The holiday season is almost over, so it’s high time to plan the next one! Maybe our experiences from a recent trip to Spain will provide you with some inspiration.

We often combine going to the seaside with going to the mountains, so that there is something for everybody: a bit of water fun, beach laziness, active time in more moderate temperatures, and some adrenaline-rich attractions. Our family ranges from the rather small (4 years old), through early teens, to almost adult (16 years old), so we have to accommodate many tastes and levels of physical ability.

This year was no different. Since we wanted to see the eclipse, we’ve chosen Spain. We spent the first week on a pleasant camping near Miami Platja, then traveled near Alcaniz for the eclipse itself. Whoever says it’s a spectacular sight is right—if you have the chance, don’t miss the next chance, 2nd of August 2027 in Spain->Egypt!

But here I’d like to focus on the second part of the trip, where we visited the Pyrenees, or rather a small fragment of the mountains. Unlike on the coast (which is very hot & humid in August), the temperatures there were moderate, but that also meant occasional rain/thunderstorm, as is expected. We’ve chosen Panticosa as our base, a small town best known as one of Spain’s top skiing destinations. In summer, it also offers many activities; during our week there, we didn’t manage to try them all.

As for logistics, Panticosa is reachable in under 4 hours from Barcelona. A car is a must; there’s no convenient public transport. Here’s what I’ve found that the valley offers, and our experiences from what we’ve tried!

Canyon walkways in Panticosa

The Pasarelas De Panticosa, a series of bridges & cliffside walkways, is one of Panticosa’s main attractions. Note that you must be at least 7 years old / 130 cm tall to enjoy the attraction. It’s a rather short walk (1h round trip); tickets are 3 euros per person. It’s a worthwhile expense: the views are great, and walking high in a canyon is a unique experience. Everybody (age-appropriate) enjoyed it!

Hikes from the Panticosa gondola

Panticosa has one lift that operates in the summer: the Telecabina Panticosa. It takes you to over 1800 meters of altitude, from where you can do several hikes. We took the shortest route to the Ibón de Sabocos, a picturesque glacial lake. The hike is 2 hours two-way. The surroundings are rather serene, with scarce plants/bushes and a dominance of rocks. Overall, the hike was nice, although it got quite hot (despite the altitude)—after all, that’s Spain!

You can extend the hike by going to Ibon de Asnos, which is a bit higher up. A good option for a flexible trip, although the surroundings feel a bit moon-like.

If you’ll be coming to Panticosa in 2027, you might get the chance to try the longest alpine coaster in the world, which is currently being built.

Via Ferratas

If you like climbing, there’s one Via Ferrata in the Tena valley itself, quickly reachable from the nearby towns, including Panticosa. The El Escuacho Via Ferrata has three sections; the first is a steel-line bridge over a canyon, definitely an interesting experience, and quite easy to pass—marked as K1/K2 difficulty.

Then there’s a harder and longer section, doable in an hour-and-a-half or so, climbing a vertical wall. This section is K3, which translates to C on the Italian scale. Finally, there’s a section that crosses the gorge (that we already passed in the beginning) twice, with some overhangs, which has difficulty K4.

I did the first two sections, and that was just right for me—I’m not ready to conquer K4s just yet ;).

And if you’re starting with Via Ferratas, there’s a perfect training ground: a K1 Escarrilla trail that goes up a highly inclined wall. You can get used to how the gear works, how to clip into cables, and what it feels like to climb a cliff.

Other Via Ferratas are reachable in about an hour’s drive.

Adrenaline rush on ziplines

If you like ziplines, you’re in for a treat. The Tirolina Valle de Tena is a really long one, and even better—you can enjoy the ride with a partner, as there are two parallel ziplines. The zipline spans an artificial lake, which, however, is usually empty by August, as it waters the crops outside the Pyrenees.

Alternatively, at the same spot there’s another attraction you might try, a giant swing. The whole “ride” is rather short, but the sensation of falling from the cliff into the abyss of the lake beneath is something to remember. You do get a couple of swings before returning to safety. Pick one or try both, our older kids loved it.

You can book in advance, but we simply arrived there when it was open and got our tickets right away. Both the zipline & the swing are suitable for older kids only.

