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Catalonia bike tour Spain Self Guided: One of our highest-rated tours! Starting in Barcelona, we will meet you first thing in the morning at our shop for a private orientation and bike setup, followed by a transfer to your ride’s start. The experiences just get better as you stay in top-quality lodging with 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 on the coast, 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. From the blog: Top Fall Self Guided Bike Tours in Europe | 5 Reasons to Cycle Catalonia
Expert Tip: The sunny weather of the Costa Brava makes this tour a top choice for early and late-season travel with a chance to miss hotter months and busier travel periods.
Fly in/out of Barcelona. A private transfer is included to tour’s start in Romanya on your first ride day. A return transfer is included to central Barcelona at the tour’s end.
Not Included:
Included Hotels:
About: Both Standard and Upgraded options stay at the same hotel but in different room categories. All lodging includes a private bathroom, breakfast, and a variety of other amenities.
Recommended Hotels Barcelona: We recommend hotels in the Eixample or Gracia districts for proximity to the bike shop, great walking to sites, tapas restaurants, and more. Please ask us for central Barcelona hotel info.
About the Included Meals:
Hotel Sa Punta: Restaurant Sa Punta has 40 years of experience, offering a selection of the best market products. During the summer season, the restaurant is outdoors. Dinner consists of 3 courses: choice of 2 starters, 2 main dishes, 2 deserts The menu changes every day and the dishes are made with fresh, seasonal products. The upgraded (+20 euros/person) “Tasting Menu” is more elaborate and has: 1 appetizer + 1 first dish (usually cold), + 1 first dish (hot), + 1 fish, + 1 meat, + 2 desserts.
El Molí de L’Escala: Housed in a completely renovated flour mill, with over 23 centuries of history. Its stones bring to mind the Greco-Roman past of Empúries with the Heraklion Way, the first main means of communication, crossing through the building. It also preserves some features from the 12th, 17th, and 19th centuries. The owner Jordi Jacas is the heart and soul of Molí de L’Escala Restaurant. After working at the Albareda, Jean Luc Figueras, Casa Irene in Arties, and El Bulli in Roses, he joined the Molí in 1999, offering a concept of local, seasonal cuisine, with a touch of creativity and innovation, based exclusively on top-quality produce.
Hotel La Placa: The restaurant La Plaça always selects the best local ingredients for every season, of the highest quality, and from close proximity to the small town of Madremanya. Here, you can enjoy a romantic evening outdoors on their beautiful terrace. The menu has 3 dishes and the “Tasting Menu” upgrade (+17 euros/person) is composed of about 8 different small plates, including 4 starters, 2 main dishes, and a dessert.
Need to Know:
This morning, you will meet at our local bike shop bright and early for your welcome orientation and bike set up. Following your welcome orientation, 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. Optional visit to the Jam Museum in Torrent.
Today’s ride ends at Pals beach (Platja de Pals) at the comfortable hotel Sa Punta, only about 800m away from a long Mediterranean beach. Dinner included at your hotel.
Meals: dinner
Distance: 43 km / 26 miles
Elev: +360m
Highlights: Empordanet, historic walled villages, Jam Museum, beautiful landscapes & coast
Overnight: Pals
Today, 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. Visit 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 to make the ideal choice.
Meals: breakfast
Distance: 45 km / 28 miles
Elev: +422m
Highlights: beach time or loop ride, Empordanet exploration
Overnight: Pals
Today our route starts along the beach and sand dunes and then passes through the rice fields of Pals, an interesting area with dunes, marshland, irrigation canals, rice mills and virgin beaches. You can choose to take a detour to the coast to see the outlet of the Ter River and the surrounding protected area Basses d en Coll. (Rice has long been cultivated here and appears in many local dishes; be sure to try Arros a La Cassola!) From here your ride goes on toward L’Escala but first you have to choose a flatter route around the Montgri or a more challenging route over the hills. Your hotel is a beautifully restored flour mill with 23 centuries of history! The chef is well known having worked at such famous 3 star restaurants as El Bulli! Dinner included.
