El Pont de Suert and the Vall de Boí

The Vall de Boí is a gem.  With 9 churches, it has the highest concentration of Romanesque architecture in the world, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and is also a great place for walkers. Combined with El Pont de Suert further down the valley, there is enough walking to keep you busy for a week.

Suggested walks around the Vall de Boí

The main attraction is the Vall de Boí itself.  A tight secluded valley, it features a series of lovely stone villages each bedecked with a Romanesque church (my favourite, Taüll, has two). The tall, skinny church towers, set off against a green mountain backdrop, are particularly photogenic.  The villages and the churches date back to the 11th Century when the local rulers spent their wealth, derived from silver trading, on architecture inspired by pilgrimages to Italy. Originally these churches were lavishly decorated with murals and although most them have now been moved to the national museum in Barcelona the church at Boí still has some of them in situ.

Above the door to Sant Joan at Boí

The valley is an all the year round outdoor sports centre.  In the winter it's a ski resort (Taüll features the highest pistes in the Pyrenees) and in the summer it attracts walkers, climbers and mountain bikers as well as tourists visiting the churches.  The attractions include a national park (one of only two in the Pyrenees), the Aigüestortes i Estany de Sant Maurici National Park.  Walking is highly organised and as well as an excellent network of well marked trails a dedicated drop and pick-up taxi service operates from Boí.

El Pont de Suert sits on the Noguera Ribagorzana at the intersection of four valleys including the Vall de Boí.  Although not as attractive as the villages in the Vall de Boí it has good public transport links from Lleida, and with interesting walks in its own right it's an excellent place to start or finish an exploration of the area.

The six villages of the Vall de Boí all have places to stay and places to get food. The best choice is probably in Boi itself, which also hosts the National Park Visitor Centre.