Driving through Vielha Tunnel in Spain's Pyrenees
Spain, europe
5.24 km
1,635 m
moderate
Year-round
# Tunel de Vielha
Nestled high in the Pyrenees at 1,635m (5,364ft), the Tunel de Vielha sits in Catalonia's northwestern corner in the Province of Lleida. This tunnel has quite the backstory—the Aran valley used to be seriously cut off from the rest of Spain, especially when winter snow decided to block access for weeks on end.
Back in 1948, they built the Alfonso XIII Tunnel, a real engineering feat at 5.24km long—the world's longest road tunnel at the time. Fast forward to 2000, and it had earned a pretty dark reputation as Europe's most dangerous tunnel due to outdated safety features. That's why they opened the newer Juan Carlos I Tunnel in 2007. These days, the old tunnel mainly serves as a backup route for hazardous cargo trucks.
Today's version connects Vielha (the valley's main hub) to the Alta Ribagorça area via the N230. The fully paved route stretches 5.2km (3.25 miles) with two southbound lanes and one northbound lane, with grades that climb up to 7.5%. You can generally drive it year-round, though expect occasional closures during gnarly winter weather.
Want to tackle the approaches? From Vielha, it's a 12.3km climb gaining 664 meters (averaging 5.4%). Coming from Villaler? That's a slightly easier 18.7km push with 656 meters of elevation gain at a gentler 3.5% average gradient. Either way, you're in for some serious mountain scenery.
Where is it?
Driving through Vielha Tunnel in Spain's Pyrenees is located in Spain (europe). Coordinates: 41.2995, -3.2956
Road Details
- Country
- Spain
- Continent
- europe
- Length
- 5.24 km
- Max Elevation
- 1,635 m
- Difficulty
- moderate
- Coordinates
- 41.2995, -3.2956
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