Calm weather and snow in excellent condition ensures the best conditions for visitors to the Val d’Aran enjoy an unforgettable experience during the weekend of Purísima. Snow sports, Christmas lights in towns, exhibitions and craft fairs join the common cultural, culinary and commercial proposal of the valley to offer an attractive program with activities for everybody.
More than 140 km of tracks
The ski resort of Baqueira Beret, where it remains the best snow and sunny weather is expected with no wind, plans to open more than 140 km of tracks, which can be accessed from different enters: Peülla, Bonaigua Baqueira 1500, Val de Ruda, Tanau, Orri and Beret.
Excellent opportunity to practice various forms of skiing: downhill, cross country, telemark or ski mountaineering, but we advise to consult with specialists from aranese companies that will report on valley routes and conditions. Other activities are great attraction as sleds pulled by horses or dogs, and snowmobiles. And the younger have two fabulous snowparks in Baqueira.
Snowshoeing is a quiet activity to know the territory that increasingly has more followers. Our tourist offices provide all the information on the itineraries of snow for some of the most charismatic and beautiful and the well-marked places on the safest areas in risk of avalanches. Meanwhile,’Servici de Lauegi‘ del Conselh Generau d’Aran constantly analyses the profiles of snow and updates data on its website that this season has been completely renovated prioritizing security-related information. These data can be supplemented with Meteoraran, the aranés weather information service.
Apres ski
For after a sports day, we recommend the new entertainment and dining area of the Hotel Montarto in Baqueira 1500, which this year opens the Baqueira Winebar by Vinya Pomal, a wine bar with extensive Spanish wine DO and a rich cuisine based on rations. The hotel has also installed the Drinkery Montarto, a music bar on the ground floor open from 15h.
Once abandoned the slopes, do not miss the beautiful spectacle of the picturesque villages of the valley with the lights for the next Christmas holidays. We invite you to attend on Friday the Christmas lights lit in Vielha, and on Saturday in Arties where a party will be held in the Urtau Square to celebrate the start of the season.
In each of the villages there are excellent restaurants to taste the Val d’Aran winter cuisine. You must not fail to try the most representative dish, the Olha aranesa, a restorative pleasure for the senses after a day in the snow.
In addition, we recommend a tour Vielha city center, which offers a remarkable commercial offer with the best brands in sports clothes and elegant shops with the latest in Christmas decorations. And fans of the recycling can be passed through the second hand market ski equipment in Arties from Friday to Tuesday morning.
Craft fairs
From Saturday 5 to Monday 7 takes place The Fira del Formatge “Sabor Vielha”, with a sample of artisan cheeses, where you can taste a variety of cheeses from cow, sheep, goat and buffalo, many of them unknown to the public but renowned among gourmets. The fair is complemented with other products such as deli meats, sweets and jams and wine tasting tours for small groups.
On the other hand, the people of Les held next Monday, 7 traditional Fair of the Immaculate, where local handicrafts also in the area such as cold meat, jams, honey, spreads and aranese handycrafts.
Cultural activities
Without moving from Les, the visitor can approach the graphic exhibition Hèstes der Huec in the hall of the Les municipality organized in the village to celebrate the recent statement of this tradition in the Pyrenees as intangible cultural heritage, and attend the same Monday at the conference and audiovisual projection trailer about this event.
Another exhibition is the one you can visit in Baqueira, “Somnis color” in the BBart until 1 January. And for music lovers we have two different proposals: the concert Nadalets of Corau Margalida in the Residence San Antoni of Vielha on Saturday and a gospel concert in the church of Vielha on Monday.