After reading this Travel + Leisure article about the author’s stay in Zaragoza and Canfranc Estación, Nik and I immediately knew we wanted to visit both cities during our second stay in Barcelona. We were especially excited about staying at Canfranc Estación, a Royal Hideaway Hotel highlighted in the piece.
This luxurious hotel is set in a beautifully restored international railway station in Canfranc, which had been abandoned since the 1970s. The history of both the town and the station are absolutely fascinating. Let’s dive in!
Getting To Canfranc Estación
Located in the Spanish Pyrenees, the mountain range straddling the border of France and Spain, is the village of Canfranc Estación.

Since the hotel was at the train station we were incredibly excited to arrive by train. Little did we know that the back half of the route is closed for track maintenance. There was no mention of that when we bought the train tickets, so we took a train from Zaragoza to the town of Huesca where we transferred to a bus for the second leg of the journey. The bus made three stops along the way before arriving to the hotel which was the final stop.
Related: All About Our Visit to Zaragoza
Here’s a short video after we arrived, panning from our bus to the hotel:

Railway Station History
The international railway station opened in 1928 and served as a major hub for cross-border railway traffic between Spain and France. At its opening, Canfranc Estación was the second largest railway station in Europe (after Leipzig in Germany.)

The trains of both countries had different rail gauge, otherwise known as the distance between the two rails of a railway track. That meant trains would arrive from each country and everything from freight to passengers would transfer through the station.

Speaking of transfers, during World War II, the station served as both an escape route for thousands of Jews and a hub for the illicit trade of Nazi gold.
Albert Le Lay, the head of customs on the French side, has been described as the Schindler of Canfranc because of the way he helped Jews and non-Jews escape across the border into Spain.

There’s also the story of cabaret star Josephine Baker who served as a spy and smuggled secrets to Winston Churchill passing through Canfranc Estación. (Really, read the article.) She was such a star, that officials barely glanced at her belongings and she was able to move along without much issue.

In the station’s heyday, its north and south wings were occupied, respectively, by French and Spanish customs officials until the stations’s closure in 1970. It then remained empty for years, as seen above.


Somport Tunnel
The tunnel that connected the two countries was called the Somport Tunnel and was closed in 1970 as a result of a train derailment.

Currently, the Somport Tunnel is home to the Canfranc Underground Laboratory, an underground scientific facility. According to Wikipedia:
The laboratory, 780 m deep and protected from cosmic radiation, is mainly devoted to study rarely occurring natural phenomena such as the interactions of neutrinos of cosmic origin or dark matter with atomic nuclei.

Present Day
Several historic relics from the original era still stand today. Behind fencing is an abandoned platform, complete with railing. Passengers would take the stairwell down to cross the tracks into the old ticket hall or to exit the station.

Further down the tracks stands a railway roundtable where maintenance was once performed on engines and rail cars. Not sure what this area will look like once further development completes.


The Hotel
After years of failed attempts at renovating the station and reviving the area, it was not until 2016 that necessary approvals were acquired and plans to move forward were set in motion. They did a fabulous job with the hotel finally opening in January of 2023. It’s hard to explain the size and grandeur of the hotel upon arriving. There’s not one bad angle of the building.

In case you’re wondering about the long name, it’s because Canfranc Estación, a Royal Hideaway Hotel is part of the Barcelo Hotel Group, and Royal Hideaway is one of their brands in the portfolio. It’s all about the branding in this day and age.


The idea was to rehab as many existing buildings as possible without building new ones, to construct a new station and to create green space. Some projects are still ongoing and they include turning one of the depots into a railway museum.

The Lobby
While the facade has been fabulously renovated, it’s the old ticket hall turned lobby that is the star of the show. Colors and tones are meant to evoke the natural, mountainous landscape surrounding the hotel.

The reception desk, with employees in a cool retro-style uniform, instantly reminded me of The Grand Budapest Hotel, Wes Anderson’s 2014 film starring Ralph Fiennes, about a mountainside resort in a fictional Eastern European country.

