Proposed plan 02 — With Ordesa¶
The alternative plan — kept live so the Ordesa-Valley variant, dropped from the current working plan on 26 Aug 2026, is still a real option and not a stale sketch. This page uses the route from before Vall de Núria went in, adjusted to reflect what has since been booked or fixed (the coast wingfoil days, the La Seu Festa Major programme, the cathedral museum's Monday-only opening). For the working plan see Proposed plan 01 — Vall de Núria; the head-to-head is on 01 vs 02.
No Vall de Núria, Ordesa Valley is in. From Samitier the route climbs north to Torla (the Ordesa gateway) — Sat 29 Aug drives straight to La Seu instead of first going east to Queralbs, freeing the day-and-a-bit that Ordesa needs at the far north-west end (a transfer day plus a dedicated hiking day). Ordesa's Pradera has no private-car access in this window: the shuttle bus from Torla is mandatory (see Fri 4 Sep below).
Day by day¶
Drive figures are real road-routed via OSRM, same source as Proposed plan 01 — routing-engine estimates, without traffic, breaks, or mountain-pass conditions. The fixed bookings (wingfoil sessions, Hotel C31, the flights) match Plan 01 verbatim; only Sat 29 Aug onward differs.
| Day | Drive | Main location(s) | What we do there | Sleep |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wed 26 Aug | N/A (no car yet) | Castelldefels | Alessio lands BCN 19:55 (easyJet LGW→BCN); transfer to the hotel. | Castelldefels — Hotel C31, booked |
| Thu 27 Aug | N/A | Castelldefels | Wingfoil: Shaka Surf 13:00 — on the list, contact them Wed 26 for final weather confirmation. See TODO → Wingfoil. | Castelldefels — Hotel C31, booked |
| Fri 28 Aug | N/A | Castelldefels · BCN airport | Escola Garbí Wing Control 16:00 — booked, €90 paid. Evening: meet Elisabeth at BCN — BA486 lands 22:50. Elisabeth heads to her friend's in Vallvidrera for the night; Alessio back to C31. | Alessio — Castelldefels, Hotel C31 (3rd solo night, booked). Elisabeth — friend's place in Vallvidrera |
| Sat 29 Aug | Castelldefels → Sants (train) → Vallvidrera → La Seu d'Urgell — ~177 km, ~2h35 driving (see Car rental) | Barcelona Sants · Vallvidrera · La Seu d'Urgell | Alessio checks out of C31, trains up to Sants; 09:30 pickup at Centauro. Drive up to Vallvidrera, pick up Elisabeth by 10:30, depart by 11:00. Long-ish transfer north (~2h15 from Vallvidrera); arrive La Seu ~13:15, unpack, evening walk around the porticoed Carrer dels Canonges and Parc Olímpic del Segre. | La Seu d'Urgell — unbooked |
| Sun 30 Aug | 0 km — no driving | La Seu d'Urgell | Full day at the Festa Major: Ball Cerdà 11:30–13:00 at Plaça Patalín, then the Seu Folk block on Carrer de Santa Maria — Taverna Folk 17:30, Ball folk BENSO 18:00, concert Benoit Guerbigny 20:00, Ball folk Vegetal Jam (Aragó) 22:30. ⚠ The cathedral museum is shut Sundays — see Monday. | La Seu d'Urgell — unbooked |
| Mon 31 Aug | La Seu → Taüll / Boí — 136 km, ~2h18 | La Seu d'Urgell · Vall de Boí | Morning: Catedral de Santa Maria + Museu Diocesà (Mon–Sat 10:00–13:30, €4) — the reason Sunday is a rest-and-Festa day, not a moving day. Then west to the Vall de Boí UNESCO churches: Sant Climent de Taüll, Boí, Erill la Vall. Slower afternoon here than in Plan 01, which pushes on to Àger the same day. | Boí / Taüll — unbooked |
| Tue 1 Sep | Boí → La Masieta trailhead ~63 km / ~1h10 → Benabarre ~32 km / ~1h → Graus ~19 km / ~0h17 (~2h30 total driving + the gorge walk) | Congost de Mont-Rebei · Benabarre · Graus | Heaviest single day: the gorge walk (a shorter round trip — 10 km / ~3–4 h — not the full 16.8 km, since Benabarre still to come), then west to Benabarre for Elisabeth's genealogy morning-become-afternoon (castle, Colegiata de Santa María de Valdeflores, old-town photographs; ancestor Josep Llena Canadell died here). Evening in Graus. The optional Sant Martí → Pessó lakes hike is foregone — no room. | Graus — unbooked |
| Wed 2 Sep | Graus → Samitier area — ~59 km / ~1h24 with the tombs detour | Sant Martí de les Tombetes · Castillo de Samitier | Morning: Archivo Comarcal de la Ribagorza in Graus (Pza Mayor 17, Mon–Fri 08:00–15:00 — call ahead: 974 54 03 85) if it holds anything genealogical. The rock-cut necropolis at Sant Martí de les Tombetes on the way — ~20 Late Antique tombs, ~1 h on site. Afternoon → Samitier for the sunset hike + drone: ~1.5 km each way, 1–1.5 h round trip, start up ~2 h before sunset and descend in the dark. | Aínsa (or Abizanda / El Grado) — unbooked |
