Map
6 ideas, picked for these days
Àger collegiate church and a night at the Parc Astronòmic
The Montsec Astronomical Park opens on the nights of the long weekend with night sessions and some Christmas ones for families, but on 8 December there are no sessions: choose the night before. In December it is fully dark by six, and places sell out weeks ahead.
Ski weekend at Grandvalira, two and a half hours from Lleida
Grandvalira usually opens its season in early December and sells weekend stays for the long weekend with hotel and lift pass. Check the opening date on its website, buy the lift pass online and bring documents: you cross the Andorran customs.
A ski, Romanesque and spa weekend in the Vall de Boí, two and a half hours from Lleida
Boí Taüll opens when the snow allows, and the long weekend falls at the very start of the season: check the report the night before. If there are few pistes, the spa afternoons and the Romanesque of the Vall de Boí carry the two nights on their own.
Two nights at the Parador de Cardona, inside the castle, with the Salt Mountain and Solsona
From 5 December Cardona castle offers a guided Medieval Christmas visit, with booking and a set time. Castle and Salt Mountain close on non-holiday Mondays: if your long weekend has one, leave the mine for the 6th or 8th.
A weekend in the Matarraña: Valderrobres, Beceite and the Puertos, under two hours from Zaragoza
On the December long weekend the castle and church at Valderrobres have guided visits every day, without booking and with several sessions; on the 8th, fewer. It is the getaway on this list that depends neither on snow nor on a clear sky.
Llanos del Hospital: Nordic skiing beneath the Aneto
The Nordic circuits at Llanos del Hospital run from 9:30 to 17:00 when there is snow, and in early December it is wise to check the report. The free public car park at Vado del Hospital is about 400 metres from the hotel.