Spain Roadtrip 2026: Pt1 The Pyrenees
After what has been an incredibly busy couple of weeks back in the UK, we finally had the van packed and headed to Plymouth to catch the ferry to Santander to start our Northern Spain 6-week road trip. In Pt1 we head up into the Pyrenees mountains.
It is a long drive down from the Yorkshire Dales, so we left plenty of time – if you miss this ferry, there is not another one for another 3 days and they are all fully booked until the end of October!!
I was determined that I was going to drive the new van for the first time as we were travelling down on a Sunday and the roads were really quiet. It’s not the size of the van that worries me particularly as Pearl is only 40cm longer and 10cm wider than the VW – It is that I have never driven an automatic before so I just need to get my head around it.
In the end I drove for around an hour between Franklin Services and Gloucester Services – I impressed myself that I even managed to park ok next to Nelson as we met up with our son Luke and his new bride Charlotte. From there we were all headed to the same ferry, they have a 4-week road trip planned travelling down towards Barcelona and along the Mediterranean coast to Italy.
How amazing is Gloucester services? We stocked up on lots of little picnic bits and pieces for us all to share on the ferry. It is almost a destination in itself with the farm shop there.
We arrived at the port with a few hours to spare but definitely better safe than sorry. We chose this route as it is only a one-night ferry giving us an extra day in Spain. The ferry was OK, although fully booked, it did not seem that busy on board. The boat was swaying quite significantly as we left Plymouth and we thought we might be in for a rough crossing as we approached the dreaded Bay of Biscay, but after a couple of hours it calmed down and it was fine all the way to Santander.
We had a lovely picnic and shared a nice bottle of champagne with the happy couple, one last wedding celebration! We did have the breakfast on the ferry the next morning which was OK and did set us up for a busy day.
Going through passport control was a lot smoother than anticipated with a full ferry. At Santander, they have set up about 20 different lanes each with a dedicated cabin that you go into and scan your passport and your fingerprints. We had already been through passport control a couple of times this year, so all our details were on file – it took us just a couple of minutes.
So, our only decision left at this point was where to head for the night as it was already about 4pm. The weather forecast for the next 10 days was great, so we wanted to get into the Pyrenees to do some hiking before the rain and snow arrives. Thanks to lots of recommendations from various subscribers, Richard has a google map with lots of places pinned so we chose Frias as our destination for the first night.
Frias
Frias is a beautiful small town, actually classed as Spain’s smallest city, on a hilltop above the river Ebro. We stayed at the aire which is located a few minutes walk from the bars and restaurants and has the most incredible views of the castle. The aire is an absolute bargain at €6 which includes toilets, showers and a full-service area – you do need to have the camping carpark app loaded on the phone which is €5.
We had a wonderful first evening in the old town and enjoyed a couple of glasses of Rioja and some delicious tapas which came to the grand total of €12.
The castle at Frias is quite unique with one of the turrets sat on top of a huge rock – the view from the lookout point at the top was fabulous. It costs €2 to enter the castle but is definitely worth it for a quick look around – there is a QR code that you can download to have a guide to learn about the history.
We stayed for 2 nights in Frias while we got back into the Spanish travels way of life and to give us a little rest after the long drive down and ferry. The aire was quiet and felt really safe and we enjoyed just wandering around exploring in the days. There is a medieval bridge on the other side of the town which is well worth a visit – it spans over the Ebro River and the locals use the natural pool below the bridge as a swim spot on warmer days. Richard couldn’t resist getting his budgy smugglers out for a swim with a view.
From Frias we were headed NE and into the Pyrenees. The drive took us through both the Navarra and Aragon regions and on the border we went past the Yesa reservoir. We have actually been here before on our previous trip; you can see the beautiful blue waters from the motorway and there are a couple of exits to take you down to the lakeside. We had a quick picnic and went to take some photo’s. The water at the moment is extremely low as the summer has been so long and hot – several of the old submerged buildings were now on show which were not evident last time.
Anayet – Formigal
After a long drive, we found a great park up on the P4N app which had the most stunning views across the mountains. There was a storm blowing over in the distance which gave us some wonderful photo opportunities. There were only 4 vans parked up overnight and we woke up to a blue-sky day – perfect to get out hiking.
