More Pyrenees Magic

The Pyrenees is a vast span of mountain range offering so much walking which is why we offer you the choice of two Pyrenees holidays which are based in two beautiful parts of the Spanish Pyrenees. 

Our guides live in the Pyrenees for half of the year so this is their back garden- and that they want to show it off to you.

The Tena Valley is a valley located in the Spanish Pyrenees in the province of Huesca. It sits right below the border into the French Pyrenees. The valley is surrounded by many magnificent 3000m mountains, an abundance of mountain lakes, cascading rivers and waterfalls, beautiful lush green meadows full of wild flowers and numerous picturesque Pyreanean stone villages. 

It’s a picture postcard alpine Valley with a vast array of magnificent places to hike

Wild flowers of the Pyrenees 

Known as the flower garden of Europe the wild alpine flowers are absolutely stunning.

The Pyrenees is home to an abundance of species of wild flowers including 22 different orchids. Our holiday takes place in June to enable us to see the abundance of wild flowers that carpet the meadows and hill sides. Not far from our hotel the Lady Slipper orchid which is very rare can be found flowering for only 3 weeks. Our guides know where this is located and hope to show you this, as well as many others. 

Fauna

The Valle de Tena is home to a vast array of vultures and birds of prey.  During our walks we will have many griffin and bearded vultures circling gracefully above us and hopefully also see the Egyptian vultures as well as Red kites.

The Pyrenees is also home to marmots who roam above 1500m and it’s wonderful to watch them.

Our solos guided walking holiday will introduce you to the very best walking in this beautiful landscape.
This seven night holiday – led by our Spanish based guides Jill and Pete- shows off the best of this magnificent area.

Walking is moderate, with steep sections so some ascending and descending – and you should be walking fit. We walk for five days.

Join us on this sociable active holiday where we meet as strangers and depart as friends.

AND – why not spend a couple of days in Barcelona at the end of your trip. 

The price shown here excludes flights – no single supplement

We specialise in offering guided walking holidays for solos and singles in beautiful locations in both the UK and Europe. Solos and Singles Guided Walking is our unique speciality – unlike other walking holiday companies. We also design bespoke holidays for special groups.

What you get on a Secret Hills Solos Guided Walking Pyrenees Holiday

• You buy your own flights- we can assist with up to date information.
• Transfer from airport to Hotel Sabacos and return- a transfer that collects clients from Barcelona airport in a one time transfer for all those booked on the holiday
• Bed and breakfast in an ensuite sole occupancy room
• A three-course dinner on seven  nights at the hotel
• Guided walking for five days
• Any transport needed on the walks
• The services of a Secret Hills tour guide

• No sole occupancy supplement – the price shown on the website is the price you pay

Holiday Highlights 

• superb location in traditional in Aragon- far away from the madding crowd on the coast
• Fabulous walking in beautiful scenery- authentic mountain country of  Spain- well maintained footpath network
• a lovely village to explore
• authentic Spanish hotel but with all the modern facilities you would want
• a taste of Spanish food – the authentic cuisine of this region as well as International food
• our friendly tour guides to help you enjoy this area
• small groups
• our administration support

• Individual attention
• Our administration and management service
• Sole occupancy

What’s not included

• Lunch
• Entries to museums
• Any drinks you have in the hotel and out on the walks

Our base – The Pyrenean village of Panticosa  deep in the  Valle de Tena is or location for this holiday

It sits surrounded by beautiful high mountains and wooded hillsides. From the village you can see many vultures circling above you. The quaint village sits at 1100m altitude . and has many bars; cafes and restaurants,  as well as a few shops. 

Hotel

Our three star Hotel Sabocos – https://hotelsabocos.es/  is a wonderful Spanish family run hotel with only 25 rooms which gives that extremely friendly feel. The hotel has a fabulous terrace area to sit and enjoy a coffee or cold beer whilst looking out to the mountains.

Meals

Breakfast is buffet style with both hot and cold .

Dinner: Is 3 course a choice from  3 starters, 3 mains and 3 deserts. Our meal is accompanied by bread and water. The local house wine is very good and very cheap. All dietary requirements can be catered for so please advise when you book

Lunch

On 5 days you will need packed lunch. This can either be obtained from the hotel ( order each night with reception), or there’s a supermarket and a bakery 5 minutes walk from the hotel.

