Away from overcrowded tourist routes, Valdegovía is situated near to some of the most interesting natural destinations in the northern peninsular. Near Mount Santiago, Salinas de Añana and Sobrón, it is a precious space surrounded by deep canyons, mountains and forests. It is a lovely and attractive place, where you deserve to stay and enjoy yourself.
Valdegovía has something for every member of the family; spectacular walks, various activities and recreational sites. During the week you can visit natural areas where you can see deer, vultures, eagles and rare flowers abundant in the wild. It is a place where you can wake up and observe wild boar or deer from the window. The quiet weekends mix with the activity around the villages found next to the roads of Bóveda, which are filled with local habitants and visitors.
We encourage you to stay in some of the cottages. At reasonable prices, they offer a high level of comfort, with rooms decorated to a particular taste and suitable for families. All this with the guarantee of resting in a unique, peaceful atmosphere and waking up in the middle of nature. Although if you want, you can make use of the WIFI connection, offered by a majority of accommodation or close to the local library in Villanueva, Valdegovía.
A particularly attractive touch is that the people in Valdegovía are kind and thoughtful. This is what you will discover if you decide to stop in any of the bars scattered around the area. As well as this, they offer the menu of the day prepared with home-made with ingredients from the local area.
Between nature and the visits to villages, Valdegovía has some obligatory sites. Things that ´you have to see´, including:
Salado Valley in Salinas de Añana.
An isolated and fascinating site evoking a past that lived in a salt environment. Currently the Salado valley, across from the SAL project, is immersed in a restoration process with the objective of rehabilitating humid zones, maintaining its wide diversity and showing the public the traditional process of extracting salt.
Museum of Water, Sobrón.
You will find it situated in the centre of a rugged landscape which forms the canyon of the river Ebro in Sobrón. The museum is a thematic area dedicated to water and its importance in the development of living beings. For its interactive part, it is especially educational for children and younger people. The museum was constructed next to a therapeutic spring, which is now used for the Spa.
Varona Tower.
A place to get to know a lot about the history of Álava. Recently restored, it offers an amazing visit of Valdegovía through a junction of walks, which were strategies in the Middle Ages. Now the rooms display a particular, intimate view, which reflects the life of social classes in the 18th and 19th century.
Valderejo Nature Park.
It is essential to cross the Purón canyon and enjoy the forests, ravines and waterfalls in this extraordinary natural place. We can observe vultures, which are the emblem for the Nature Park and are always on show there. Valderejo suggests routes and paths which can carry on until the top of Santa Ana, where you can see the most spectacular views in the region.
Mount Obarenes - San Zadornil.
Declared a Nature Park in January 2007, it is located from the town of Oña to Frías and Pancorbo in the Valle de Tobalina and the district of San Zadornil, and the Pedanía de Valpuesta (Berberana), in the Valle de Valdegobía; it relies on 23 itineraries of different lengths and difficulties. They predict 2 park houses will open around 2009 in the town of Oña and San Zadornil.
Valpuesta.
From here you will see the Valpuesta Monastery, which for almost 300 years, was the central regulator for other monasteries and churches, the scouting party for the Reconquest, and the focus of agrarian exploitation for the people in that area. Their conflicts account for thousands of stories from which the cartularios valpostanos were written; the first documents that show features of Castilian language. If you do go, pay attention to the glass in Valpuesta. You can also see la casa del arcediano or the casa torre, heritage protected by Unesco.
Mount Santiago National Monument.
A little away from Valdegovía and on the way to Bilbao, through the mountain pass of Orduña, you can discover the viewpoints on the Valle de Abando and the beginning of Nervión. There are easy and well signed-posted routes that allow you to walk the length and width of this spectacular landscape: one of the most beautiful in the northern peninsular.
© 2009 ADEV · Arquitecto Jesús Guinea 46 · 01426 Villanueva de Valdegovía (Álava)