From the Spanish Pyrenees I travel through the vast Aragon region.
One of the 17 autonomous regions of Spain with more than 1.3 million inhabitants. Spain is a large country, this state is even larger than the Netherlands!
I love Aragon!
I have been so positively surprised by the beauty of this region, so sorry it has become a long blog!
Huesca
I drive to Huesca through a dry mountainous environment.
A small city with a beautiful cathedral and cozy terraces. It is busy at the camper place, apparently I am not the only one who wants to enjoy this nice city.
Monegros Desert
In the Monegros Desert we find total peace and an overnight stay in the hamlet of La Cartuja de Monegros.
From here we walk a lot, how wonderful! Leo goes down a steep slope near this river to drink and almost not comes back because it is so slippery. The next day I drive straight through the Monegros desert, what a beautiful area and how happy I am!
Teruel city
In the meantime I have to arrange some practical matters such as a visit to the vet in preparation for the trip to Morocco. I do this in the south of Aragon, in the city of Teruel.
We will be back here in two weeks, but first we will make a tour of Aragon.
Gea de Albarracin
In Gea de Albarracin we take a short walk to the Acueducto Romano and the caves. There are picnic tables at the parking lot and after lunch we also take a look at the small village and walk through the fields, a fantastic environment.
Camino village Cella
The village of Cella is located on the Valencia Camino to Santiago de Compostela.
A village with a nice church and many murals on the buildings.
Peracense Castle
At Peracense Castle I have an amazing view. We first walk to all the viewpoints and then the castle is just closing. Would you like to visit the castle? Check the opening hours!
En route
I drive via the stunning Sierra de Albarracin to the next place to sleep in Bello. What a pleasure to drive here!
The west side of the province of Aragon. A rolling landscape with small villages in the middle of nowhere. A superb environment for hiking.
Monasterio de Piedra
The monastery has a large garden (with entrance fee) and many restaurants. You can enjoy nice walks in the area and the view at the gorge next to the monastery is gorgeous!
Zaragoza city
Zaragoza is located on the Ebro River and is the capital of Aragon. There is a spacious camper place and from there Leo and I walk to the center. I buy clothes in an animal-friendly shopping center, so Leo can come in. But he doesn’t like shopping, I know now hahah 🙂
We meet beautiful people again this week. Andreas from Switzerland has been traveling with the camper for 7 years and in the center of Zaragoza a Spanish woman who recently lost her dog. Tears stream down her cheeks and she hugs Leo almost to death.
We wander through the city, walk across the square past the enormous cathedral, through the shopping street and along the river back to the camper place.
Vast area near Muniesa
There is a strong wind in Muniesa! We can enjoy lovely walks here in the vast nature. I have a nice coffee with Dutch camper people and then it’s time to continue… in silence.
The Silent Route
Via Ejulve I drive to the Silent route, a route with lots of nature and a lot of silence. In Ejulve we walk up a nice part of the hill and Leo immediately chases after the mountain goats, oops…
What an incredibly beautiful route! Besides the fact that it is very quiet and peaceful here, it is also photogenic. I really stop often to take pictures. And I am so lucky with the weather, after rain and wind it is now wonderfully sunny.
I stop for coffee in one of the last villages, Cañada de Benatanduz, but everything is closed out of season. We walk to the church, enjoy the view of the gorge and drive to El Pobo. This route is also stunning, with vast plains in the middle of nature and almost no traffic. I love it!
Teruel city
Teruel is a nice city! We view the cathedral, Storico square, Torre de San Martin, Viaducto and the old Mudejar architecture.
In the afternoon we walk near the camper place in nature, it is very nice here. At the top of the hill you have a wide view of the city.
Canyon Rojo
Canyon Rojo, 7 minutes drive from Teruel. Beautiful rocks with all kinds of colors, but especially red in color, amazing! The weather has been dry for days so we can walk everywhere and you see that when it rains, the water washes away the ground in many places, a unique place and very close to the city.
After more than 3 weeks of enjoying Aragon, we will travel further to Castilla-La Mancha & Extremadura, will you travel with us? Please click on this link! https://www.marianaroundtheworld.com/en/europe/unknown-spain-i/
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It took us almost 12 years to finally visit Aragon from Valencia… We loved it – saw Teruel and Albarracín but we’ll be back to explore more.
Sounds great, I loved it too!