5 best bikerides in Catalonia (Spain)

If you ever decide to visit Catalonia and ride a bike, these are our best 5 loops you can try.

1. Montseny mountains loop. 90 km, 2 big climbs (Coll Formic and Santa Fe del Montseny) and 1900 mts elevation. A true gift of catalan roads and a demanding ride (especially if you add the climb to Turó de l’Home!). On a working day, you will find zero traffic (or close to zero). The best part is the 25 km descent (yes! 25 km descent!) once you get to the top of Santa Fe. Stunning. See Strava route here: https://www.strava.com/activities/11650429207
2. Montserrat loop. Being close to Barcelona, some would try to cycle to Montserrat from the city of Barcelona, but we suggest an unbeatable loop with 80km, 2 climbs (Montserrat and Coll de l’Obac) and 1500 mts elevation . The starting point is Monistrol de Montserrat and a very good place for parking is the Cremallera train station. The views of the sacred catalan mountain are just amazing during most of the ride. We see how the mountain change shapes while we are surrounding the big mountain. See Strava route here: https://www.strava.com/activities/18358976330
3. Girona province north loop: Col de Banyuls and Sant Pere de Rodes. 96 km, 2 major climbs and 1700 mts elevation Starting at Perelada, a small town in Girona province, famous for the Casino and its summer concerts. The route gets to Espolla and climbs Col de Banyuls in a very little road with no traffic. Very steep descent to France to Banyuls sur Mer and back to Spain in the hilly coastal road. Once in Port de la Selva you climb to the Sant Pere de Rodes Monastery, a challenging and superbeautiful climb overlooking the sea. See Strava route here: https://www.strava.com/routes/3518895907270440540
4. The beginning of the Pyrenees: Coll de Bracons and Santuari del Far. 84 km, 2 climbs and 1700 mts elevation. The starting point could be Olot, but also some smaller towns such as Joanetes or Sant Esteve de’n Bas. In fact, this is the second loop of probably the most popular sportive in Catalonia: Terra de Remences. The second climb is properly Coll de Condreu, but you cannot miss the little road heading to Santuari del Far. See Strava route here: https://www.strava.com/routes/3517856240606472562
5. Berguedà loop: Including Coll de Pradell and Collada de Sant Isidre. 82 km, 2 climbs and 2200 mts elevation. This loop has been included in Volta a Catalunya professional race and Seep Kuss was one of the designers of the Pradell loop. Coll de Pradell deserves huge respect with its famous 20% slope! See Strava route here: https://www.strava.com/routes/3205822156341155568

   

We are lucky to have in Catalonia some of the best roads for cycling in all of Europe. The options are uncountable, but we are suggesting here some of the best routes you can try. All of them hilly, all of them demanding, but very rewarding at the same time.