Pyrenees-Catalan overview

You don’t have to travel far from the beach to get to the Catalan Pyrenees, so if the hoards of tourists wearing football shirts and swilling lager gets too much for you; jump on a train from Barcelona and you can be in the mountains in less than three hours. During the winter time, you can ski in one of the many ski resorts or hike among spectacular scenery during the summer months. For some of the best hiking, you need to head farther west into the mountains closer to Andorra in the central Catalan Pyrenees. Although you will come across a couple of hydroelectric plants on your trek, ignoring them is easy due to the rest of the incredible scenery around you. The Noguera Pallaresa Valley and the Vall d’Aran are great for hiking and have trails for novices as well as pros.