Call toll-free from the United States or Canada:
1.800.960.2221
International calls:
(001) 970-230-5896
info@pure-adventures.com
Barcelona bike tour self-guided: Barcelona and Catalonia are among the premier foodie regions of the world and the Barcelona Foodie Short Bike Tour will give you plenty of indulgent foodie experiences along your journey! This shorter version of our longer 7-night Culinary Bike Tour also starts in Barcelona. We do recommend arriving a night early as Day 1 is a riding day, leaving Barcelona. Your welcome orientation will be first thin in the morning at our Barcelona bike shop!
The experiences just get better as you stay in top-quality lodging and have included gastronomic dining experiences on several nights! The gently rolling countryside will take you from the coastline to inland Medieval villages, dotted in between by sunflower fields, rice fields, and vines. Being coastal, seafood is a specialty of many chefs in Costa Brava and we give you a private experience later, followed by a private wine tasting at a local wine maker’s bodega. On this private, self-guided bike tour from Barcelona to Girona, you will meet local people, enjoy top-quality lodging and food, and get away to the quiet of the countryside and the peace of the beaches and coastline. Learn More with some of our popular blog posts: Best Self Guided Bike Tour in Spain for Fall | Wines of Catalonia to Try
Fly in and out of Barcelona; transfers included to/from central Barcelona.
Not Included: Choice of Hybrid & E-bike Rental
Included Meals
Hotel Sa Punta: Dinner consists of 3 courses: choice of 2 starters, 2 main dishes & 2 deserts. The menu changes daily with fresh, seasonal products. The upgraded “Tasting Menu” is more elaborate and includes an appetizer, 1 small cold dish, 1 small hot dish, 1 fish dish, 1 meat dish & 2 desserts. Enjoy outdoor seating during the summer months.
Hotel La Plaça: The restaurant selects the freshest and highest quality local ingredients, all from close proximity to the small town of Madremanya. The standard menu has 3 dishes and the upgraded “Tasting Menu” is composed of about 8 different small plates divided between 4 starters, 2 main dishes, and a dessert. Enjoy a romantic evening outdoors on their beautiful terrace.
Included Hotels:
About: 4 nights in deluxe 3 & 4-star hotels. If you wish to have upgraded lodging, you will be in the same hotel but in an upgraded room category. All lodging includes a private bathroom and a variety of other amenities.
Always on two wheels, Angel has been riding all over. Angel was born and raised in the city of Gaudi (Barcelona), where he obtained an engineering title. Ten years ago he decided to make his hobby his profession, sharing his passion and local knowledge with the visitors. Always delighted to introduce you to his country, he knows all the hidden places, small paths, restaurants, and local traditions.
Need to Know:
This morning, you will meet at our local bike shop in Barcelona, bright and early, for your welcome orientation and bike set up. Following your thorough welcome orientation and tour Q&A, we will transfer you to Romanya de la Selva on the Costa Brava, to start today’s ride. The bike tour today goes through the Empordanet area with a great variety of beautiful landscapes, with many historic villages and towns like the Medieval Pals, Peratallada and Palau-Sator. These villages are full of atmosphere and offer a great opportunity to join the locals for a snack or drink on one of quiet village squares.
Highlights include the walled villages of Pals and Peretallada and the optional visit to the Jam Museum in Torrent. Today’s ride ends at Pals beach (Platja de Pals) at the lovely hotel Sa Punta, only about 800m away from a long Mediterranean beach. Dinner is included at your hotel.
Meals: dinner
Distance: 43 km / 26 mi
Elev: +360m
Overnight: Pals
Breakfast at your hotel is at your leisure! Just one of the many benefits of a self-guided bike tour is that you can choose how to use your time each day. So, today you can start when you want. You have a very nice hotel and are close to the beach, but we do offer a nice loop ride of about 40 km that will give you a few hours of exploration time on the bike, visiting more of these old walled villages of the Empordanet, as well as the coast. Lunch and dinner on your own today; we will include some suggestions to help you make the ideal choice.
Recommended: Optional visit to the Anchovies Factory & Museum, located in L’Escala, in the oldest building of all village salting factories.
