Pyrenees family holiday, Spain
| country: | Spain |
| location: | Spanish Pyrenees |
| departures: | 2010: 17 Jul, 24 Jul, 7 Aug, 14 Aug, 28 Aug 2011: 16 Jul, 23 Jul, 6 Aug, 13 Aug |
| price: | From £826 - £934 (8 days) per adult and child including flights from the UK, from £666 - £754 excluding flights. Min age 6 years. Teenage departures: 16 Jul & 13 Aug 2009, 15 Jul & 12 Aug 2010 |
| vouchers: | Gift vouchers can be used with this holiday |
the amazing things you'll be doing
With 3000-metre-high peaks and blessed with beautiful lakes and rivers, it's no surprise that this area of the Pyrenees is known as Spain's premier adventure sports centre for all activity fans, both the timid and experienced.
Walk in the stunning and little known Aigues Tortes National Park, discover the delights of easy-to-learn activities such as kayaking on the Rio Noguera, or try your hand at abseiling. A favourite for the Spaniards but largely overlooked by overseas visitors, this area has an excellent climate, and a delicious local cuisine to boot.
Aigues Tores National Park - Jewel of the Pyrenees: Driving up in Land Rovers into the heart of the Park, we first spend a relaxed day around the Sant Maurici Lake; with water and creeks literally everywhere, we soon discover why the name of this National Park means 'winding waters'. There are also dozens of peaks reaching up to 3000m, and the two named the Encantats ('Enchanted ones') are the symbols of these mountains. With luck eagles and vultures can be spotted - or perhaps even a whistling Marmot. Our hotel base in Sort is just a few miles outside the borders of the National Park and is blessed with an excellent micro-climate, receiving more sunshine than practically anywhere in the Pyrenees.
Rafting, relaxing & kayaking on the river Noguera: The Noguera Pallaresa river is probably the best in Spain for any kind of whitewater activity. The watershed is high up in the mountains close to the French border, steadily gaining momentum as it descends - superb for a great ride through the rapids on our rafts. There are also three lakes where the waters are calm and ideal for kayaking. And since our hotel is only a stone's throw away from the river, you can easily just spend your time on the banks, enjoying the backdrop of the Pyrenees or having a refreshing dip. Swimmers can also make the best of the lovely hotel pool and garden.
Rafting canyons & Gorges: A few miles south of our base, the river chops through the mountains to form the Collegats Gorge, an area of dramatic rock formations, famous as a great spot for 'canyoning', which you have the opportunity to try. We'll gear up in wetsuit, harness and helmet and start walking down the river bed, sometimes having to jump, slide or abseil; our instructor will give us all necessary guidance, and this is a real highlight of the tour.
Walk in the stunning and little known Aigues Tortes National Park, discover the delights of easy-to-learn activities such as kayaking on the Rio Noguera, or try your hand at abseiling. A favourite for the Spaniards but largely overlooked by overseas visitors, this area has an excellent climate, and a delicious local cuisine to boot.
Aigues Tores National Park - Jewel of the Pyrenees: Driving up in Land Rovers into the heart of the Park, we first spend a relaxed day around the Sant Maurici Lake; with water and creeks literally everywhere, we soon discover why the name of this National Park means 'winding waters'. There are also dozens of peaks reaching up to 3000m, and the two named the Encantats ('Enchanted ones') are the symbols of these mountains. With luck eagles and vultures can be spotted - or perhaps even a whistling Marmot. Our hotel base in Sort is just a few miles outside the borders of the National Park and is blessed with an excellent micro-climate, receiving more sunshine than practically anywhere in the Pyrenees.
Rafting, relaxing & kayaking on the river Noguera: The Noguera Pallaresa river is probably the best in Spain for any kind of whitewater activity. The watershed is high up in the mountains close to the French border, steadily gaining momentum as it descends - superb for a great ride through the rapids on our rafts. There are also three lakes where the waters are calm and ideal for kayaking. And since our hotel is only a stone's throw away from the river, you can easily just spend your time on the banks, enjoying the backdrop of the Pyrenees or having a refreshing dip. Swimmers can also make the best of the lovely hotel pool and garden.
