Looking for the perfect place to stay in the middle of Catalunya? Then look no further than Hotel Catalunya Park! Situated so close to Vall De Nuria it is the perfect place to stay during the winter months if you fancy a bit of skiing. It is also a great location for all you hikers for the Spring and Autumn months. The hotel also has an outdoor pool which would be perfect during the Summer! So basically a great hotel to choose come rain, snow or shine!
The Hotel
The hotel has a great location, just a few minutes walk from the Ribes De Freser train station which is easily accessible from Barcelona in about 2 hours. Hotel Catalunya Park has a restaurant on site which offers breakfast, lunch and dinner should you so wish. We chose bed & breakfast and tried local restaurants in town for lunch and dinner which was a nice option to have. Breakfast was a buffet and great for starting the day right. We were extremely lucky that the hotel was not full when we decided to stay (October) and they upgraded our room free of charge and without us even asking which was a dream because we ended up with a balcony room with this view…
Could you really ask for more?
It was beautiful this time of year & I believe would be even prettier now with all the snow on the hills. It was also such a perfect spot to sit and watch the sunset. The sky was a stunning colour of pink between the valley and I would definitely recommend it.
Ribes De Freser
Ribes De Freser itself is a pretty Catalan village, with castle-like architecture nestled in the hills. It has a small, local population but also has events like farmers markets. When we were there we got some lovely local produce, wine and candied nuts, which were so delicious. There is also something nice about supporting local produce and small businesses which is exactly what you can do here.
Ribes De Freser is also equipped with stunning walks to suit all hikers (Steep though -believe me) but totally worth it for views like these…
I think it is absolutely beautiful and although it’s not as easy as you may first think – it is so worth it in the end!
Vall De Nuria
Ribes de Freser is a great place to stay if you enjoy skiing because it is a short tren cremallera (Mountain Train) to Vall De Nuria which is a picturesque ski resort which is a bit quieter than the larger La Molina which is not too far away (In the Catalan Pyrenees). The ride on the Tren Cremallera has stunning views and tunnels going through the mountains which are amazing to see.
Photo above taken from Viajemos en Tren which also has prices and timetables of the train if you are interested.
The stop you are looking for is Vall de Nuria which looks like this…
Photo above taken from Vall De Nuria website
Getting there from Barcelona
You can get a very reasonable combined ticket from Renfe which includes the renfe train from Barcelona to Ribes de Freser, the mountain train from Ribes de Freser to Vall de Nuria. Some even include the day ski pass too which is a ridiculously good price!
32 euros return
Offer valid until October 2018
You can buy them here:
Please let me know if you decide to stay at Hotel Catalunya Park. You can book in the link or via Booking.com
If you do stay or go skiing at Vall de Nuria please tell me how you get on!
The Wee Wanderer x x