet,  jet2,  Ryanair,  Vueling 
    Manchester - Girona jet2,  Ryanair,  TUI 
    Outward route Airline
    Newcastle - Barcelona easyJet,  Ryanair 
    Newcastle - Barcelona (via Amsterdam Schiphol) KLM 
    Newcastle - Girona jet2,  Ryanair,  TUI 
    Outward route Airline
    Southampton - Barcelona (via Paris) Air France 
    Travelling from outside the UK

    If you are flying from outside Europe,  we recommend flying via Barcelona. To discuss onward connecting travel to the start of your holiday, please contact us.

    This list of flight options should be used as a guide only, and you should check each airline’s website for current routes, frequency and schedules. Not all flights operate daily, and may not run for the entire season. You should also heed the latest flight arrival time and earliest flight departure time stated in the connecting travel section, as it may not be possible to arrange connecting travel outside these times. Please do not book your flights until we have confirmed your accommodation to you. Alternatively, our expert reservations team will be happy to offer advice and to make flight bookings for you for any of the options listed above. We charge £35 per person for our flight booking service. Your flights are then covered by our package-booking conditions, which give you greater protection in the event of delay or cancellation, as well as providing ATOL cover.

  • Prices below are based on 2 people travelling together. If you are travelling solo or as a party of 3 or more and our arrangements include a taxi, please contact us for prices; additional passengers often pay less.

    Unless otherwise stated, connecting travel by rail or bus tends to be from the city centre station, rather than from its airport, and connections between the two should be paid for locally.

    Where a price range is given, the price you pay depends on your date of travel.

    Connecting travel options - flying via Barcelona

    Outward route Price per person Latest flight
    arrival time
    rail Barcelona Sants to Ribes de Freser (2h20, pay locally), taxi Ribes de Freser to hotel (0h10) some elements included 1700
    Homeward route Price per person Earliest flight
    departure time
    taxi hotel to Ribes de Freser (0h10), rail Ribes de Freser to Barcelona Sants (2h20) some elements included 1300

    Connecting travel options - flying via Girona

    Outward route Price per person Latest flight
    arrival time
    bus Girona airport to Vic (0h50, pay locally), rail Vic to Ribes de Freser (1h, pay locally), taxi Ribes de Freser station to hotel (0h10) some elements included 1730
    Homeward route Price per person Earliest flight
    departure time
    taxi hotel to Ribes de Freser station (0h10), rail Ribes de Freser to Vic (1h, pay locally), bus Vic to Girona airport (0h50, pay locally) some elements included 1630
What is included
  • 7 nights
  • 3 dinners, 2 picnics, 7 breakfasts
  • Route notes and maps  
  • GPS navigation 
 
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FAQs

If you have any questions relating to this or any other Inntravel holiday, our friendly travel experts will be happy to help. You might also find our General FAQs section helpful.
  • Yes, prior to going on holiday you will be able to download GPX tracks so that you can follow your route on your smartphone or dedicated GPS device if you wish. It’s entirely up to you whether or not you use them – our detailed, step-by-step route notes remain the principal means of guiding you from A to B – but we provide them as a secondary means of navigation for additional reassurance when walking.
  • We can book a wide range of routes from the UK with a variety of airlines. As well as being more convenient for you to book all elements of your holiday together, it also means that we’ll accept liability for your travel arrangements, so if things go wrong, such as the airline going bust, we’ll make suitable alternative arrangements for you. The fee for this service is £35 per person (£15 for children aged 2-11). More information on flights >
  • Absolutely! We are experts in tailored rail travel. Making use of sleeper trains or stopovers in cities along the route, we can get you from London to virtually anywhere in mainland Europe. We can even make arrangements to Mallorca, Sicily and Norway with a combination of ferries and rail. Please contact us to discuss your plans.
  • We can’t book flights that originate outside the UK, but if you wanted to book your own flights to London (or elsewhere in the UK), we can make all onward travel arrangements (including flights) from there. Alternatively, if you are booking your own flights to an airport in continental Europe that’s appropriate for your holiday, we can book onward rail travel and/or taxis. More information about how we can tailor holidays for customers outside the UK >
  • Since our holidays are self-guided, we recommend calling us for a chat about your plans before making a booking, especially if it’s the first time you’ve booked with us.
    The price panel shows the supplement for a single room and also the single traveller charge (this covers (luggage) transfers and other costs which are usually shared between two people).
  • Once you’ve decided on your exact itinerary (our travel experts will be happy to offer advice), you need to provide us with your party’s details, either by phone or via our booking form. At this point we also ask you to pay a deposit so that we can secure a room for you immediately on confirming availability with the hotel(s). If it turns out that we can’t secure the accommodation for the holiday you’ve requested, or offer an acceptable alternative, we’ll refund your deposit promptly and in full. After booking your accommodation and other key elements, we'll then book your travel (or you can do so if you’re making your own arrangements) and send you a Booking Confirmation and Invoice.

    More information about the booking process >
    Information about accommodation, general practicalities and more >
    Booking conditions >
  • Yes, it’s something we insist on, even for holidays in the UK. The vast majority of holidays go smoothly, but when things go wrong, it can be expensive to put them right. Buying a new pair of walking boots after your suitcase is stolen mightn’t seem so bad, but the bill for being airlifted down from a mountain with a broken leg or flown home while still recovering from an illness or accident can incur a five or six-figure bill.

    Many insurers offer travel insurance (you can find details on our insurance page of a policy that you may like to consider if you are a UK resident), but you do need to make sure that you’re covered for medical emergencies – including falling ill with Covid-19 while on holiday – and repatriation. We also recommend that you are covered for other eventualities, such as cancellation and loss of luggage and passports.

    When you purchase a policy, be sure to check that it covers the activities you'll be doing on holiday and that it is adequate for your own individual needs.
  • It is your responsibility to ensure you are in possession of the correct travel documents, with the correct validity. If you’re a UK citizen, you need a full British passport to travel to Spain, but not a visa (please note, however, that a new travel authorisation system is being introduced). If you are a citizen of another country, you’ll need to check requirements with the national embassy or your own consulate.

    Current information regarding vaccinations and travel health advice for UK citizens can be found through the Travel Health Pro website. You must make sure you have adequate insurance cover for illness, accidents and repatriation (see the insurance question). You should also apply for a Global Health Insurance Card (GHIC) if your EHIC has expired (if you have a still-valid EHIC, you can use this until it expires).
  • (Castilian) Spanish is one of several official languages; Catalan, Basque and Gallego have equal status in Catalonia, the Basque Country and Galicia, respectively. The currency is the Euro. Spanish time is GMT/UTC + 1. It uses Daylight Saving Time, so in summer is on BST + 1.
  • For information on the practicalities of travel now that the UK is no longer part of the European Union, visit www.gov.uk/visit-eu-switzerland-norway-iceland-liechtenstein.
  • The UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) provides up-to-date, country-by-country travel advice, as well as information on security, local laws, passports and visas for UK citizens.

    If you live outside the UK, see our essential travel information page for a list of relevant websites.
  • You are the best judge of your child’s/children’s capabilities. We are happy to take bookings for families of older children/teenagers if they walk regularly, love the outdoors and are comfortable with the distances and ascent/descent involved. Please note that the bedrooms at most of the accommodation we use will normally only sleep a maximum of 3 people, and sometimes only 2.
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