In the centre of the Aragon Pyrenees the Tena Valley offers a wide variety of landscapes. Winding its way along the valley floor is the River Gallego, while above are high mountain peaks, glaciers, massifs, streams, reservoirs and one of the largest groups of lakes in the Pyrenees.

In winter it snows and the valley becomes the playground of skiers and snowboarders who flock to the Aramón resorts of Formigal and Panticosa in search of the white stuff.
In summer the temperature is mild, a cool respite from the heat of the plains below, and the resorts offer a wealth of outdoor activities as well as guided walks and excursions to mountain lakes and peaks.

All the walks are well signposted with information panels to help visitors find their bearings and identify certain landmarks.

The Tena valley has been gradually transformed through tourism, but its traditions, history, legends and architecture have been kept alive and remain unharmed by the hotels, apartments, bars, restaurants and shops that have sprung up. Aramon, along with the companies providing sports and leisure activities make the most of what the mountains have to offer.

Above the picturesque lakeside village of Sallent de Gallego, Formigal has a variety of walks including a special nature trail excursion which takes in flora and fauna as well as points of geological interest, walks to mountain lakes and peaks and a walk with breathtaking viewing points. If you prefer a bird’s eye view of the mountains there are panoramic helicopter flights.

For those who want something a bit more demanding there is trekking, or for the full body work out try Nordic Walking, a bit like cross-country skiing, using modified ski poles but without the snow. This increasingly popular sport using around 600 muscles (90% of the muscles in your body) is easy to do and has huge benefits for the upper body, including the spine.

For something a bit different try your hand at bungee trampolining or the fun activity of tubing. Imagine going down a mountainside on a specially designed blow-up doughnut. This is tubing and is enjoyed as much by adults as by children.

Formigal also caters for younger visitors with an area dedicated to children between 3 and 12 years, which includes bouncy castles, woodwork, sandpits, mini tubing and an art workshop.

After a hard day of working up an appetite, visit one of the restaurants, cafeterias or enjoy a barbecue. If you need to slow the pace down a bit, try a spot of sunbathing on the sun terrace in the Portalet area of the resort.

All these activities can be enjoyed at Formigal where there is ample free parking.

Still in the Tena Valley we find Panticosa. From the village the cable car takes you to the Petrosos area where you can relax, sunbathe, buy refreshments or set off on foot to the breathtaking  Sabocos and Asnos mountain lakes.

Like Formigal, Panticosa also offers tubing, the sport where you go down the mountainside on a giant inflatable doughnut, as well as more traditional activities like walking, guided mountaineering and pony trekking.

If you want to up the adrenalin levels there’s climbing and abseiling or why not try following a via ferrata, literally a path with iron ladders. It’s a cross between trekking and rock climbing and the ladders, a series of iron rungs in the rock-face, are there to help cross a chasm or reach inaccessible areas. For something a bit faster, try hurling yourself down tracks, jumping over obstacles and through streams on a mountain bike.

For those who want to keep cool in the summer heat, there is white water rafting, and canoeing as well as hydrospeed, where you have just a plastic board and a pair of diving flippers to descend the river.

Potholing combines abseiling and climbing through water falls to explore caves and potholes and see fossils and rocks formed thousands of years ago.

A mixture of mountaineering, potholing, walking in water and swimming, canyoning allows you to reach particularly beautiful and inaccessible spots.

If you can’t decide which activity is the one for you there are weekly multi-activity programmes, including a combination of rock climbing, rafting and canyoning.