Featured Destination: Ordesa National Park, Spain
Nestled in the Pyrenees mountains on the Spanish border lies Ordesa. Established in 1918, Ordesa National Park (or Parque Nacional de Ordesa y Monte Perdido) was the first protected area instituted in Spain and is an undisputed highlight of the Pyrenees region. The landscape offers an plethora of natural views, ranging from high mountain plateaus to deep canyons caused by the steep reliefs of the local geography. The park itself is also fairly small in comparison to others at 156 square kilometres, so if you’re lucky you may be able to experience the entirety of this UNESCO World Heritage Site and hidden gem of the Spanish countryside.
Getting There
The closest transport hub to Ordesa is the city of Zaragoza, with many hiking tour companies offering shuttle buses or other transfers to the region. If you’d rather travel independently, the park is about a 2 hour drive from Zaragoza, and you should be able to rent a car fairly easily from the local airport. You may also wish to take advantage of the excellent Spanish bus network, with the nearest bus stop being Sabiñanigo, from which you can catch a taxi to the nearby town of Panticosa.

Things to Do
If you’re a hiking fanatic, Ordesa is an excellent option with a massive variety of trails and hiking opportunities throughout its amazing landscape. In the centre of the park is the summit of Monte Perdido, the third highest mountain in the Pyrenees standing at 3355m, with a dozen other summits over 3000m strung along the border with France. You can also witness the interesting contrast between the arid upper areas and the green valleys and pastures of the lower canyons with forests, waterfalls and rivers running through the greenery. If you’d rather get a glimpse of a more alien landscape, the plateau covering most of the higher areas is said to resemble a moonscape of gnarled rock. The most popular trails usually range between 6 to 10 hours walking time with varying levels of ascent, so you can choose whether you would like to experience the greenery of the valley floor or the cliffs and gorges of the higher areas. Some travel companies also offer the prospect of ‘hut-to-hut’ hiking holidays for those who want to experience the wilder areas of the region, including an ascent of Mount Perdido. However, these are not for the faint hearted as they involve days of demanding hiking and steep ascents that may not suit everybody. Most trails begin in Pradera, a local information point in the Ordesa Valley, which has a car park and shuttle bus drop-offs for convenience. As with most places in Spain, the weather is usually gorgeous in Ordesa, with clear blue skies most of the year, therefore you shouldn’t have any trouble finding a good time to go hiking and sightseeing in nature.

Hulah Tip
If you’re a fan of flowers or flora in general, be sure to try and visit Ordesa between late June and early July, as this is when most of the valley flowers are in full bloom.