Meals: breakfast, dinner
Distance: 35 km / 22 miles
Elev: +163m
Highlights: beaches, rice fields, coastal riding & hills
Overnight: L’Escala
Today could be a rest day at the beach or to visit the ruins of Empuries. A nice loop ride is also available to visit the Natural Park “Aiguamolls” in the wet areas of Emporda. This is a protected area of great ornithological importance. We will also pay a visit to Castello d’Empuries, a medieval city of great historical importance. Return back to the same hotel, with dinner on your own.
Recommended: Optional visit to the Anchovies Factory & Museum. Located in L’Escala, in the oldest building of all of the village’s salting factories.
Meals: breakfast
Distance: 51 km / 32 miles
Elev: +130m
Highlights: ruins of Empuries, nature reserve, Castello d’Empuries
Overnight: L’Escala
The ride to Madremanya takes you back to the interior part of the region, the hilly sections 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? It was 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 and it has been open to the public since 1996. Enjoy lovely lodging tonight at La Placa.
Meals: breakfast, dinner
Distance: 38 km / 24 miles
Elev: +374m
Highlights: Verges medieval village, Pubol/Dalí castle
Overnight: Madremanya
Today is a rest day by the pool, allowing you to enjoy the charming ambiance of the hotel and the quiet village. Or have one last bike tour and your ultimate challenge on the bike. 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 on your own tonight – you will probably want to eat at La Placa and can choose your menu.
Optional Wine Tasting on your route: Located in the town of Torrent, in the province of the “Petit Empordà,” based out of a 17th Century farmhouse, Mas Oller has 17 hectares of vineyards in production. In the 1 hour Guided Visit, learn about all the details involved in the wine making process: from the vineyard to the aging room.
Meals: breakfast
Distance: 39 km / 24 miles
Elev: +402m
Highlights: visit to medieval villages, optional vineyard visit & wine tasting
Overnight: Madremanya
Departure transfer central Barcelona is included; departure is at 9:30 am.
Meals: breakfast
Dates: Plan your trip at a time that best fits your schedule! Pure Adventures tours have flexible start dates. This tour can start on any day from Tuesday through Saturday.
2024 Rates: based on double occupancy
Standard Lodging:
Upgraded Rooms: rates based on double occupancy
The upgraded room option includes superior rooms in each hotel. Both versions for the 6-night tour include 3 gastronomic dinners.
Hybrid Bike Rental: 234 euros
Road Bike Rental: not available on this tour due to several unpaved sections of the route
E-bike Rental: 439 euros
Garmin GPS Rental: 77 euros
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 may be required.
We thoroughly enjoyed our adventure in Spain. We were lucky the weather was kind to us. Completing the trip in a quieter time of the year meant the ride was easier as we had to adjust to riding on the opposite side of the road. The bike paths and off road sections were particularly enjoyable. The accomodation was perfect and a lovely surprise as we arrived at our new stops. At our orientation meeting, Nora shared as much detail as we could take in about the ride, the drop offs and pick ups were on time and your team provided all the support that was required. I would recommend this ride and Pure Adventures to anyone looking to complete a ride in Spain.
Mar at Pure Adventures put together a self guided bike tour for us in Catalonia, Spain. Every aspect of the experience was top notch from the excellent and timely communication before the trip to the tour itself. The accommodation along the way was very good and our luggage was seamlessly transferred from place to place. We highly recommend Pure Adventures and will definitely be booking with them again in the future.
Wish we had spent more time in Barcelona but tour itself was amazing and would love to have more time there! We especially loved Madremanya. This was our fourth trip with Pure Adventures and we will be back for a fifth!!!
Love, love, love this trip! We did it as a group of old college gal-pals and this was one of the best trips we have done. Highly recommend!
We have done this tour two times! Once as a couple and most recently with our older teenagers. We love this part of Spain, and this is a great way to see it, by pedaling! The kids liked seeing the old villages and different landscapes, and the food & wine do not disappoint. The hotels on the tour are perfectly charming. Great tour, but now we have to decide where to go next year!