Camping Bielsa

Mountain biking and hiking routes start from the site, and canyoning, caving, rafting and kayaking are all available for your active self at the Ordesa and Monte Perdido National Park in under half an hour's drive. More of the adrenalised same is at the Posets-Maladeta Natural Park, also a short drive away. If you're around during the snowy months, sort some skiing at the nearby Piau-Engaly resort in the Aure valley, where the skilled can ski along 65 kilometres making up 38 tracks, at an altitude of up to 2,600 metres. Cross-country skiing can be sorted too, about 15 kilometres away. And then might you feel up for that Monte Perdido climb? The third highest mountain in the Pyrenees, at 3355 metres, makes for a mighty challenge for climbers: start the route near the village of Torla in the Ordesa Valley to ascend the Cirque de Soaso and the Refuge of Góriz on the steep climb to the summit. (If you can be puffed, look out for bearded vultures soaring ahead on your way, as the Pyrenees is one of the few places in Europe where these mammoth-sized birds flit.) For easier times, hike or potter around the Bielsa, Barrosa Chistau and Pineta valleys, or drive the half hour or so to the Aragnouet-Bielsa tunnel, for day trips into France.