You can enjoy Wi-Fi throughout the hotel.  Our guests can enjoy the bar, terrace, lounge with a library, elevator, luggage storage, boot drying facilities, and more.

No sole occupancy supplement – the price shown on the website is the price you pay

The rooms

All rooms  are  en-suite. The Standard Rooms offer everything you need to enjoy a pleasant rest during your stay in rural Spain. If you enjoy a morning cuppa then please bring your own travel kettle.

Facilities:

• a reception desk
• free wi-fi in all public areas and bedrooms
• luggage storage
• outside terraces
• bar

Once you have arrived at the hotel after transfer from Barcelona airport we will organise five full day walks and one free day.

Walks will be directly from the hotel as well as taking transport to walks start. You have five full days walks guided and one free day- see Tour Details.

Your Tour Leaders

Jill Pinkerton and Pete van de Mussele lead this tour.

These are the walks that we offer in the Valle de Tena, Of course, weather ad your own abilities may change these walks, we may add others as the situation demands.

RESPOMUSO CIRCUIT

A delightful out- and back walk on the GR11 towards the Respomuso Refuge, where we circumnavigate the turquoise coloured lake. An incredible walk where we are surrounded by 3000 meter peaks.

PORTALET CIRCULAR

This is a  higher level circular walk with start and finish in France. For those who want to, there is the possibility to ascend to  the easy attainable Peña de Peyreget.

Along the way we pass two beautiful mountain lakes and we will have views into France as well as Spain.

SABOCOS CURCUIT

A stunning circular walk which gives you a mix of everything you might expect from a Pyrenees mountain walk. Rivers, forest, high alpine meadows, waterfalls, tarn and canyon (and possibly lots of marmots). This is a walk with start and finish from the hotel.

PUNTA DEL PACINO PEAK WALK

Start and finish in the picturesque Pyrenees village of Sallent de Gállego. First we go up to Pico Pacino for stunning views, then we traverse all the way around the mountain and  back into the quaint village of Sallent. 

BAÑOS DE PANTICOSA

An out- and back walk from an ancient spa resort. We follow the GR11 path along a cascading river and waterfalls till we reach the mountain lake of Bachimaña and the blue lakes. Hopefully today we ‘dip’ our feet in the cool mountain river.

Grade of walking

• This holiday walking programme is designed for good competent walkers on a mixture of terrains. We walk between 6 to 12 miles a day and potentially average around 500 metres ascent/ descent. Ascents are taken slowly to allow plenty time to absorb the magnificent  environment around you.
• The walks on this trip vary between moderate and challenging and each day involves a fair amount of ascent and descents.  The holiday requires a reasonable amount of fitness, ideally with some previous walking experience in similar conditions.
• Underfoot conditions are generally good and we walk on mature paths and tracks.

Exclusions

Although our leaders are well trained and experienced in dealing with different capabilities of our walking clients, if they have any concerns about any clients ability or suitability to undertake safely any walking activity we plan or they feel that participation of an individual may affect the groups safety and cohesion, then they have full permission to exclude that client from an activity.

They will try at all times to provide an alternative suggested activity, though this may involve the client in additional local cost.

We rarely have to enforce this above recommendation, but it is a sensible and necessary protection for the individual client, the group and the leaders.

The Pyrenees ( Pirineos) 

The Pyrenees mountain range separates the Iberian Peninsula from the rest of Europe, stretching more than 430km between Spain and France and rising higher than 3400m in elevation.  The Pyrenees are a relatively young mountain belt, being part of the Alpine mountain chain, but contains much older rocks than the Alps.

The Pyrenees contain some of Europe’s finest wild landscapes, of immense appeal not only to walkers but also to birdwatchers, butterflies and flower lovers.  There’s acres of alpine flowers of such rich variety which carpet the beautiful meadows and valleys.

The Pyrenees has a vast network of very good trails and paths which connect mountain villages, valleys and mountain passes. It’s an absolute walkers paradise and with 360 degree vistas as far as the eye can see.

The Pyrenees has it all, from towering majestic mountains, rolling hillsides, beautiful forests, carpeted meadows of flowers and an abundance of cascading rivers and waterfalls. 

The Pyrenees are not easy to access by air, it involves a good drive to access them which is why they are unspoilt and not crowded unspoilt and not crowded.