41.19° N · 1.78° W
Visiting the Monasterio de Piedra: ticket price, opening hours, how long it takes, with children or a dog and where to eat and sleep in Nuévalos.
What to do
Each plan says how long it takes, who it's for and whether you can book.
Walk · about 4 km · low to medium difficulty · €20 with the monastery · waterfalls, lakes and caves among centuries-old trees
Visit · 1 h · included in the ticket · 13th-century cloister, refectory, convent kitchen with the story of chocolate and a wine museum
Display · three shows a day · 11:30, 14:00 and 17:00 · inside the park
Itineraries
Days and weekends already planned out, with how to get between each stop and who to book with.
Plan the trip
Each choice narrows the next: the season shapes how best to travel, and how you travel decides where you stay and where you eat.
When to go
In spring, with more water in the waterfalls, and in October and November, with the trees changing colour. In summer it is the cool spot in Aragon, but it fills up. In winter it is open every day with shorter hours.
How you travel
Choose how you're travelling and we'll tell you where to stay, how to get around, where to eat and which services you'll need. We only show the ways of travelling that make sense here.
Monasterio is planned around the car: the A-2 between Madrid and Zaragoza has its own exit, and parking is free. Without a car there is the AVE to Calatayud, but then you have another half hour to go.
Who you're with
A trip with a toddler is not the same as one with a teenager. Pick yours to see what works and what to bear in mind.
The park is one of the great days out with children in Aragón: waterfalls, a cave behind one of them, birds of prey in flight and a fish farm. Children aged 4 to 11 pay €14.20 and under-4s nothing.
With children under six the park is doable, but with a baby carrier and without trying to see everything: choose the short route and the stops they like best.
Where to stay
We show you what suits the way you travel.Change how you travel
Why we like it: Sleep in the cells of a 13th-century Cistercian monastery, next to the park: 62 rooms, outdoor pool, 500 m² spa and dogs allowed in some rooms.
Why we like it: Three-star family hotel in Nuévalos, beside the La Tranquera reservoir and 2 km from the park, with pool, garden, free parking and a restaurant with a cellar.
Why we like it: Hotel with a seasonal swimming pool, restaurant and free parking 500 m from Monasterio de Piedra, at 800 m above sea level and with skies free of light pollution.
Why we like it: Campsite with pitches on a hillside above the La Tranquera reservoir, wooden bungalows and heated apartments; closed from late October to March.
Services for this trip
Areas, for any way of travelling
| Area | Who it's for | Average night |
|---|---|---|
| Monastery grounds | Hotel with spa, be first into the park | |
| Nuévalos | Hotels with pools and the reservoir, 2 km away | |
| Calatayud | AVE station and more choice, 30 min away |
Where to eat
From set lunch menus to Michelin stars. We mark the price level and what to order at each place.
What to order: the set menu after the park; at the bar, sharing plates and pinchos
What to order: the seasonal dishes on the Aragonese menu; in summer, a table on the Los Castaños terrace
What to order: the Río Piedra menu, or the gourmet one for a special meal
Map
The places to stay and services on the map are the ones for the way you travel. Turn on the layers you want and tap a point to see its details.
Nearby
The closest places, whichever country they are in.
Tips
The paths are narrow and by mid-morning at weekends queues form at the cave.
It closes later than the park: leave it for the end.
With the same ticket you can re-enter on the same day.
The steps of the Iris Cave are always damp.
Check the time of the birds of prey show when you buy your ticket and organise the route around it: it is what the children remember most.
The Monasterio de Piedra is a 13th-century Cistercian monastery beside Nuévalos, in the province of Zaragoza, with a park of waterfalls, lakes and caves opened up in the canyon of the River Piedra. It is a day plan: nearly 4 km of paths and steps among centuries-old trees, the Cola de Caballo waterfall, more than 50 metres high, and the Iris Cave behind it. It is an hour and twenty minutes from Zaragoza and about two hours twenty from Madrid, with its own exit on the A-2.
By car, along the A-2. From Madrid, the Monastery indicates the exit at kilometre 204, Alhama de Aragón – Monasterio de Piedra; from Zaragoza or Barcelona, the one at 231, Nuévalos – Monasterio de Piedra. From Zaragoza it is about 120 km. From Soria, Teruel or Guadalajara you arrive in a little under two hours.
Without a car, the AVE and Alvia stop at Calatayud: 57 minutes from Madrid and about 2 h 10 from Barcelona. From the station it is about 30 minutes by road, by taxi or on the Automóviles Zaragoza (Monbus) bus, whose timetables you need to check beforehand.
In the Monastery's own car parks: two outdoor areas, free and unsupervised, next to the ticket office.
The 2026 ticket includes the park and a free visit to the monastery: €20 adults, €14.20 for ages 4 to 11 and over-65s. There are discounts for large families (15%) and the Carné Joven youth card (25%), and wheelchair users go in free, with their companion at half price. The park is open from 9:00 to 17:45, with last entry at 16:30; from 10 November to 6 January, last entry at 16:00. The monastery is open from 10:00 to 18:00.
The essential is the park: the Cola de Caballo, the Iris Cave, the lakes and the waterfalls, on a signposted route with steps and bridges. Inside there is a birds of prey show at 11:30, 14:00 and 17:00, and the fish farm that the Monastery presents as the first in Spain. Then, the monastery: a 13th-century cloister, refectory, convent kitchen with the history of chocolate and the Museum of Wine of the DO Calatayud, in the monks' old cellar.
Outside the grounds, go down to Nuévalos to see the La Tranquera reservoir, and on the way back stop in Calatayud for the collegiate church of Santa María, with its Mudéjar tower.
Between two and three hours for the park and one for the monastery. With lunch, a full day. Sleeping here makes sense if you come from far away or want to enter at 9:00, before anyone else.
In spring the waterfalls carry more water. In autumn the trees change colour and there are fewer people than in summer. In July and August the park is the cool spot of the area, but at weekends it fills up: arrive first thing. In winter it is open every day with shorter hours; the steps can be icy.
With children, yes: birds of prey, a fish farm and a cave behind a waterfall. Under-14s may not enter without an adult. There are steps and slopes, so a baby carrier is better than a pushchair. Dogs go in on a lead in the park; in the monastery only in a carrier or backpack, and not in the birds of prey area. The Hotel Monasterio de Piedra admits dogs in some rooms.
You can't eat inside the park. In the grounds you have Piedra Vieja, with a set menu of the day, combination plates and pizzas, and Reyes de Aragón, the hotel restaurant. In Nuévalos, the restaurant of the Hotel Río Piedra. None publishes its hours: book by phone at weekends.
Inside the monument, the Hotel Monasterio de Piedra, in the old cells, with a spa. In Nuévalos, the Hotel Río Piedra, three-star and with a pool. 500 m from the park, the Hotel Las Truchas. For motorhomes or tents, Lago Resort, from March to October.
Questions
€20 adults and €14.20 for ages 4 to 11 and over-65s, in 2026. It includes the park and the monastery.
Between two and three hours: it is nearly 4 km with steps and bridges.
Yes, on a lead in the park. In the monastery, in a carrier or backpack.
No. There are restaurants in the grounds, and you can go out and come back in with the same ticket.
By AVE to Calatayud and from there by taxi or on the Automóviles Zaragoza bus, about 30 minutes.
Not entirely: there are steps and slopes. Wheelchair users go in free.
Geocaliahttps://www.geocalia.com/en/spain/aragon/piedra-monastery