| Thu 3 Sep | Aínsa → Torla — ~45 km, ~0h55 | Aínsa · Torla | Short transfer, settle in Torla for tomorrow's hike. Time for Aínsa old town (medieval walled centre, Plaza Mayor) on the way out, or an afternoon at the Ermita de San Úrbez in the Cañón de Añisclo (~1h drive from Torla, on the other side of the massif — enough time only if the morning starts early). Pick up shuttle tickets at Torla's Centro de Visitantes parking. | Torla — unbooked |
| Fri 4 Sep | 0 km driving — shuttle bus only | Ordesa Valley (Pradera de Ordesa) | Full day in Ordesa. Private cars banned on the Torla → Pradera road (20 Jun – 15 Sep, confirmed on pnomp.es): board the Ordesabus shuttle from Torla's Centro de Visitantes parking. Sep 2026 pattern: first bus ~06:00, last return ~21:00, every 15–20 min (every 30 min 06:00–08:00), ~12 min ride, €6 return / €4 one-way, tickets on-the-day at the booth (not sold online). The Circo de Soaso classic — Pradera → Cascada de la Cueva → Gradas de Soaso → Cola de Caballo, ~19 km round trip / ~6 h, gentle river-following gradient (+300 m); or a shorter Cascada de la Cueva turn-back at ~6–8 km. | Torla — unbooked |
| Sat 5 Sep | Torla → Loarre ~121 km / ~1h50 → Montearagón ~40 km / ~0h44 → Zaragoza ~83 km / ~1h17 (~3h51 total — the longest driving day) | Castillo de Loarre · Castillo de Montearagón · Zaragoza | Torla is further out than the southern-road version, so this day is heavier than in Plan 01. Loarre first: open 10:00–20:00 until 15 Sep, ~1.5–2 h on site — recheck wildfire status nearer the date. Then Montearagón: guided tour only and must be booked ahead — see TODO → Bookings. Push on to Zaragoza in the evening. | Zaragoza — has to be here or very near: Elisabeth flies at 10:10 Sunday. Unbooked |
| Sun 6 Sep | Zaragoza hotel → ZAZ 16 km, ~0h28 → back to Zaragoza-Delicias | Zaragoza | Early: drive Elisabeth to ZAZ for FR2566, 10:10, drop-off ~08:50. Back to Delicias station to return the car by 09:30. Rest of the day solo in Zaragoza on foot / public transport. | Zaragoza — unbooked |
| Mon 7 Sep | N/A (car already returned) | Zaragoza | A full solo day in Zaragoza — exploring, or working remotely. | Zaragoza — unbooked |
| Tue 8 Sep | N/A | Zaragoza · ZAZ | Alessio flies ZAZ→STN, FR2566, 15:45. | — |
Total driving, Sat 29 Aug – Sat 5 Sep: ~787 km / ~13h08, excluding Sunday's airport run and Friday's shuttle-only day in Ordesa. That is ~175 km and ~3h30 less than Plan 01 — the saving from skipping Queralbs and Núria at the eastern end, partly offset by the longer Sat 5 Sep drive from Torla down to Zaragoza.
Two things this version gives up¶
No two-night base at Congost de Mont-Rebei. The gorge walk sits inside the Tue 1 Sep moving day (Boí → Benabarre → Graus) — a shorter round trip is realistic; the full 16.8 km version is not. No parking-side comparison table here (Plan 01 has one) because there is no overnight to decide; La Masieta on the way through is the working assumption.
Fri 4 Sep is a shuttle-bound day. The Ordesa road is closed to private cars in this window, so the whole day runs on Ordesabus' timetable — first bus ~06:00 gives the earliest start; missing the last return (~21:00 early Sep) means walking out. Nothing about it is bad, but it's a different rhythm from the drive-yourself days on either side, and a rainy day here has no fall back that doesn't cost the whole day. Plan 01 has no equivalent single point of failure.
What comes back that Plan 01 dropped¶
- Ordesa Valley itself — the glacial canyon and the Circo de Soaso hike, a proper Pyrenean big-day.
- Ermita de San Úrbez as a plausible Thu 3 Sep afternoon add-on — it's on the other side of the same massif as Ordesa, unreachable from Plan 01's southern-road version.
- A Sun 30 Aug rest day in La Seu (no morning drive from Núria), so the full Festa Major block is reachable without a rack-railway descent first.
See also: Proposed plan 01 — Vall de Núria · 01 vs 02 · Flights · Accommodation · TODO → Bookings — the reservations Plan 01 tracks (most apply here too, minus the Núria-specific items) · Relaxed route: Castelldefels → Zaragoza — the reasoning behind the current working plan · Top picks.