Getaways from Huesca: day trips and destinations close by.

At Sabiñánigo the valley opens in three

Two roads share out almost everything. The A-23 climbs north to Sabiñánigo, and there the valley opens in three: via Jaca and the N-330 you reach Canfranc, Candanchú and Astún; via the A-136 and Biescas, the Tena valley and Formigal, and via the N-260, Torla and the Ordesa valley. The A-22 leaves east, towards Barbastro: before that, via the A-1229 and Abiego, you drop to Alquézar and the Vero canyon; from Barbastro, the A-138 follows the Cinca upstream to Aínsa, and the Graus road leads to the Benasque valley, below the Aneto.

Continuing along the A-22 to Lleida, the Catalan exits begin: the N-230 towards El Pont de Suert and the Vall de Boí, and further north, the Val d'Aran. To the west, through Navarre, are Olite and the Bardenas Reales, and to the south, past Zaragoza, Tarazona and the Moncayo.

For almost everything you need a car, and in winter with chains in the boot. There is a scheduled bus to Torla in season, but it does not allow a relaxed return trip from Huesca in one Sunday. In Ordesa, at Easter, from 19 June to 20 September and on several autumn weekends, the car stays in Torla and you go up to the Pradera on the shuttle bus, at €6 return.

The Pyrenees, within an hour and a half, are what sets Huesca apart

Under an hour is Alquézar, at 50 minutes: the Vero walkways, the village with a guide and the collegiate church. It is the only plan with time to spare in the morning.

Between one and one and a half hours are the Pyrenees, and that is what sets Huesca apart. Ordesa is 80 minutes away, with the easy waterfalls and ternasco in Torla, the red beech forest to the Cola de Caballo or a first via ferrata in Broto. The snow is at the same distance: Candanchú, at 85 minutes; Astún with a lesson, Formigal and the Tena valley with children, at 90. Also an hour and a half away, Aínsa and Muro de Roda.

At nearly two hours the plan looks west: Tarazona, at 105 minutes; the Bardenas, at 115, and Olite, at 120.

Past two hours the trip calls for a night, or a very long Sunday. At Benasque, at 160 minutes, there are Nordic skiing at Llanos del Hospital and snowshoeing to Aigualluts; at the same distance, Boí Taüll. To sleep away: Prades, at 143 minutes; Siurana and the Priorat, at 164; Baqueira, at 170; the Matarraña, at 175, and Gavarnie, the other side of Ordesa, a little over three and a half hours away.

Guided snowshoeing at Aigualluts, on fixed dates

In winter snow rules. Candanchú and Astún share a lift pass; each resort publishes its opening dates at the start of the season. Guided snowshoeing has fixed dates: Aigualluts, on 23 January and 6 March 2027, and Aigüestortes with a 4x4 taxi, at 150 minutes, on 31 January, 20 February and 13 March.

In spring and autumn it is Alquézar's turn; in summer, the walkways are entered at 8:30 because of the heat. June brings the Ordesa waterfalls with the most water, and from March to November guides run the Sorrosal via ferrata.

In summer the plan is the high mountains: Ordesa with the first shuttle bus and Gavarnie, from June to September. The Bardenas, in July and August, have no shade.

In October the Ordesa beech forest turns red and yellow, and in October and November the Moncayo's does too. For grey days at any time of year, Aínsa: the Bodegón de Mallacán opens 365 days a year.

The Alquézar walkways first thing

• A long half-day: Alquézar. The walkways first thing, the village with a guide, ternasco and the painted cloister of the collegiate church before heading back.
• A Sunday in the Pyrenees: Ordesa to the waterfalls, with lunch in Torla. The easy route through the beech forest to Arripas, the Cueva and the Estrecho, and a flat walk along the Bujaruelo.
• With two nights: Aínsa and Añisclo. The canyon to La Ripareta, a guided canyon in Guara, Muro de Roda and the empty Plaza Mayor at night.

To sleep in Torla and go up to the Cola de Caballo on the first bus there is the weekend in Ordesa. The plans from the Aragonese capital are in near Zaragoza.