A quick check on the AllTrails app gave us a few options and we chose to hike up to the Ibon de Anayet – a popular hike to a scenic lake. It was a little further than we anticipated at just under 14km and quite strenuous with 727m of elevation climbed but it was just what we needed. The views were magnificent, the lake beautiful and the feeling of being in the mountains is priceless.
It is strange walking through the ski station at the start, in the winter it would be an absolute hub of activity with people queuing for the lifts and in the restaurant. In the summer it is taken over by the docile herd of cows and a few shrieking marmots.
Fabrege and the Artouste Train
The main reason that we had headed to this area of the Pyrenees was to head over into France and ride the Artouste Train. We had tried on our previous road trip but the weather had turned wild and the train was closed for a couple of days. It is a little Disneyesque with the bright red and yellow engine and carriages that cut a path around the edge of the mountains. At times the vertical drops below were extremely precipitous and a little scary but what a beautiful way to see the mountains without having to exert yourself.
It really requires a full day out to do the journey justice. You have to catch a cable car from the hamlet of Fabrege to take you to the train station. It is well worth spending a couple of hours in this area, there is a viewpoint that you can hike to that overlooks the reservoir below and there is a restaurant with a balcony overlooking the Pyrenees. The train is popular and you have to book a time slot, we would advise prebooking the day before as the earliest ticket we could get was 1.30pm. It is a 55-minute journey and you get an hour and a half time allocated at the lake before returning.
If you have mobility issues or just are not a fan of high mountain hiking, this is a wonderful way to get to see the views and experience being in the depths of the mountains. It cost us €28 per person and was well worth it.
In order to catch the cable car, we stayed at an aire on the shores of Lac de Fabrege. It is very popular – there must have been at least 40 vans parked along the laybys – probably because it is free and has great views. What we weren’t expecting was the other local inhabitants – a herd of cows with bells of varying tones! They would pass by between the vans regularly and on our second night there, they decided to sleep all around our van, it sounded like sleeping next church bells that had no off button! I loved it – Richard got no sleep at all.
Torla and the Ordesa National Park
From Fabrege, we passed back over into Spain and drove to the small town of Torla which is on the edge of the Ordesa National Park. There are a couple of campsites near the town, we chose to stay at Camping Rio Ara which has a river running by it and a fantastic wild swimming spot to cool down in after a long walk.
The campsite has the most breathtaking views – it was busy on our first night as it was a weekend but for the next couple of days we had our area virtually to ourselves. It is €23.20 a night plus €6.70 if you requite EHU – not the cheapest but well worth it for the location and great facilities.
We did a couple of hikes during our stay there. With temperatures in the 30’s we walked along the river to the next village down the valley – Broto. The walk was mostly in the shade but although not far – it was a bit of a killer as all the elevation gain was on the way home. Not easy after a big lunch and a pint of beer!
The highlight of our stay was a hike in the national park. You can’t drive there, so we booked our bus tickets, there are buses every 15 minutes from Torla town centre. The most popular hike in the park is the Cola de Caballo waterfall walk and is a must if you love scenic hikes.
We had already done this hike last year, so we chose a different balcony walk up and across the Faja Racon. It was a great choice because about 80% of the walk is through the forests so we were in the shade. But WOW – when we occasionally emerged out of the trees we caught glimpses of the most splendid views. The walk had views, waterfalls, scenic forest trails and because it was not the main attraction we had it to ourselves. I will add a photo of me pointing to the route we took from the valley floor, it looked pretty treacherous from below but it felt perfectly safe while we were up there!
We stayed for 3 nights at camping Rio Ara and spent a great deal of time down by the river wild swimming. The waters are freezing and take your breath away but after such hot and sweaty hikes it was much needed. I am not sure we will ever swim anywhere with better views!
So that was our first 8 days in Spain, and as I write it all down, we have already done a huge amount! Not intentionally. From the Pyrenees we are headed back to the coast via the Rioja region to do a bit of wine tasting. Well, that WAS the plan but fate had other ideas.
In the next blog we take you to the beautiful town of Alquezar and we do the stunning boardwalk through the red rock gorge. We also find ourselves stranded for a week in the desert after a red warning light comes on in the van.
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