Whe bizarre lava landscapes as expected on Lanzarote are likely to be disappointed in the La Garrotxa Volcano Nature Park. It’s been too long since the small volcanoes here in the hinterland of Catalonia in the far north-east of Spain spit fire.
Meadows and forests have long since covered the volcanoes with their green mantle. In the middle of this hilly landscape lies the picturesque village of Santa Pau. Old stone houses and winding streets characterize the sleepy village. It smells like firewood.
Here in the Garrotxa the Ruta del Carrilet begins. It runs from the foothills of the Pyrenees through Catalonia to the Costa Brava on the Mediterranean Sea and is one of 127 “Vías Verdes” in Spain. These “green paths” now run where steam locomotives once puffed.
Source: Infographic WORLD
These are disused railway lines that have been turned into hiking and cycling routes in almost untouched nature and far away from car traffic. Since the train routes were not allowed to have any gradients, the paths are ideal for bike tours, pleasure cyclists, but also for wheelchair users and hiking trips with children.
The former railway stations along the way have often been converted into small, charming hotels, restaurants, cafés or museums. There are almost 2,500 kilometers of these “green paths” in Spain today.
Volcanic cuisine before the bike tour
The Castell, the castle of the Barons of Santa Pau built in the 14th century, towers over the medieval town center of Santa Pau. The church of Santa María, which is worth seeing, dates from the 15th century. “Our village is not only a popular destination, but also a good starting point for hiking and cycling tours in the nature park and to the various volcanoes,” says Jesús Pont.
Santa Pau in the La Garrotxa Volcano Nature Park is the starting point for numerous hiking and cycling routes
Source: dpa-tmn
On the Placeta dels Balls opposite the castle, Jesús and his wife run the inn “Cal Sastre”. It was opened by his grandparents. The tables under the old stone archways are all occupied. Some of Jesús’ guests come all the way from Barcelona, 120 kilometers away, to try his famous “volcanic cuisine”.
The specialty of the house: Fesols de Santa Pau. The small white beans have a protected designation of origin. Jesús prepares them as a salad with cod and tomatoes according to his grandmother Ramona’s recipe. “The beans only grow here and, like other of our volcanic products, including potatoes and mushrooms, they have a very special taste due to the soil, the water and the microclimate,” assures Jesús, who grows his vegetables himself.
Very tasty, but only conditionally compatible with bike tours: the bean salad prepared with Fesols de Santa Pau
Source: dpa-tmn
After the bean salad, there are cannelloni with a béchamel sauce made from fresh mushrooms, truffles and the Catalan butifarra sausage. “The perfect refreshment for your tour,” says Jesús. Unfortunately he is wrong. The “volcano menu” was delicious, but it also weighs heavily on the stomach when cycling on the way to Olot. It goes uphill and downhill.
Volcanoes line the way to Olot
38 volcanoes characterize the picturesque hilly landscape of the Garrotxa. An old quarry looks deep into Croscat Volcano and reveals the various layers of lava that shimmer in black, red and brown.
At the Santa Margarida volcano, bicycles must be parked below. A short hiking trail leads through oak and chestnut forests up to the crater rim. There is a small Romanesque chapel in the circular volcanic crater.
The sun burns. The shade of the trees on the way to Olot through the fairytale beech forest La Fageda d’en Jordà is all the more welcome. A hundred meters above Olot, the Montsacopa volcano with two old watchtowers offers a wonderful view of the old town with its imposing town houses.
Durch den Buchenwald La Fageda d’en Jordà geht es von Santa Pau nach Olot
Source: dpa-tmn
Olot is the actual starting point of the Ruta del Carrilet. From here it leads in a first section to Girona and from there in a second part to Sant Feliu de Guíxols on the Costa Brava. This is a total of around 95 kilometers.
First, from Olot, it goes through the green valley of the Vall d’en Bas, also known as the “Catalan Switzerland”. The route leads over railway bridges and through narrow gorges that used to be carved into the rock for the steam locomotives.
Cheese with whiskey for the cyclists
At the side of the road near Sant Esteve d’en Bas, the sign “La Xiquella” points to a small cheese dairy. Oriol Rizo produces cow’s and sheep’s milk here in the traditional way. Its raw milk cheeses have won numerous awards. Sometimes they taste like hazelnuts, sometimes like almonds, sometimes like herbs. Some are spicy and some are mild and creamy. In any case: perfect provisions for the tour.