Meals: breakfast
Highlights: coastal riding, Anchovy Museum, L’Escala
Distance: 45 km / 28 mi
Elev: +422m
Overnight: Pals
The ride to Madremanya takes you back to the interior part of the region, the hilly sections sectors on the western borders at the alluvial plain. This is a predominantly agricultural area where you can visit typical villages such as Verges, a medieval village with the remains of its ancient walls. Before reaching your hotel, why not take a short detour to the village of Pubol to have a snack and visit the castle. This castle was in fact, the home to the famous surrealist painter Salvador Dalí and his wife Gala (she is buried at the castle). Dalí bought the castle in 1969. It has been open to the public since 1996. Enjoy excellent lodging tonight in Madremanya, as well as a delicious dinner!
Meals: breakfast, dinner
Highlights: Dalí castle, charming lodging with pool
Distance: 38 km / 24 mi
Elev: +418m
Overnight: Madremanya
Today you can enjoy a rest day by the pool with the hotel’s charming ambiance and the quiet village or get in one last bike tour. Explore the countryside in depth, including some small but very charming medieval villages, such as Monells, Casavells, Corca and Pubol. You are also invited to visit one of the local pottery shops with typical ceramics in the small town of La Bisbal d’ Emporda. Dinner is on your own tonight – we recommend eating at La Placa.
WINE TASTING is Optional to Add on at Mas Oller. Located in the town of Torrent, within the province of the “Petit Empordà,” and based out of a 17th Century farmhouse, Mas Oller has 17 hectares of vineyards in production. The three red varieties are Grenache, Syrah and Cabernet Sauvignon and two white varieties are Picapoll and Malvasia de Sitges. The vineyards are located close to the house and the grapes are hand selected before being harvested and then they are transported to the winery for a second manual selection. All of the wines have a cold pre-fermentation period to obtain maximum expression of aroma and color. Mas Oller’s philosophy is based on the recovery of the wine making tradition of Empordà, with a modern interpretation of the concept of wine. In the guided visit you will learn the many intricate details involved in the wine making process, from the vineyard to the aging room.
Meals: breakfast
Highlights: Mas Oller wine tasting, La Bisbal
Distance: 39 km / 24 mi
Elev: +402m
Overnight: Madremanya
Departure transfer central Barcelona is included; departure is at 10:30 am.
Meals: breakfast
Dates: This tour can start any day, from Tuesday through Saturday.
2024 Tour Rates:
Standard Lodging: rates based on double occupancy
Upgraded Rooms: rates based on double occupancy
Upgrades include superior rooms in each hotel. Both versions for the 4-night tour include 2 gastronomic dinners. Tasting Menus are also available for a supplement, payable at the hotel if arranged prior to seating from 17-20 euros/person.
Hybrid Bike Rental: 175 euros
Road Bike Rental: not available on this tour due to several unpaved sections of the route
E-bike Rental: 395 euros
Garmin GPS Rental: 77 euros (this is an alternative to navigating with your smartphone)
Bike Rental Details Page
New! Travel Insurance is now required to participate in this tour. You can book through our preferred vendors or your own. Proof of coverage will be required.
Our trip to Spain was fabulous! We spent two weeks there with our son’s family, and our two teenage grandsons said the bike ride was the highlight of the trip. My husband and I are so glad we went with them and were able to keep up with them:) My son loved Madremanya and the restaurant there. My daughter-in-law, one grandson, and my husband were able to golf while in Pals. The bike shop and transfer service were both super! It was such a positive experience for our multi-generational family visit to Spain!
Just what we were looking for with scenery, cycling, and food! No issues and very easy to navigate, which had been our biggest worry.
If you are looking for a short bike tour in Spain that gives you an authentic experience in, this is it! I’m already planning to come back and repeat this trip with a group of girlfriends – can’t wait!
To start, we received such a warm welcome at the start of the tour. Our welcome briefing was so detailed, we had every question answered. All of our nervousness and worries were eased (this was our first bike tour.) We absolutely adored the two hotels that were part of this tour – if we were to do it again, I would probably add an extra day at each place, just to relax and enjoy the area a little more! That said, the length of this tour really was the best fit for our busy schedules, and it was just the right amount of cycling for us. We both had e-Bikes, which made the whole experience very relaxed. It was a great vacation, from start to finish, and we now feel like we can tackle another self-guided tour – no problem!!
Just back from our family’s bike tour in Catalonia and we cannot say enough good things about this trip! Everything was perfect, from start to finish. The tour’s length worked perfectly for our family – our kids are “grown” and have limited time off of jobs. Working with Pure Adventures for all of the planning and changes wentsmooth, and the local bike shop in Barcelona provided excellent services and equipment. The kids are already chattering about where to go next year!