Barcelona – Girona
Selfguided Cycling Tour Barcelona – Girona
Here we suggest our most successful trip in Catalonia, our self-guided Barcelona Girona cycling trip.
Putting together Barcelona, the great Mediterranean metropolis, and Girona through the best roads, is a nice challenge that will take you through the Catalan landscapes and culture.
You will be able to get to know the Catalan culture and our amazing Mediterranean diet, always tasty and healthy. This is not just about cycling (even if the average distance is 80 km per day), but also about knowing some details of Catalonia and Spain.
Amazing spots
In this Barcelona Girona cycling trip you will find amazing spots to ride through:
- Costa Brava (with the best road in Catalonia from Tossa de Mar to Sant Feliu de Guixols),
- Tiny medieval villages as the less known Peratallada,
- Nice hills as Santa Pellaia,
- Beautiful hot springs destinations as Caldes de Malavella or
- Pretty nice coastal villages as L’Escala.
Not to mention one of our favorite destinations: Figueres, where the genius Salvador Dali was born and you can visit his Museum, just a few meters from the hotel you will be staying.
Barcelona Girona Self-guided cycling trip
A self-guided trip is the best way to discover a region at your own pace. You can stop for lunch wherever you want and your luggage will be at your destination when you arrive.
The hotel selection is very accurate, all of them are bike-friendly. Food is also very good in all of them (one of our requirements).
Good amount of climbing in our Barcelona Girona!
This trip won’t take you straight from Barcelona to Girona, but will send you to some beautiful climbs in the Pyrenees.
Let us mention just 3 stunning climbs that you will suffer but also enjoy, especially when you get to the top: Sant Pere de Rodes Monastery, Mare de Deu del Mont, and Santuari del Far. All 3 with some religious building at the top, and the views from the top of all 3 climbs is simply captivating.
Will you join us?
Barcelona Girona, cycling trip in 6 stages
Recommended all year long.
| DEPARTURE: | Hotel in Barcelona. You will begin cycling from the hotel | |||||||
| DEPARTURE TIME | You choose the starting time. Usually 9 AM every day | |||||||
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| NOT INCLUDED |
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Why us:
- This route takes you to the best roads around Barcelona and Girona. We know every small road and we will keep you away from busy and dangerous roads.
- We can adapt every stage to your needs making them longer or shorter (we might change some destination towns) and including more or less climbs.
- Tour itself can be shortened if needed. 6 stages are the ideal number of stages to get to know the coastal roads, some climbing getting to the Pyrenees, and some of the best roads around Girona. But we can adapt the route to 4, 5, or 7 stages if you need it.
- Our hotel selection is very accurate. We mix some of the best urban hotels (in Barcelona you will enjoy a fantastic 4 stars hotel with the best location) with other hotels at the seaside and even some rural cozy hotels. You will enjoy all of them.
In short:
- 6 cycling days
- From 560 kilometers
- 6 nights in 3-4 stars hotels
- Recommended from March to November. Better avoid July and August.
- This trip can be tailor-made throughout the year to suit your requirements
1
Day 1: Departure
Barcelona-Calella 83 km It is a stage to get closer the Costa Brava. Flat road beside the sea to get out of the city and then, instead of leading straight to Calella, get a small nice hilly road in Mataró towards Arenys de Munt and Sant Pol de Mar. After that, back to the main road NII leading to Calella.
2
Day 2
Calella-Caldes de Malavella 80 km
One of the nicest roads you can cycle in whole Catalonia is the one from Tossa de Mar to Sant Feliu de Guixols. It is time to enjoy landscape, views, weather… cycling. Once in Sant Feliu de Guixols then you take direction Santa Cristina d’Aro and afterwards to Romanyà. Finally, a crossroad leading to Llagostera will put you in the right direction to Caldes de Malavella.
3
Day 3
Caldes de Malavella-L’Escala 77 km. Few miles after the start begins the climb of the day, a beautiful, solitaire and not very steep climb named Santa Pellaia. After the descent towards La Bisbal we will cycle through not very crowded roads, and then a stop in Peretallada is worth. Medieval village, cars are not allowed and lots of restaurants and shops welcome the tourists. After Peretallada we will continue through Torroella de Montgrí and then to L’Escala..