A few kilometers away you can taste Oriols cheese in a really original and interesting way at Roy Lawson and Goretti Raurell. Roy is Scottish and offers cheese tastings with whiskey tasting in his inn right on the Ruta del Carrilet. This results in strong contrasts with intense flavor combinations.
On the Ruta del Carrilet you pass Oriol Rizo’s “La Xiquella” cheese dairy
Source: dpa-tmn
Your inn “La Rectoria de Sant Miquel de Pineda” is surrounded by fruit trees and specializes in bicycle tourists. It is a former vicarage. Right next to it is a 12th-century Romanesque church.
Strengthening with a picnic at the waterfall
Only a few kilometers later you reach the town of Sant Feliu de Pallerols over an old stone bridge. It is idyllically situated on the Brugent river. At the weekly market, farmers from the area offer cheese, bread, sausage, fruit and vegetables.
Sant Feliu de Pallerols liegt idyllisch am Fluss Brugent
Source: dpa-tmn
It’s worth buying provisions for the journey here. Because on the further route to Girona, fantastically located waterfalls and bathing spots invite you to have a picnic, such as Gorg de Can Poetí or Gorga de Santa Margarida.
The path now leads through abandoned forests and dreamy villages. Places like Amer where tourists rarely go. Shortly before the provincial capital of Girona, the holm oak forests are gradually giving way to vegetable plantations and allotment gardens.
Bathing areas such as the Gorga de Santa Margarida invite you to have a picnic and swim on the way to Girona
Source: dpa-tmn
Undoubtedly one of the most beautiful cities in Catalonia, Girona has a past that dates back to the 1st century. Arabic baths, the Jewish quarter, the squares with stone fountains, the historic city walls – Girona is a jewel.
It is not without reason that the city is repeatedly used as a film set. Tom Tykwer turned Girona into medieval Paris in “Perfume”. Numerous scenes from “Game of Thrones” were also filmed here. For example, in front of the 90 steps that you have to climb to get to the square in front of the Santa María Cathedral.
From Girona you can cycle to the sea
The second stage of the Ruta del Carrilet starts from Girona. Passing grain fields and over railway bridges, we continue along the river Ter in the direction of the Mediterranean. Shortly after Cassà de la Selva, with its Modernist houses, it is worth turning onto the “Termal” cycle route, also a Vía Verde. It leads to Caldes de Malavella for around 15 kilometers.
This is the perfect place to relax those cycling-weary legs. The sodium-rich water has been bubbling out of the ground at a temperature of sixty degrees for thousands of years. The Romans already knew this, as the Roman thermal baths of Puig de Sant Grau show.
Caldes de Malavella with its stately houses and castle invites you to linger. Hotel spas like the Balneari Prats and the Balneari Vichy Catalán have made the town rich with their thermal baths. Vichy Catalán also produces one of the most famous mineral waters in Spain.
The beaches of the Costa Brava are now not far away. Llagostera can be seen from afar on a hill between pine forests and grain fields. From the remains of the medieval castle you can see as far as the Les Gavarres massif.
The Ruta del Carrilet ends at the coastal town of Sant Feliu de Guíxols with its Romanesque monastery
Source: dpa-tmn
Now it goes steadily downhill towards the Mediterranean Sea. Sant Feliu de Guíxols is idyllically situated between hills. The coastal town with its imposing Romanesque monastery looks back on a long fishing tradition. In the harbor the boats rock in the water.
The sun glitters silver in the Mediterranean Sea. In the beach restaurants it smells wonderfully of fresh fish. But first park the bike, put on your swimming trunks and jump into the refreshing water.
Into the water: after arriving at the Costa Brava, you swap your cycling gear for a bathing suit
Source: dpa-tmn
Information on the Carrilet Route in Katalonien:
Getting there: By plane to Barcelona or Girona. From here by train or bus to Santa Pau or Olot.
Entry: The Federal Foreign Office offers up-to-date information on its website. Further information on entry is available on the “Spain Travel Health” portal.
Bike tours: You can find information on the different routes, accommodation and bike rentals in Catalonia on the website of the Foundation of the Spanish Railway Company, which maintains the “Green Ways”: viesverdes.cat. Visit viasverdes.com for other greenways in Spain.
Best travel time: Mid-April to late June and September and October.
Further information: Catalan Tourist Office: katalonien-tourismus.de
Vacation trips are getting more and more expensive
If you are planning a holiday now, you should not hesitate too long. After two years of the corona pandemic with sometimes severe travel restrictions, demand is high. In Spain and Greece in particular, the prices for an overnight stay have risen sharply.
Source: WORLD / Lea Freist