Barcelona is one of the most beautiful cities in Europe, which means that touring it on foot is one of the best ways to explore its architecture, narrow alleyways, history-filled squares and enjoy the sea breeze along its coastline. But despite all these city attractions, it is well worth exploring its surroundings and discovering the best hiking trails with the most beautiful natural landscapes of the province.
Below, we share with you some of the best routes of varying difficulty and duration, but all of them simply wonderful.
The 3 best bicycle routes in Barcelona
Top 3 with the best hiking trails
1. The way of good men
This route has 10 stages -all of them very well signposted-. It is about 200 kilometers long and starts at the Queralt sanctuary in Berga and ends in Foix, in Arieja. It offers beautiful landscapes, a lot of culture and history.
Just to give you an example, the second stage of this route goes between Gósol and Bagà, it is a stage of 6 hours, 23.8 kilometers and with more descents than climbs. During the tour you can make stops at the Medieval and Cathar Center, at the restaurant of the Repòs del Pedraforca campsite and in rural houses for you to stay if you want to spend several days.
2. Oliba Road
It is about 300 kilometers and goes from Montserrat to the Pyrenees. Stage 4, for example, has a duration of 5.5 hours and a distance of 23.5 kilometers. In addition, it has some must-see stops which we will tell you about below:
- L’Estany (Moianès): in this village there was a pond dating from the eighteenth century in a dry stone mine that measures about half a kilometer.
- Santa María de L’Estany: it is a Romanesque jewel that currently functions as a parish where you can see sculpted biblical scenes.
- Magadins Vell Restaurant: here there is local produce, grilled meats, quail and rabbit, among other specialties to enjoy.
3. Camino Ignaciano, one of the best hiking trails in the world.
This route begins in the sanctuary of San Ignacio de Loyola (Guipúzcoa) and ends in the capital of Bages. If you choose, as we did, stage 2 of the three stages, there are 26.4 kilometers that are done in 7 hours, leaving from Igualada and arriving at one of the most emblematic places in the region: Montserrat.
Some of your must-see stops during the tour are:
- Igualada (Anoia): there you can visit the basilica of Santa Maria and museums such as the leather of Igualada and Anoia Regional, the muleteer and the only museumized tannery in Catalonia.
- Castle of Tossa de Montbui: located in the municipality of Santa Margarida de Montbui, it is a Romanesque complex in which the tower and the church stand out.
- Restaurant Nou Urbisol: located in Castellolí, it offers the best of Catalan market food prepared with local products.
Which of these best hiking trails are you going to start exploring the region?