4
Day 4
L’Escala-Figueres 86 km There are several options for this stage. A possibility would be going from Roses to Alt de Perafita and stop in Cadaqués, where genious Salvador Dalí lived. Steep climb to the Monestry of San Pere de Rodes is also possible. Nice aerial views from there to Port de la Seva and Costa Brava. This area maybe windy, with the so named tramuntana wind, very strong if it blows. Figueres is a must, with the Museum dedicated to Salvador Dalí.
5
Day 5
Figueres-Olot 73 km Going out from Figueres through N260 is a quick way out. Wide road leading Besalú that you will leave direction Esponellà and Banyoles. It is worth, the visit of Banyoles, the village beside the famous lake, where a lot of triathlon competitions take place. A good place to stop and enjoy lunch. Afterwards there are severals climbs, not very steep, to get some height reaching finally Olot at 440 meters. For the strong riders we can include the beautiful and very steep climb to Mare de Deu del Mont. Really worth, breathtaking views from the top to the Canigou peak in the Pyrenees!
6
Day 6
Olot-Girona 84 km. One of the best spots for last day! The climb to Santuari del Far is one of the highlights of the whole trip. Climbing to Coll de Condreu and then taking the crossroad to the Sanctuary. Once you have enjoyed the views, then the rest of the stage is mainly downhill. This stage can be shortened to 55 km avoiding the climb if some of you had enough of climbing! When you get to Girona you realize why this town is becoming so popular for cyclists!
7
Day 7: Return
Road Cycling Barcelona Girona
It was a highlight of our trip to Spain!
My husband and I organized this trip with Claudio via email. We are reasonably experienced bike tourers, but were fitting this trip in between other travel so we wanted to be able to hire bikes and have our luggage transferred between hotels. Everything about our communication with him was helpful, accurate, and easy. Claudio organized our bikes (which were great) and guided us out of Barcelona. The routes were as described as was the accommodation and they were fantastic. Along the way, he kept in touch with us and gave us extra ideas of things we may want to see or do. Claudio was a great company as he guided us out of Barcelona and transferred us back and we learned quite a bit about local history and culture along the way. I highly recommend this trip and Claudio to you. It was a highlight of our trip to Spain!
Bikes excellent and nicely maintained. All routes loaded into the Garmin door to door
Booked at last minute the Barcelona Girona cycling trip having checked the weather forecast in the UK and Barcelona. Claudio very helpful and interactive in sorting out a suitable itinerary for us. Brought the bikes to our hotel the day before and all set up to our sizes with correct pedals for our shoes. Bikes excellent and nicely maintained. All routes loaded into the Garmin door to door.
Once out of Barca the routes were great. Coast from Arenal de Mar onwards stunning and no traffic. Second day we cycled to the hot spring at Caldes and stayed in a stunning old hotel (Hotel Balneario Vichy Catalan with hot spring baths in the basement – think Grand Budapest Hotel). Day 3 we had fantastic climbs on empty roads en route to Girona. Claudio very helpful at the beginning of day 3 when we were a little unsure about the best options regarding the route – clearly he knows the area backward. Transfer back to the airport at the end and all luggage transfers very smooth. Day 3 Hotel Nord in Girona again lovely.
We did a 5-day self-guided bike tour from Girona, down the Costa Brava, and ended in Barcelona. Claudio created a fantastic route on scenic, backcountry roads. He recommended great places to stay and lunch stops along the way. The trip was just perfect, and we highly recommend using Claudio for your next bike tour!
- Vancouver, Canadá “Excellent support on a multi-day cycling trip for a couple.” Claudio planned our routes, booked accommodations, shuttled our luggage, and rented bicycles for a six-day trip from Barcelona to Girona via many Catalonian cycling highlights. All this for two people! Most outfits wouldn’t even talk to us. Claudio is an enthusiastic guide with an incredible amount of knowledge about the area. The routes were suited to our ability and the equipment was excellent. Each day had a highlight: Tibidabo, Costa Brava, the Spa at Balneario Vichy Catalan, the hill out of Tamariu and on to Begur, the climb to Sant Pere de Rodes, the farm stays in Perelada and Joanetes (plus Collada des Bracons bonus climb), capped off by the view at el Far and riding into Girona. I’d heartily recommend any trip with Claudio and would love to go back. Unforgettable.
- “My wife and I were planning a two-week bike ride through the North of Spain and South Western France. We generally do our own thing, not being tour oriented. We discovered Claudio online. His communication was extremely professional and timely. His pricing was a good value…”
Rambla de Fabra I Puig, 64, 08030 Barcelona