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Girona & the Catalan Coast

Tour: SCG6
Circular Cycling Holiday
Hotel To Hotel Cycling Holiday

Discover Catalunya’s ‘Massif’ country on this colourful, circular coast and countryside spin from the bright and beautiful city of Girona. Cycle ‘Via Verde’ green ways to the blue Mediterranean waters, golden beach coves and emerald delta plains of the Catalan coast, where the vast, rocky, castle-topped ‘Montgrí Massif’ rises surreally out of the flat estuary lands of the Gola de Ter Natural Park. It’s a massively impressive sight, but littler gems along the way leave big impressions too - like Platja de Castell’s ‘secret’ sandy bay, that catch-of-the-day seafood supper at Calella de Palafrugell and, on route back to Girona, Púbol’s captivating castle museum, dedicated to the wife of surrealist painter, Salvador Dali. Read More

Destination

Europe, Spain

Start Day

Any Day

Board Basis

Bed & Breakfast

Prices from

£690.00

Duration

6 Days, 5 Nights

Availability

Mar - Oct

Tour Grade

Grade 1 (Very Easy)

Read Overview
Home > Europe > Girona & the Catalan Coast

Overview

A massively beautiful, yet very gentle cycling adventure around Catalunya’s ‘Massif’ country, looping between the colourful city of Girona and the blue waters, golden sandy beaches and emerald delta plains of the Mediterranean coast. The tour starts by tracing the course of lost railway lines, setting out along the ‘Via verde’ track-bed paths towards and then up the Catalan coast, and finishes inland, beyond Torroella de Montgrí, with a short train journey from Flaça to Girona. (Optional cycle route alternative also provided.)

Highlights include castle-dotted communities, charming fishing villages, Platja de Castell’s unspoilt sandy cove and the wildlife-rich Gola de Ter Estuary Natural Park as well as ‘royal’ Torroella de Montgrí with its castle-topped rocky outcrop ‘massif’; the highly decorated castle home and final resting place of Salvador Dali’s wife at Púbol; the Romanesque monastic gateway at St Feliu de Guíxols’ and the beach-side pre-Roman ruins north of Palamós and the Medes islands viewed from the medieval hilltop village of Pals.

Tour Code:
SCG6
Activity:
Cycling
Type:
Circular Cycling Holiday, Hotel To Hotel Cycling Holiday
Country:
Europe, Spain
Area:
Catalonia
Duration:
6 Days, 5 Nights
Board Basis:
Bed & Breakfast
Availability:
Mar - Oct

Itinerary

Day 1 Arrive & explore

Arrive in Girona, relax and unwind with a glass of something local on the café terrace and take a wander to admire the ancient town and its ramparts. Climb the Roccoco steps leading up to the world’s widest Gothic nave or wander through the narrow streets in the Old Town to explore Europe’s best-preserved Jewish Quarter.

Overnight: Girona

Day 2 From green pastures to the bluest of seas

From the art museum at the old Episcopal Palace to the bright façades of the medieval Onyar houses which cling to the old riverside walls, Girona is colourful stuff. But it’s time to take to two wheels along the ‘El Carrilet Via Verde’ – a scenic, former railway track bed green way with a backdrop of the forest-covered mountains of the Gavarres Massif. Pedal through a patchwork landscape of woods, pasture and stretches of earthy farmlands via Quart, Llambilles, Cassa de las Selva, Llagostera, then up to Col de Sant Grau for a delightful descent down to the coast and the champagne cork capital, St Feliu de Guíxols. Don’t miss the famous Romanesque Porta Ferrada at the town’s Benedictine Monastery or the fine seafront manor houses near the golden beach and blue Mediterranean waters of San Pol.

Overnight: St Feliu de Guíxols

Miles 28 Kms 45

Day 3 Catalan coast roads & sandy coves

On a day of coast-hugging cycling, the port town of Palamós is an ideal first stop and the perfect scene-setter with its fishing museum. Just a short pedal further and the beautiful, unspoilt sandy cove of Platja de Castell promises an archaeological site (pre-Roman Iberian settlement) at the far end of the beach and tempting restaurants overlooking the bay. Another former track-bed greenway – the ‘Ruta del Tren Petit’ – guides you gently northwards to the picturesque fishing village of Calella de Palafrugell, home not just to more beautiful beaches and coves, but a fab fruit, veg and fish market, where you’ll find a museum dedicated to the local cork industry – the product of the region’s cork oak forests.

Overnight: Calella de Palafrugell

Miles 19 Kms 30

Day 4 Castles & medieval villages

A short upward spin starts the day to reach the hilltop village of Pals – a little medieval gem with cobbled streets, a beautifully preserved centre and ramparts just made for looking out towards the Medes Islands and the Baix Empordà. Check out the Visigothic tombs here before pedalling a short or longer route through a world of natural delta wetlands rich in migrating birds, rice fields and long sandy beaches all the way to Torroella de Montgrí . This one-time ‘royal’ town set in the middle of a Natural Park has a magnificent (but unfinished) castle to the north of the town on top of the imposing Montgrí Massif. Park up and stroll out for an hour or two, and you’ll be rewarded with magnificent views from the top.

Overnight: Torroella de Montgrí

Miles 18 Kms 29

Day 5 Rolling River Daro landscapes & a spot of Dali

Enjoy the company of the River Daro as you cycle out through agricultural and wooded areas to explore the small villages of medieval Fonolleres, Corça and most notably Púbol –location of the captivatingly decorated castle home and final resting place of Gala Dali, wife of the Surrealist painter, Salvador Dali. It’s then a short spin to Flaça, from where a 15 minute train journey will deliver you and your wheels back to Girona for your final night. Prefer to pedal all the way? No worries, we’ve planned a scenic route via St Jordi Desvalis and St Julia de Dennis if you are happy to clock up a few extra kilometres!

Overnight: Girona

Miles 17 Kms 27

Day 6 Depart after breakfast

Depart after breakfast, or make time for one last stroll along the banks of the River Onyar perhaps?

Extra nights can be booked to allow more time to explore Girona at your leisure.

Dates & Prices

Download Prices

For tour start days/dates, seasons and all prices, please click on the PRICES button above

PRICE INCLUDES

Ensuite accommodation in 2 and 3 star hotels with buffet/continental breakfast (prices based on two adults sharing)

Upgraded accommodation is in 3 and 4 star hotels with buffet/continental breakfast (prices based on two adults sharing)

Hire of hybrid bicycle and ancillary equipment (panniers, lock & puncture repair equipment). Bike delivery is normally the morning of day 2

Luggage transfer between hotels

Local assistance on call (although puncture repair is excluded)

Information pack with detailed joining instructions and daily route overviews sent out approximately 2 weeks before departure so you can plan ahead and look forward to your cycling

Printed routing information and GPS information available on receipt of bikes.

Local visitor taxes 

Please note that the price EXCLUDES

Costs of getting to and from the tour area

Transfers to / from Girona Airport or Barcelona Airport (on request)

Accommodation Options

Selected 2 and 3 star hotels in Girona (2 nights), St Feliu de Guíxols, Calella de Palafrugell and Torroella de Montgri.

Extra nights can be added at all the overnight destinations on this tour. We are pleased to discuss details and provide extra night prices on request.

Upgrades:

Selected 3 and 4 star hotels throughout. We are pleased to discuss hotel details on request.

Options:

Half board (includes 2 meals) is an option on this tour.

Half board in upgraded accommodation (includes 3 meals) is an option on this tour.

More Information

Useful websites, travel information and tips to help you plan your journey to and from the country and location of your holiday.

HOW TO GET THERE

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