Getaways from Zaragoza: day trips and destinations close by.

Exit 231 of the A-2, for the Monasterio de Piedra

Zaragoza is in the centre of the Ebro valley, and each road leads to a different landscape. The A-2 leaves for Madrid: at exit 231 you leave it for the Monasterio de Piedra, and further on, at kilometre 104, for Sigüenza. The N-232 and N-122 lead to Tarazona and the Moncayo, and the AP-68 drops through the Ribera to Tudela, the Bardenas Reales and, further north, Olite.

The A-23 crosses the city from north to south. To the north it passes Huesca on the way to Alquézar, Aínsa, the Ordesa valley, Canfranc and the Tena valley. To the south it leads to Teruel and, from there, Albarracín. To the south-east, the N-232 and A-231 reach Valderrobres and the Matarraña; continuing along the N-232 you climb to Morella.

Without a car there are two exits that work. To Teruel you go by train, and the station is at the foot of the Escalinata. The Monasterio de Piedra is reached by AVE or Alvia to Calatayud and, from there, a 30-minute taxi or the Automóviles Zaragoza bus. To Tarazona there is a Therpasa bus; the Moncayo already calls for a car.

Tarazona, the plan that leaves the latest free

An hour away is Tarazona, with the cathedral, the climb to the Kiborion and the Peña Roya beech forest. It is the nearest plan and the one that leaves the most time free.

The bulk of the Sundays are between one and one and a half hours away. At 80 minutes are the waterfalls and birds of prey of Piedra and the Bardenas, on a guided 4x4 with lunch in Tudela; at 90, Olite and Ujué.

Between an hour and a half and two hours the day starts early: Alquézar and its walkways, at 100 minutes; Mudéjar Teruel and Dinópolis with children, at 105; Valderrobres and the Parrizal, at 109; Sigüenza, with the castle and the Doncel, at 110, and Morella, at 120.

The Pyrenees and almost everything else call for a night from two hours. Ordesa is 126 minutes away, Aínsa 130 and the Candanchú, Astún and Formigal slopes between 130 and 135. To sleep away: Prades, at 148; Albarracín and the Rodeno and the Rioja Alavesa, at 150; Siurana and the Priorat, at 173, and Montanejos, at 200.

The Formigal snow, two and a quarter hours away

In winter, the snow is two and a quarter hours away: a day on the slopes at Formigal, which opens on 27 November 2026, or the Tena valley with children. For Sundays without snow, Teruel can be visited any day of the year, and in Morella it is truffle season, even if it is cold at a thousand metres.

In spring it is the turn of the Bardenas, the Parrizal and Piedra, which then carries more water. Dinópolis has its high season in spring, in summer and on bank-holiday weekends; it opens only on the days in its calendar.

In summer it is best to go up: Ordesa by the waterfalls, with ternasco in Torla, or the Broto via ferrata, better with a night in between. At Piedra you must arrive at 9:00 to avoid the queue, and in the Bardenas, in July and August, the heat bears down from mid-morning.

In autumn, the Monasterio de Piedra changes colour, and in October and November you can finish with a dip in the Termas Pallarés thermal lake. It is also the season of the red Moncayo beech forest and, in October, of Ordesa to the Cola de Caballo.

Mudéjar Teruel, by train to the Escalinata

• Without a car, in a day: Mudéjar Teruel. Train to the Escalinata, the inside of the El Salvador tower, the Lovers, lunch at Mesón El Óvalo and the cathedral ceiling.
• A Sunday of water: the Monasterio de Piedra. The waterfall park first thing, the Iris Cave, the birds of prey display and the thirteenth-century monastery before heading back.
• With two nights: the Matarraña. 1 h 49 away: Valderrobres castle with a guide, the Parrizal walkways, a 4x4 route to the Tossal del Rei and dinner by the river.

The Pyrenees with two nights have their own getaway, Ordesa from Torla, and the plans from Huesca, along the A-23 to the north, are in near Huesca.