Aragon is a landlocked autonomous community in northeastern Spain stretching from the crest of the Pyrenees in the north to the semi-arid steppes of the Ebro basin in the center and the rugged Iberian System in the south. Its capital Zaragoza holds two-thirds of the regional population and anchors a rich tapestry of Mudéjar Islamic-Gothic architecture recognized by UNESCO. Beyond the city, medieval hilltop villages such as Alquézar and Aínsa overlook river gorges, Ordesa y Monte Perdido National Park offers some of Iberia's finest high-altitude scenery, and Cañón del Río Ara draws canyoneers from across Europe.
Top day trips
Handpicked excursions within easy reach.
Albarracín Medieval Town
Albarracín is a walled hill town above the Guadalaviar river gorge, built from pink-toned stone and earth that gives the whole townscape a reddish glow, especially in late afternoon light. It was the seat of an independent Muslim taifa kingdom and later a Christian lordship, and its street plan still follows the medieval layout rather than any grid. A day here is mostly walking: narrow lanes climbing between overhanging timber-framed houses, with the walls and watchtowers above town giving views back down over the roofs.
Highlights: City walls and Torre del Andador — climb up for the view over the town's tiled roofs and the river bend below · Catedral del Salvador — the town's cathedral, modest in scale compared to Zaragoza's churches but central to the old quarter · Casa de la Julianeta — a leaning, cantilevered medieval house often used as the example of the town's timber-and-plaster construction · Plaza Mayor — the small arcaded square that acts as the town's hub for cafés and orientation
Ordesa y Monte Perdido National Park
Ordesa is a glacial canyon in the central Pyrenees cut by the Río Arazas, walled in by limestone cliffs beneath the Monte Perdido massif. It's one of Spain's oldest national parks and the day is built entirely around walking the canyon floor trail, which passes through beech and fir forest and past a series of waterfalls before climbing to the head of the valley. This is a hiking destination, not a sightseeing stop — the reward is the trail itself and the scale of the rock walls above it.
Highlights: Senda de los Cazadores / canyon floor trail from the Torla-Ordesa visitor centre — the standard route into the valley · Gradas de Soaso — a stepped series of cascades partway up the valley · Cola de Caballo waterfall — the horsetail fall at the head of the canyon where the classic there-and-back walk turns around · Faja de Pelay — a higher balcony path along the canyon's south wall for those wanting a different perspective and fewer people
Castillo de Loarre
Loarre is an 11th-century Romanesque castle-monastery built on a rock outcrop overlooking the Hoya de Huesca plain, constructed under Sancho III and later Ramiro I of Aragon as both a military stronghold and a religious foundation. It's one of the best-preserved Romanesque fortifications in Europe, with its keep, walls, towers and crypt largely intact rather than ruined. The visit is compact but atmospheric — you walk the ramparts, climb the towers and go through the church and crypt, all with the plain spread out below.
Highlights: The keep (Torre del Homenaje) — the castle's main tower, climbable for views over the surrounding plain · Iglesia de Santa María — the Romanesque church built into the castle complex, with carved capitals · The crypt beneath the church — a low, atmospheric space that predates much of the castle above it · The perimeter walls and watchtowers — walkable, giving a sense of the fortress's defensive layout
Alquézar and Cañón del Río Vero
Alquézar is a stone village stacked on a bluff above the Río Vero canyon, with a fortified collegiate church at its highest point and lanes that spiral down toward the river. Below the village, the Río Vero canyon has a network of walkways (pasarelas) bolted to the canyon walls that let you walk at water level beneath the cliffs the village sits on. The combination of a compact historic centre and a genuinely dramatic canyon walk makes this a two-part day rather than a single stop.
Highlights: Colegiata de Santa María la Mayor — the fortified collegiate church and cloister that dominate the village skyline · The pasarelas (canyon walkways) — metal walkways and bridges through the Río Vero gorge beneath the village · The village's arcaded Plaza Mayor and stepped lanes — the core of the historic centre · Prehistoric rock art sites in the wider Río Vero canyon area, part of a UNESCO-listed group of Levantine paintings
Monasterio de Piedra
Monasterio de Piedra pairs a 12th-century Cistercian monastery with an adjoining nature park built around the Río Piedra, where a series of waterfalls, grottoes and pools were landscaped into a walking route in the 19th century. It's a more manicured, garden-like experience than the wilder canyons elsewhere in Aragon, with paths, bridges and viewpoints engineered around each cascade. The monastery buildings themselves, including the old wine cellar and chapter house, are part of the same visit.
