Echo

Echo or Hecho is a village in Aragon. The town has pretty stone houses, is surrounded by formidable mountains, and hiking trails abound.

Get in
Best to have your own transport. There is one bus a day to and from Jaca that serves Echo and the nearby towns of Ansó and Siresa.

Get around
Small and easily walked.

Talk
Castilian (Spanish) is the official language and is spoken by everyone, but the native language is Aragonese in its local form, called cheso, still used vigorously.

See
The village itself is not as old as it appears but full of old alleys and steps.
 * Museo Etnologico Casa Mazo. Close to the Plaza Mayor of Echo, the museum is housed in an old stone house. Exhibits illustrate the lives of the people of the valley in earlier centuries (Echo was once the capital of Aragon).
 * Siresa - a small village higher up the valley where the bus goes if demanded but easily walkable. There is a 9th-century monastery here -ask for the key from the house above the bar. In the bar they sell beer in half-frozen glasses (which is great after a long hot walk in the mountains).



Do
It's a great base for walking holidays. Spend all day up in the mountains and come back for eating and sleeping. There's a little museum in Hecho, showing rural life with photographs and old farming equipment.It has limited opening hours though.

Sleep

 * Casa Blasquica - near the bus stop. Excellent food.
 * Casa Blasquica - near the bus stop. Excellent food.

Go next

 * Ansó
 * Jaca
 * Siresa