Vall de Nuria

This is a special place for those who are willing to take the road less travelled for great reward. The hotel itself is reminiscent of an iconic historic mountain Fairmont resort, only it encompasses a lovely church. You cannot drive to the hotel. You must drive to Ribes or Queralbs then take a cable train up to the hotel (20-30 minutes) through a breathtaking gorge. When we were there it was primarily occupied by Catalans who came to the valley with their families to enjoy a long weekend. It is a ski resort in winter. The history of the valley goes back a millennia and you can hike a centuries old trail up or down that connects the hotel (on the site of an equally old church sanctuary) with Queralbs, a cute medieval mountain village. You can also take a gondola up the mountain and hike around the many trails at the top. There are hikes of different lengths and degrees of difficulty. We hiked the old path to Queralbs in 3 hours in runners without mountain gear no problem. Our superior triple room was beautiful! Newly renovated with two separate bedrooms and a generous bathroom. The hotel also arranged fabulous massages for us. Meals are buffet style and totally decent albeit not gourmet. Prices for everything were very reasonable considering we are captive guests in a remote location. Far cheaper than Lake Louise or Jasper although in just as stunning (if not superior) geography. There are games rooms, canoe rentals and fun things for kids. Hotel staff were helpful and accommodating. Between Barcelona, Girona/Besalu and Figueres, Vall de Nuria was the favourite part of our trip. A few things to know; 1. Check the railway schedule before you plan anything, and make sure you translate it so you understand it. It has different schedules for different times of the year and different days of the week (such as extra times on Fridays only). Don’t make assumptions about running times you might find yourself arriving in Ribes / Queralbs after the last train to the night has gone; or find you are stuck at the hotel without a room after the last train has returned. 2. Ask about getting the unlimited train pass, which allows you to go up and down as many times as you want and use the gondola as many times as you want. 3. Food at the hotel can be a bit challenging. We were there in low season, and it was virtually impossible to get food other than mini pizzas between 3 pm when lunch closes and 8 pm when dinner opens. There are no fridges or microwaves in the room so you can’t really bring groceries. Make sure you have non-perishables like dried and aged meats and cheeses, nuts, or other things handy if you’re planning to hike or want to feed people at 6 PM or so. There is a deli in the gift shop that sells those foods but it closes at 4:30. ( It might be different during high season). 3. Make an effort to learn / communicate in Spanish or Catalan, people in the area are not necessarily proficient in English. Download Google Translate 4. Bring a sweater, light raincoat and good runners and it will greatly expand your options for enjoying the area!

As the ski station is my second trip, the first one was a twist in Zermatt. In this we stayed and everything was very good, car parking, train cremalheira already a safe and fantastic trip with beautiful views and during the time in the apartment we rented had everything for meals and breakfast. Very well clean, complete with bed linen and towels, organized and with stunning views.

The landscape and its surroundings are spectacular, we agree that it snowed a lot. The hotel outside very ugly and inside very old and old. The small rooms. We (marriage) had to change our rooms because as soon as we got in a smoke plague from having smoked a lot. And they gave us a bigger but older room. The floor was loud and the sink was old and we had leaks in the ceiling of the bathtub. As for the staff of all the places (buffet, reception, bar...) super friendly. We believe that the hotel needs a total renovation of the rooms, at least the ones we were because our daughters' were very small and old. Total that to be Vall de Nuria I expected a nicer and more modern hotel. And of activities for adults only skiing and children there is more variety. As there was snow you couldn't do long walks if you weren't well prepared.