Highlights: Cola de Caballo waterfall — the park's largest fall, reached via a path that passes behind and around it · Lago del Espejo (Mirror Lake) and the grotto walks around the lower pools · The monastery's old cellars and cloister — the historic Cistercian buildings that give the site its name · The park's network of bridges and tunnels cut into the rock alongside the falls
Tarazona — La Ciudad del Mudéjar
Tarazona is built along a bend of the Río Queiles and carries one of Aragon's densest concentrations of Mudéjar architecture — brickwork built by Muslim craftsmen working under Christian rule after the Reconquista. The old Jewish quarter climbs a hillside in tightly packed lanes, and the cathedral and old bullring anchor the lower town. It's a walking city rather than a single-sight destination, with the Mudéjar brick and tile decoration visible on towers and church exteriors throughout the centre.
Highlights: Catedral de Santa María de la Huerta — Mudéjar brick tower and decoration on an otherwise Gothic cathedral · Plaza de Toros Vieja — a round former bullring whose outer ring of housing was built to double as spectator galleries · The old Jewish quarter (Judería) — steep, narrow lanes climbing the hill above the old town · Ayuntamiento (town hall) — its facade carries an unusual carved frieze depicting the labours of Hercules and the conquest of the town
Belchite Civil War Ruins
Belchite is a ghost town: the old settlement was left in ruins after the 1937 Battle of Belchite during the Spanish Civil War and was never rebuilt, with a new town constructed alongside it instead. Walking through the shelled church towers and collapsed houses of the old town is a deliberately preserved memorial rather than a restored heritage site, and it reads very differently from anywhere else on this list. Access to the ruins is generally by guided visit for safety reasons given the unstable structures.
Highlights: Iglesia de San Martín de Tours — the ruined parish church, its tower still standing over the rubble around it · Convento de San Agustín (Iglesia de San Agustín) — another shelled church that remains a focal ruin of the old town · The old town's collapsed streets and house facades, left largely as the battle left them · The new town of Belchite, built after the war beside the ruins, for context on how the site was handled afterward
Sos del Rey Católico
Sos del Rey Católico is a fortified medieval town on a hilltop in northern Aragon, notable as the birthplace of Ferdinand II of Aragon in 1452 — the town's name commemorates that royal connection. Its old quarter is enclosed by walls and gates, with stone mansions bearing coats of arms lining the streets around the church and the palace where Ferdinand was born. It's a quiet, well-preserved hill town best experienced by walking its lanes rather than ticking off individual sights.
Highlights: Palacio de Sada — the house traditionally identified as Ferdinand II's birthplace · Iglesia de San Esteban — the town's Romanesque church, partly built into the hillside with a crypt below · The town walls and gates, including remnants of the medieval fortifications enclosing the old quarter · The Lonja and Plaza Mayor — the arcaded main square at the heart of the old town
Benasque Valley (Pyrenean Wilderness)
Benasque sits at the head of a high Pyrenean valley below the Maladeta massif and Aneto, the highest peak in the Pyrenees, inside the Posets-Maladeta Natural Park. The town itself is a base for walkers and climbers rather than a sight in its own right, so the day is really about the surrounding valley: glacial cirques, high pastures, and trailheads reached by narrow mountain roads. It suits travellers who want mountain scenery and a walk rather than monuments, and it works as a long day trip only if you're comfortable with the drive time in both directions.
Highlights: Aneto and the Maladeta massif - the highest summit in the Pyrenees, visible from several valley viewpoints without needing to climb it · Posets-Maladeta Natural Park - the protected high-mountain terrain that gives the valley its glacial lakes and rock walls · Benasque old town - stone-built valley town with a medieval core, the natural stop for lunch and a walk before or after a hike · Valle de Benasque road up to Baños de Benasque / La Besurta area - the access route into the high valley used as a starting point for walks toward the glaciers
Fuendetodos (Goya Birthplace) and Cariñena Wine
Fuendetodos is a small village on the plains south of Zaragoza, notable for one thing: Francisco de Goya was born here in 1746. The Casa Natal de Goya is a modest restored house rather than a grand museum, so a visit is brief, and it's usually combined with a stop in the nearby Cariñena wine region, whose Museo del Vino explains a DO with a long history of robust reds from Garnacha and other varieties grown on the area's stony soils. Together they make a manageable half-day or full-day loop from Zaragoza that pairs a literary/artistic pilgrimage with a wine-region stop.
Highlights: Casa Natal de Goya - the restored house in Fuendetodos where Goya was born, furnished to suggest a modest 18th-century rural home rather than displaying his major works · Museo del Grabado de Goya - a nearby museum in the same village holding print series such as the Caprichos and Disasters of War, which gives more to see than the birth house alone · Museo del Vino de Cariñena - the wine museum in Cariñena explaining the DO's history and winemaking, housed in a former winery building · Cariñena bodegas - several wineries around the town offer tastings of the DO's Garnacha-based reds, the natural way to close out the wine-region half of the day
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Multi-day tours from Aragon
If you have longer than a day, these are organised multi-day trips that start here.
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Day trip tips
Make the most of your excursions.
Start early — most popular day-trip destinations get crowded by mid-morning.
Check return transport times before you leave — missing the last train or bus can be costly.
Carry water, snacks, and layers — weather and food options can be limited at smaller destinations.