Skip the coast, skip the cities — some of Spain's best summer weather and scenery sits 1,500 metres up in the Pyrenees, where the villages are stone, the churches are UNESCO-listed and nobody is in a hurry.

That's the pitch from a recent slow-travel trip through Catalonia's mountain country. The writer flew into Barcelona, then drove roughly 297km — near four hours — into the Vall de Boí, hoping to escape the August heat. It worked: warm days, cool nights, the occasional mountain storm, and none of the scorching temperatures hitting the rest of Spain that week.

Base camp was Taüll, a small village on the edge of Aigüestortes i Estany de Sant Maurici National Park, the only national park in Catalonia. It's known for its two Romanesque churches, Sant Climent and Santa Maria, and makes an easy walking hub: uphill to Pla de l'Ermita for views back over the village, or downhill to Boí. A short 15-minute trail from Santa Maria leads to the Santeta Viewpoint, which looks out over the valley towards Boí and Erill la Vall. Food-wise, Taüll keeps it local — the writer stayed above three restaurants (Llesqueria l'Empriu, Tribulosi and Restaurant El Fai) serving regional dishes on terraces.

For more active travellers, the national park has hiking trails past lakes and waterfalls, the Boí Taüll resort runs summer e-biking and ziplining (plus skiing in winter), and around El Pont de Suert further down the valley you can raft or kayak. One-week trip, no two days the same.

A hire car unlocks the wider area. About an hour from Taüll, Val d'Aran delivers glacial lakes and some of the region's prettiest villages. The standout hike is the Circ de Colomèrs, a glacial basin with almost 50 lakes — the popular seven-lake circuit runs 5.7km and takes around five hours, with a fair few short climbs. Arties is worth a stop for its Romanesque church and restaurants, and Bagergue — the valley's highest village at 1,419 metres — has cobbled streets, stone houses, a cheesemaker and a small museum.

Longer day trips work too: it's around 95km and two hours from Taüll to Aínsa in the Aragonese Pyrenees, a medieval town with a preserved old town, a cobbled Plaza Mayor lined with cafés, and a castle whose wall-top walkway looks out over the surrounding peaks.

The takeaway is simple: this stretch of the Pyrenees rewards travellers who slow down. Rather than racing between sights, you walk between villages, eat long lunches outside and head into the mountains when you feel like it. It suits outdoorsy couples, hikers and anyone doing a city break in Barcelona who wants to add three or four cooler, quieter days — especially in high summer, when altitude beats the beach.