** Pico de Aneto is within the borders of Spain and the highest mountain of the Pyrenees. It’s located in the Huesca region at the border of France. Height 3404 meters.

** Pico De Aneto is accessible from Barcelona or from Tolousse, France.

** A direct flight of 3.5 hours from Istanbul to Barcelona is available. I arrived in Barcelona via Lufthansa in Munich for 6 hours.

** First of all you need to reach Sants Estacio Street by bus from Barcelona Airport. Sants Estacio has a bus terminal right next to a large railway station. The buses to Benasque, the closest residential area to Pico De Aneto, leave at 6.45 and 13.00 daily.

** In order to catch the 13.00 bus, I landed in a taxi cab and drove to Sants Estacio for 20 euro and caught the bus. If you have time, the buses leaving from the airport transport you to Sants Estacio for 7 euros.

** The bus from Barcelona-Sants Estacio arrives in Barbastro town and then Benasque town for a total of 6 hours.
Barcelona - Barbastro - 13 euro
Barbastro - Benasque - 8 euro

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Benasque Village 

** Benasque is a wonderful mountain village. There are all kinds of social facilities in the town. Because it is Mountain Village, there are shops selling mountaineering equipment. The hotel is very clean and affordable, and the food is suitable for Turkish taste.

** The two nights I stayed at Benasque, the hotel is the two-star Llibrada Hotel, right at the town center. The daily price is 32 euro. Just below the restaurant you can find any kind of local food you want.
Hotel Llibrada: Av. Francia N-1 Benasque - Huesca Tel: 974551211

** In Benasque, the most important issue is foreign language problem. Almost no one speaks English. Very kind people but you can not even agree with the restaurant staff. Even giving a tea order is very difficult. So it is imperative to learn a few Spanish words when going to the region.

** In order to climb to Pico de Aneto, you need to reach La Besurta region from Benasque. Buses departing from Benasque at certain intervals take you to La Besurta in about an hour.
Bus departure times 4.30 - 7.30 - 9.00 - 11.00 - 14.30 - 18.00
Benasque - La Besurta bus 7 euro.

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Renclusa Mountain House

** La Besurta region is the last point you can reach with a car. You will be able to reach the La Renclusa Mountain House in 40 minutes by walking. So we do not have to come to La Besurta very early. Because the walk is rather short.

** After a short 40 minute walk you reach the Renclusa mountain house at 2140 meters. La Renclusa is a fully comfortable chalet with 100 beds and all kinds of food.

** The mountain house costs 16 euro per night.
La Renclusa: Phone: 974344646

** At La Reclusa you can eat breakfast and lunch at very reasonable prices. The meals are quite satisfying. At the end of the salad, the beans and the meat you are going out of the dining room in a very saturated manner.

** There are double berths in the rooms of the mountain house. There are 14 people in each room. Of course, even a person's snoring can lead you to sleepless nights all night.

** The best way to spend your first day in La Renclusa is to visit the surroundings. The little church carved into the rock just across from the mountain house must be visited.

** Following the glacier passing just beside the mountain house, when you ascend 100 meters you are encountering a wonderful mountain lake 2250 meters high. The lake is right on the edge of the famous Maldeneta Mountain.

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Pico De Aneto Climbing

** Mountain climbers wake up at 3 o'clock in the morning, after the breakfast starts preparations for climbing. In the climbing bag, digging, crampons, helmets and at least 1.5 liters of water are essential. Some mountaineers do not need helmets and digging.

** Climb the first 150 meters of footpath climbing. When you reach the back of Mount Renclusa, you make a 100 meters descent from a narrow throat and reach the Aneto Glacier. The road from the narrow throat to the ice is extremely winding. The reason for this is the route markings placed everywhere. You can not understand where the right route is because of the signs that each climber climbs into different places.

** The beginning of Aneto Glacier is 3100 meters high. Without a glacier, they take a little break and go digging and hooking the crampons.

** During the glacial pass, some mountain climbers were connected to each other due to the hard ice and glacial cracks. I did not have a chance like this because I climbed on one hand. 

** The glacier gradient is at most 25 degrees. Since there are no deep cracks on the glacial route, some mountain climbers tried to climb without cramp. There is little risk of a fatal wound in a possible fall. But the cramp-up climb is not safe on the way. At least wearing a crampons makes this part of the climb go smoothly.

** When we complete the glacier passage and arrive at the main mass of Aneto, the summit is only 150 meters away. After a few easy rock passes, the highest point of the Pyrenees is reached.

** The summit is at a height of 3404 meters. We successfully completed 21 people climbing 25 people started. Four people had to go back for various reasons. It took 6 hours for the peak climb to mislead the rods. But the average duration of the summit is 5 hours.

** The peak at the top is quite problematic due to the road signs on the road. During the landing, we lose the route again and we go to places without 21 people. So the 6-hour climb lasts for 8 hours. Normal landing time is 3 hours.

** Renclusa mountain house climbers usually spend the night here. I go down to the Besurta on the evening and catch the last bus, and I prefer to spend the night at my hotel in Benasque.

** If you have spent one week in the eastern region of Spain, you can spend 3 days in Barcelona after a 4 day climb. Barcelona trip after climb is highly recommended.

** Turkish Embassy in Spain: 0034 913 198 064

( Map of Pico De Aneto )