Sallent de Gallego

While Panticosa offers a gondola and a good hotel/apartment base, one of the region’s most charming towns is Sallent de Gallego. That’s probably at least partially because it has a central no-car zone, with a large plaza in the center. It also seems to be the culinary capital of the region—there’s one Michelin-starred restaurant, and a couple of other highly-reviewed ones. We’ve picked Gran Pic for one of our dinners, and indeed it was a good choice—I agree with the comments that you should try the pulled beef brioche.

Canyoning

The Pyrenees (at least in that region) are full of ravines, gorges and canyons. One of the possible activities is canyoning—a bit like a Via Ferrata, but instead of going up, you go down along a canyon with flowing water. You get dressed in a wetsuit, equipped with a harness, and most importantly, you need a guide (unless you’ve done it a couple of times before). We got ours through Gorgol, a sports shop and activity center in Sallent. They offer not only canyoning, but also white water rafting, via ferrata guides, and more.

That was the favorite activity of the (older) part of the family—the guide was great, and the route itself varied. We did a beginner’s itinerary which lasted about 2 hours, which included a 4- or 6-m jump into a pool of water, rappelling, and climbing down a river rapid—of course, all while being securely fastened with the harness.

ZOO-park & labyrinth

For a calmer day, you might want to try the Lacuniacha ZOO-park. It’s not a typical ZOO, but rather a large park, with a number of sections with different animals living there—sometimes in the same space through which you are walking. This, of course, is true for the deer and roe, not for the lynxes and bears. The animals have large spaces, so there’s a considerable amount of walking, both up & downhill.

Most of the species presented are local, so don’t expect elephants or monkeys. Instead, you’ll get to know the local fauna quite well. The whole route is about 5km, with a 200 m altitude change, and takes about 2 hours. There’s a bar with a picnic space in the middle.

Next to the ZOO, there’s a hedge labyrinth, just as you can see in some movies! It’s really fun trying to find your way through. If it weren’t for the fact that I got stuck in the initial section, I’d have found my way out. Of course, my children did that way before me. Again, quite a lot of walking, but this time on level ground.

Little train of d’Artouste

If you travel uphill past Sallent de Gallego, past another ski resort and some avalanche-warning signs (though there wasn’t any snow in August, of course), you’ll quickly reach France. The French side is rather uninhabited, but after about 30 minutes you’ll reach the gondola station by Lake Fabrege (an artificial one, powering a hydro power plant).

That gondola takes you to the starting station of Le Train d’Artouste, which is the highest-running train in Europe. It’s a narrow-gauge train that runs high through the mountains, on level ground, but at 2000m altitude. It was originally built almost a century ago to transport people & building materials when constructing a dam (yet another one) high up one of the valleys.

Now it’s a tourist attraction, and a good one—the ride takes about 50 minutes one-way; the carriages are narrow as well (2 people in a row) and provide excellent views. You get over an hour of free time after arriving at the dam to explore the lake. Alternatively, you might hike to a refuge if you book a late return.

Hiking

Last but not least, the Pyrenees offer some great hiking possibilities! We did a hike from Panticosa Baths (where you can get by car) to Rifugio de Bachimana. It’s a there-and-back-again trail, taking about 4-5 hours (with a break at the refuge, where you can get food & drink), and about 500 meters of elevation gain. With some support from Haribo, our 4-year-old did the whole trek. It’s rocky, which is interesting for the kids, but overall quite easy.

There are also variants of that hike which are possible extensions—visiting various Ibones (glacial lakes) and Embalses (that part of the Pyrenees seems to be one huge hydroelectric power plant, you encounter reservoirs at each step, both high in the mountains and low in the valleys).

The trail is also much nicer than the one we’ve initially taken from the Panticosa Gondola—beautiful valley, views and nature, even though the weather wasn’t that perfect that day.

There’s more

We did have a couple more options, which we didn’t have time to explore, such as:

• a touristic “train” which goes from Panticosa up one of the valleys. From there, you can do a picnic and come back by train, or do one of the hikes—going down on foot, or up to the gondola station
• Kayaking on the Lanuza lake, between Panticosa and Sallent de Gallego—looked really tempting
• an adventure park in Biescas, about 20-minute drive from Panticosa
• the Panticosa Baths/SPA—they’ve got an offer mostly for adults, so it wasn’t an option for us

The Tena valley provides attractions for a wide range of ages. There was something for each member of our family—be it the youngest, the older kids, or the adults. Although we didn’t try everything, I think a week is just enough to pick whatever suits you best. The hiking, giant-swing and canyoning are three things not to be missed, if you get a chance to visit!