What to do in Canfranc: history and mountains in the Pyrenees

It is the reason most people come up to Canfranc. The International Station of Canfranc opened in 1928 as the largest railway station in Europe after Leipzig: 241 metres of façade, 365 windows and a seemingly endless platform, planted in the middle of a Pyrenean valley. The line linking Zaragoza with Pau was cut in 1970 after the L’Estanguet bridge collapsed, and the building spent decades abandoned. Restored, it is now the Barceló Canfranc Estación, a Royal Hideaway Hotel, and you can walk through it with a guide.

During the Second World War the station was a strange sort of border: through here passed the wolfram Franco was selling to the Third Reich, and also hundreds of Jews, Allies and people fleeing occupied France. In the middle of it stood Albert Le Lay, the head of the French customs post, who used his position to let them cross. They call him "the Schindler of Canfranc".

There are two ways to experience it. The special guided tour lasts an hour and a half, covers the interior and the railway grounds in 8 stops and goes into restricted areas that the standard tour does not reach. The theatrical tour does the same, but with Le Lay himself as your guide: an actor recreates the scene and tells the story from the inside.

Canfranc is surrounded by routes that start in the village itself. The most rewarding is the climb to the Cascada de las Negras, up the Canal de Izas: around 11 km and 500 m of ascent (4 h) between the rock formations of Los Campanales and the viewpoint at the Collado de Izas. It is a medium-level route with one technical rocky section, and it is not suitable for children under 12.

Gentler and closer to the village, the route to the Olla de Estiviellas and the Canfranc woods takes in the Segrá viewpoint, the waterfall and the forest in another 4 hours. Both are private outings with a maximum of 8 people and a qualified High Mountain guide, so the pace adapts to the group.

Canfranc is the gateway to Candanchú and Astún, the valley's two ski resorts, about 10 minutes away by car. If you ski, the private ski or snowboard lessons are the easy option: they include the lift pass, equipment and transport from Canfranc, run 2 or 4 hours a day over 1, 2 or 3 days, and have a maximum of 3 pupils per instructor — levels are never mixed, nor are people who do not know each other. Suitable from age 6.

If the pistes are not your thing, the plan is the private snowshoe tour of the Astún valley: 4 hours of silence and snowy woodland with a high-mountain guide, in groups of up to 8. You will need high-cut waterproof mountain boots.

From the Santa Cilia de Jaca airfield, 17 km from Jaca, scenic flights take off in a four-seat aircraft (pilot + 3 passengers) with a glass cabin. There are two: the 45-minute flight over the Tena valley and the 60-minute flight around the Ordesa National Park, with views of Monte Perdido and the glaciers. You book the whole aircraft, so the price is split between however many of you go.

• All year round: the guided and theatrical tours of the International Station, and the scenic flights (visibility permitting).
• Spring and summer: hiking to the Cascada de las Negras and the Olla de Estiviellas, with the snowmelt and long days.
• Autumn: the same routes with the woods in colour and far fewer people.
• Winter: snowshoeing in the Astún valley and ski and snowboard lessons in Astún and Candanchú, depending on snow conditions.