Rafting canyons & Gorges: A few miles south of our base, the river chops through the mountains to form the Collegats Gorge, an area of dramatic rock formations, famous as a great spot for 'canyoning', which you have the opportunity to try. We'll gear up in wetsuit, harness and helmet and start walking down the river bed, sometimes having to jump, slide or abseil; our instructor will give us all necessary guidance, and this is a real highlight of the tour.
day-by-day itinerary
| Day 1: | Fly London/Barcelona and drive to Sort |
| Day 2: | 4-Wheel-Drive to Aigues Tortes NP; walk around Saint Maurici Lake and picnic |
| Day 3: | AM river-rafting, PM free in the village or at the pool |
| Day 4: | Optional mountain biking in the Virós forest or relaxing |
| Day 5: | AM kayaking on Sant Antoni reservoir, PM optional visit to butterfly museum |
| Day 6: | Canyon abseiling |
| Day 7: | Optional activities on the river - kayaking or hydrospeed |
| Day 8: | Drive to Barcelona airport; fly London |
small group family holiday
This is a 'small group family adventure' - typically you will join several other families and travel in a group of approx. 16 people. The trips are great value and a great way for you and your children to meet new people! While itineraries are pre-planned there is some flexibility and you'll have plenty of time to yourselves. Most adventure kids tend to be aged between 7 and 15, but some are younger (minimum age is usually 5) and some older (perhaps travelling as part of a larger family group). Please check with the operator to confirm the minimum age for this trip award winner
This tourism business won an Award in our 2008 Virgin Holidays Responsible Tourism Awards - organised by responsibletravel.com in association with The Daily Telegraph, World Travel Market, Geographical Magazine, of the Royal Geographical Society and BBC World News.Since 2004, the Awards has recognised individuals, companies and organisations in travel making a big commitment to the culture and economies of local communities and helping to conserve biodiversity.
how this holiday makes a difference
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On this tour we stay in a locally owned hotel set sympathetically against the surrounding mountainous environment. Our local leader briefs the group on etiquette in the National Park to ensure that the area remains unspoiled by our visit. The area in which we do all our activities is relatively untouched as it is often overlooked by many other overseas visitors and we aim to keep it that way. We do not include any dinners at the hotel so that the group can try the local food in several different restaurants during their stay, thus distributing the revenue more evenly across the local economy. We also make sure that we use local suppliers for our transport.
The national parks that we visit charge entrance fees, which contribute to their upkeep, and again our local leader makes sure that the group abide by all rules to minimise our impact on the local environment. There are exciting optionals on this trip, which are run by local operators, which helps to contribute to the local economy. The ground-handling agent we use on this tour is based in the Catalan region thus ensuring that the money that pays for this trip stays in the local area. Our Tour Leaders are all trained by us in the importance of responsible tourism with guidance given on how they can make a difference. This then percolates down through those they deal with. As well as the above, we support a variety of charities and projects worldwide which support vulnerable communities and habitats including Friends of Conservation, Hope Worldwide and Send A Cow. We are also actively engaged with UK travel industry bodies which promote best practice in responsible tourism, such as Tourism Concern, The Travel Foundation and AITO. Our commitment to responsible tourism is not limited to our overseas operation and we have measures to ensure our UK office operates according to our responsible tourism policy. Carbon offsets for all flights booked with us are included in the tour cost. |
Tourism can be good and bad for destinations & local people. We carefully screen every holiday against our criteria for responsible travel. 'Look behind the brochure' to find how each holiday makes a difference (see left). We don't claim to be perfect - there is no global accreditation - but we've led the way since 2001 and screened 1000's of holidays. We invite every traveller to write a review about their experiences and responsible tourism. This valuable feedback is sent to the people who run the holidays. We keep a very close eye on it and take off holidays that don't live up to our standards. |