01 vs 02 — head-to-head¶

Same start (Castelldefels wingfoil days, 26–28 Aug), same end (Zaragoza, Alessio flies 8 Sep), same middle stops (La Seu d'Urgell, Vall de Boí, Congost de Mont-Rebei area, Benabarre, Samitier, Loarre, Montearagón). The one either-or is Vall de Núria (Plan 01) vs Ordesa Valley (Plan 02) — everything else follows.

At a glance¶

	Plan 01 — Vall de Núria (working plan)	Plan 02 — With Ordesa
Big-valley day	Vall de Núria — Sat 29 Aug afternoon	Ordesa — Fri 4 Sep, full day
How you get in	Cremallera from Queralbs — 40 min, +1,000 m, €34 return	Ordesabus shuttle from Torla — ~12 min, +50 m, €6 return
Total driving Sat 29 – Sat 5	~962 km / ~16h42	~787 km / ~13h08 (~175 km less)
Longest driving day	Mon 31: 4h11 (La Seu → Boí → Àger)	Sat 5: 3h51 (Torla → Loarre → Montearagón → Zaragoza)
Zero-drive days	0	2 — Sun 30 (Festa Major), Fri 4 (Ordesa shuttle)
2-night bases	Àger (Mon 31 – Wed 2)	Torla (Thu 3 – Fri 4)
Congost de Mont-Rebei walk	Tue 1 — whole day from Àger base, up to 16.8 km	Tue 1 — shorter walk (~10 km) squeezed into a moving day
Sat 5 Sep	Empty buffer (56 min drive to Zaragoza)	3h51 driving + two castle visits
Bad-weather fallback for the hike day	Núria walks are short — reshuffles into an afternoon in La Seu	Ordesa is the whole day; rain has no drive-yourself Plan B

Why Plan 02 is tighter — geography, not activity count¶

Both plans have exactly one full-day committed hike — the difference is where it sits.

Congost de Mont-Rebei is on the east-to-west sweep. Àger sits between Vall de Boí and Graus, so Tue 1's hike costs no extra driving — you're at Àger for the sleep anyway, and Graus is the next stop west whether you hiked yesterday or not.
Ordesa is off the sweep, in a dead-end valley. Torla is ~55 min north of Aínsa, and Ordesa's trailhead is shuttle-only from Torla. Adding it costs:
Thu 3 detour up (Aínsa old town + optional Ermita de San Úrbez still fit — ~½ day of net "geographic-only travel").
Sat 5 undoing the detour while covering Loarre + Montearagón, which Plan 01 fits en route on Fri 4. Plan 01's ~56 min Sat 5 buffer becomes Plan 02's 3h51 driving day.

Net: ~1½ day-slots of geographic penalty for putting the full-day hike off-route. That's what consumes Plan 01's Saturday buffer and downgrades Congost de Mont-Rebei to a moving-day stop in Plan 02. Plan 02's ~3h30 driving savings come from days designed to be zero-drive (Sun 30 rest, Fri 4 shuttle-only) — a distribution difference, not spare capacity that could lighten Sat 5.

Day-by-day (Sat 29 – Sat 5)¶

Day	Plan 01	Plan 02
Sat 29	Sants pickup + drive to Queralbs + Núria half-day	Sants pickup + drive to La Seu + easy evening
Sun 30	Cremallera down + drive to La Seu + Festa Major (afternoon block only)	Festa Major all day, 0 km
Mon 31	Cathedral museum + Vall de Boí + drive to Àger (4h11)	Cathedral museum + drive to Boí + Vall de Boí (2h18)
Tue 1	Congost de Mont-Rebei full day from Àger	Short Congost de Mont-Rebei walk + Benabarre + drive to Graus
Wed 2	Tombetes + drive to Graus	Tombetes + Samitier sunset + drive to Aínsa
Thu 3	Benabarre + Samitier sunset (overloaded)	Aínsa → Torla transfer + optional Ermita de San Úrbez
Fri 4	Montearagón + Loarre + drive to Huesca (2h56)	Ordesa full day, shuttle only, 0 km
Sat 5	Huesca → Zaragoza (56 min) — buffer	Loarre + Montearagón + drive to Zaragoza (3h51)

The two valleys — hikes on offer¶

Very different: a small enclosed glacial cirque at ~1,970 m vs the wide glacial canyon floor at ~1,300 m rising along the Río Arazas.

Vall de Núria (Plan 01)¶

Sanctuary, small lake, cable car to Coma del Clot (included in the cremallera ticket), short trails around the cirque. Half-day of easy pottering satisfies the "see Núria at all" ask. Sources: Turistren/FGC, Ripollès Turisme — hikes detailed on the hiking page.

Camí Vell (Queralbs ↔ Núria) — GR-11 pilgrimage path. 7.3 km, +940 m, ~4h38 up; cremallera-up-walk-down fits an afternoon (~2–3 h descent).
Coma de Vaca circular — 16.3 km, ~6h42. Too much for an arrival-day afternoon.
Around the cirque — sanctuary + lake + Coma del Clot cable car, a couple of hours' walk with no real climb.

Ordesa Valley (Plan 02)¶

The canyon floor of Ordesa y Monte Perdido National Park — vertical walls, the Río Arazas at your feet, waterfalls at set intervals. Sources: MITECO / pnomp.es — hikes detailed on the hiking page.

Cascada de la Cueva turn-back — ~6–8 km, ~2–3 h, minimal elevation. Rain/low-energy fallback on the same trail.
Circo de Soaso (the signature hike) — Pradera → Cascada de la Cueva → Gradas de Soaso → Cola de Caballo. ~19 km round trip, ~6 h, +300 m, gentle river-following gradient.
Faja de Pelay — harder alternative that loops back high above the valley (+800 m). Not on this trip.

Getting in — cremallera vs shuttle bus¶

Neither valley lets you drive to the trailhead. Details for both are cited on the hiking page; the table condenses what matters for picking between the plans:

	Núria (Plan 01)	Ordesa (Plan 02)
Access rule	No road at all into the valley	Private cars banned 20 Jun – 15 Sep + weekends/holidays through 1 Nov, per pnomp.es
Getting in	40 min cremallera, +1,000 m	~12 min shuttle, +50 m
Adult return	€34 Ribes (Queralbs cheaper, unconfirmed)	€6
Frequency	Timetabled per season	Every 15–20 min (30 min from 06:00–08:00)
Runs	~07:30 up / ~21:00 down	~06:00 up / ~21:00 down (Sep pattern)
Buy where	Ticket window (book ahead recommended)	On-the-day at the booth only, no online sale
No-service fallback	Camí Vell on foot (7.3 km, +940 m)	Walk the road — 8 km each way, ≈full day

How to decide¶

"Do a big Pyrenean hike day" → Plan 02 (Circo de Soaso).
"See Núria at all" or "keep a Saturday buffer" → Plan 01.
"Drive less overall" → Plan 02 (~22 % less by distance, at the cost of the buffer).

The 26 Aug 2026 decision that put Plan 01 on top is spelled out on Relaxed route → Núria in, Ordesa out.