The best things to see in the Aran Valley: most beautiful towns

To begin with, I will admit that since I discovered it many years ago, I consider the Valle de Aran as one of the most beautiful corners of Spanish geography.

Located in the Pyrenees of Catalonia, to the North of the Lleida province, its location north of the mountain range provides landscapes with great lushness and greenery.

Due to this orientation, the Valle de Aran It is actually geographically located in France, and you will arrive after crossing the very long Vielha Tunnel.

Therefore, the waters of its rivers head north to flow into the French Atlantic.

But what I like most about this Pyrenean valley that hosts the best and most prestigious ski resort in Spain, Baqueira Beret, are their pretty towns with a very uniform architecture.

Most beautiful towns in the Aran Valley in the Pyrenees

Indeed, in Vielha, which is the capital of Valle de Aran, and in other small towns that extend along the valley and the slopes of the mountains that surround it, all the buildings preserve the characteristics Aranese architecture.

What Aranese architecture is like in the Aran Valley

These are buildings with exposed stone facades, wooden windows and doors and slate roofs.

And that is whether they are old buildings, some of which date back to the Middle Ages, as one of the most modern apartment buildings that have been built during the last decades due to the tourist boom of the ski resort.

In this way the villages of the Aran Valley configure some architectural ensembles with great charm, which is also caused by the presence of small romanesque churches that show native architecture.

Furthermore, the wealth generated by the aforementioned ski resort means that all the towns are very well maintained, with stone roads and many flowers on the facades of the houses and in different corners of them.

In my recent trip to the Aran Valley I had the opportunity to walk through some of these pretty towns, and thus discover its beautiful corners, which you will see captured in the photographs that accompany this report.

They are towns that reach their greatest tourist peak during the winter season, during which they are quite crowded because numerous people have settled there. restaurants which are very frequented by skiers.

If you visit them outside of the winter season, you will walk through them almost without vehicles or the presence of people, and you will be able to contemplate beautiful scenes of country architecture.

Vielha in Aran Valley

Specifically in Vielha, the aforementioned capital where about 5.000 inhabitants reside, half of the population of the entire country. Valle de AranIn addition to visiting the church of san miguel, which dates back to the 12th century, you must walk through the streets that run along the river.

Although we currently appreciate the charm of exposed stone facades, which are the majority in the houses of the valley, the truth is that in the Middle Ages the way to display wealth was, on the contrary, whitewashing said facades.

Still in Vielha We can see some example of a historic building that maintains its heritage with its whitewashed façade.

Arties in Aran Valley

In Myself excursion through the Aran Valley To see pretty towns we head east along the road that goes up to Baqueira Beret.

Thus, in Artsiesas well as pretty country architecture of all its buildings, you have the church of Santa María de Arties, which centuries ago was surrounded by a walled enclosure of which you can still see the remains of some canvas.

Salardu in Aran Valley

But when it comes to church, perhaps the most notable one is in the nearby town of Salardu.

La church of San Andrés, with three naves and a large bell tower, in its interior apses it shows some late gothic painting which recovered at the end of last year.

Bagergue in Aran Valley

Already heading up the ascent towards Baqueira you find Bagerge, through whose narrow streets it is worth getting lost appreciating the characteristic rural architecture.

En Bagerge you can also visit the small ethnographic museum Eth Curra, a private initiative of Philip Moga, who in 1959 was Spanish ski champion,

In this museum a wide collection of objects is preserved, equipment and tools used in the past in the Aran Valley.

In the excursion to the Aran Valley I did not have the opportunity to expand route of beautiful towns with the visit of others that extend through the valley along the road that from Vielha He heads towards France.

Bossóst in Aran Valley

But for my next trip I have taken note that Bossóst It is also a town that is worth visiting, and a good reflection of this is that there are many stores remembrances which are frequented by French neighbors who visit.

En Bossóst there is also a notable romanesque church of the 12th century, and in the nearby Vilamos there ecomuseum, Joanchiquet House, which shows a traditional Aranese house.

In sum, the beautiful towns in the Aran Valley, with its homogeneous rural architecture and framed by mountainous green landscapes, as I said at the beginning, make up one of the most charming corners that you can find in Spain.

Finally, facing your getaway to the Aran Valley, riding a booking.com can search hotels in Vielha and its surroundings.

Photos Aran Valley in the Pyrenees of Catalonia

Here you have more photos of corners of beautiful towns in the Aran Valley, In the Pyrenees of Catalonia.