Beginner Canyoning in the Lower Vero

The Vero canyon runs beneath Alquézar: its walls are the first thing you see on reaching the town and they continue about eight kilometres upriver, full of small caves and shelters, some with rock paintings. The lower stretch is the one companies choose for people who have never descended a canyon, because almost all of it can be done without technique and what frightens can be bypassed.

What the morning is like, from the office to the water

With Alquezar Aventura the outing is in the morning. You meet at their office, at the entrance to the town, next to the campsite; there you collect the equipment and meet the guide. You go up to Alquézar and from the town you walk down, in swimwear, to the river: about an hour of approach. On the bank you put on the wetsuit and the descent begins, about three hours in the water, with jumps, siphons, passages between boulders, dark stretches, down-climbs, natural slides, rapids and bits of walking in the river. The return takes another 45 minutes. In all, about five hours.

Guías Boira, whose office is on the Paseo San Hipólito in Alquézar, does the Vero as a circular on foot from the office: it is the only canyon in Guara where, according to the company, you do not need to take the car.

The Vero carries water all year, so in theory it can be descended in any season; in practice, the main season runs from spring to autumn. Both companies change the route or the date if the weather or flow requires it, and the guide decides.

With whom and how much

Alquezar Aventura publishes the lower Vero at €59 per person in groups of two or three and €56 from four, with wetsuit, booties, helmet, backpack and waterproof barrel. Minimum age, 7. The full Vero, advanced level, costs €79 and €74.

Guías Boira charges €55 per person for level I canyons and €60 for level II ones, with €55 for under-13s at that level, and includes wetsuit, helmet and neoprene socks. Guide in Spanish, French or English. On its website it lists the Vero among the canyons for children aged 5 or 6 in summer; confirm when you book according to your children's age and ease in the water.

If jumping scares you

You do not need to know anything about canyoning, but you do need to be comfortable in the water and able to put up with a morning of walking. The jumps and almost all the difficult passages can be avoided; tell the guide at the start. If anyone in the group has an injury, an illness or a phobia, Alquezar Aventura asks that you say so at the office before setting out.

What to bring

Swimwear on, trainers that can get wet, food and water for the morning, a towel and dry clothes for the car. Anything that should not get wet, leave in the car. If you need it, Alquezar Aventura rents equipment piece by piece at the campsite reception.

Afterwards, the Vero walkways show the same canyon from above and dry, and the Alquezar Aventura listing explains how it books and cancels. The canyon opens the canyons and Somontano weekend.