Valle Salado de Añana

Basque Country


For over 7000 years, 'white gold' has been produced at this site, where over 4km of wooden aqueducts transport high-saline spring water from 200-million-year-old underground salt deposits to a series of terraces where salt is collected after evaporation. Fascinating tours (English available) explain the history and process. From April to October, it also runs one-hour workshops (adult/child €8/5), where you can produce your own salt using traditional methods.

It's 30km west of Vitoria-Gasteiz; you'll need your own transport.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby Basque Country attractions

1. Museo de Bellas Artes

15.69 MILES

Housed in an exquisite neo-Renaissance building, with lovely stained glass windows and a converted chapel that was part of the former Palacio de Augusti,…

2. Palacio de Ajuria-Enea

15.71 MILES

As befits the Basque capital, Vitoria boasts some important buildings: essential administrative centres, but of great symbolic significance. They include…

3. Museo de Armería

15.74 MILES

On a peaceful, tree-lined boulevard, this low-lit armaments museum showcases weapons used over the centuries, from Bronze Age spearheads to 19th-century…

4. Parque de la Florida

15.84 MILES

This classic city park, with its bandstand and leafy trees, is a lovely place for a walk, jog or picnic. Kids will want to hit up the ice cream stand in…

5. Catedral de María Inmaculada

15.87 MILES

Vitoria’s cathedral might look old, but in fact it only dates from the early 1970s. There are some impressive, fairly adventurous stained-glass windows…

6. Museo Diocesano de Arte Sacro

15.87 MILES

Contains some early Christian stone carvings and Basque crosses, detailed paintings of biblical scenes and a glittering ensemble of crucifixes and…

7. Iglesia de San Pedro Apóstol

16.02 MILES

This is the city’s oldest church and has a fabulous Gothic frontispiece on its eastern facade. Unfortunately, it's rarely open. Your best bet to seeing…

8. Museo de Ciencias Naturales de Álava

16.06 MILES

Inside this natural-history museum is a dazzling collection of minerals. You can also marvel at a mantis caught in amber, get an eyeful of some beautiful…

  • placement: superzone
  • path: Destinations/POIs/superzone
  • possible size: [970, 250], [970, 90], [728, 90], [1, 1],
  • targeting:
    {
      "url": "spain/basque-country/attractions/valle-salado-de-anana/a/poi-sig/1636439/1315806",
      "destination": "Basque-Country",
      "continent": "Europe",
      "country": "Spain",
      "region": "Basque-Country",
      "position": "superzone"
    }