For something to really make your head explode, this picture of the deserted ticket hall contrasted with the renovated lobby:


This view is towards the South wing. When you look closely, no detail is spared, including the trim on the far wall. The restored stairwell is absolutely gorgeous, along with the entire lobby.

Two additional examples of detail that I want to highlight are located high on the walls of each lobby wing.
Above the reception desk, which is part of the South (Spanish) wing, is the Spanish Coat of Arms. You can faintly see it in that old picture too.

On the opposite side where the French officials were housed is their shield of arms.

The Room
Our room, one of 104 in the hotel, was on the second floor in the Spanish wing (south side) of the station. We had a very comfortable bed, a nice amount of closet space, a large shower room and a heated toilet seat!
The hallway reminded me of scenes from Stanley Kubrick’s movie, The Shining.


The view from our room looked out to the old and present day railway station and mountains.

Original station windows have been refurbished into unique decorative pieces in the rooms.

Restaurants and Bars
The hotel boasts about having some of the top dining options in the area. Located outside of the hotel, along its backside in a vintage train car is Canfranc Express, their Michelin Star restaurant.


Unfortunately it was closed during our visit so we could only take exterior photos.
Back inside, next to reception, is the South hallway that leads to the two other dining spaces. Through the door you first see The Art Deco Cafe, a casual spot for drinks and light bites.


Just beyond the cafe is The International, the main restaurant for breakfast, lunch and dinner.


So many of the interior details are meant to remind you of trains. Whether it’s the lamps meant to look like wheels or the table windows reminiscent of sleeper car windows.

Nik and I dined in the cafe our first night, having had a nice charcuterie board and a delicious piece of chocolate cake.

Breakfast offered a wide-ranging buffet as well as à la carte options made to order. Due to the timing of our departure, we only had one breakfast there but it was delicious. (To be fair, the hotel put together a couple of boxed lunches for us since we would be leaving before breakfast on our last day). In addition to the buffet offerings, I had two pieces of scrambled egg and avocado toast while Nik had the puff pastry of caramelized custard cream and fresh fruit.

Our second night’s dinner was at The International.

We started with the chicken caesar salad. My entree was the filet mignon with seared duck foie gras. I tried the foie gras, but it isn’t my thing. Nik went with the sirloin and we fished the meal with the brioche French toast for dessert. All of it was great.

The North wing hallway leads to the pool, wellness center, spa and La Biblioteca lounge. (La Biblioteca is Spanish for Library.) The pool was closed for maintenance but both Nik and I enjoyed massages.

The teal-paneled La Biblioteca lounge is at the far end of the North wing and it’s where we ended our nights during our two night stay.




Cocktails are made table-side by bartender Valentina Vandinci. She was incredibly friendly and quite talented. You can tell she enjoys her work.

Canfranc the Town
Canfranc Estación, the town itself, is pretty small. It gave off German or Swiss ski town vibes with how the buildings look, especially since the area is known for skiing and hiking.



Places that we stopped at included Casa Flores, Pizzeria Km 667 (yes, that is its name) and Cafetería El Andén where we had churros.
Ama Gi Sculpture
A short walk from the hotel is the Ama Gi sculpture in memory of Jewish citizens murdered during World War II. Ama gi is the first known expression of the word Freedom. The sculpture symbolizes the peaks of the Pyrenees. The steel with which it is made symbolizes the rails which were paths of hope to those fleeing Nazi brutality.


Would Love to Return
Since our visit in mid-November 2024, the NY Times featured Canfranc Estación as one of its 25 travel destinations for 2025, coming in at No. 24. The charming town, fascinating history and revitalization of the old station into a hotel is absolutely worth a visit.

While Nik and I try not to repeat many trips, or places to stay, visiting Canfranc Estación is one I would do again in the spring or summer for a different experience. And hopefully, should we return, the train takes us the whole way.
For more on the history of the railway station, check out this documentary on YouTube. It’s really quite fascinating and worth a viewing.