Why this ride
354 km one way from la Marina de Port - plan on about 5 h 28 of riding. The stops in between: Cunit, near Vallfogona de Riucorb and near Sant Aniol de Finestres. The climb of the day is Castelldefels. It tops out at about 850 m.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Montseny Natural Park · short arc
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 354 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 5 h 28
- Journey
- One way; return travel is separate
Distance and timing basis
Ordered leg totals agree within rounding. Stop distances are approximate sums of rounded legs. Stops, delays, approach and any separate return travel add time. Basis: producer-declared routed record.
Reading history stays on this device. My road watch requires a separate selection; opening it does not subscribe this ride.
Distance and riding time are measured on the routed road. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. la Marina del Prat Vermell
This is not the Barcelona of postcards, and that is half its charm for a rider. La Marina del Prat Vermell sits on the flat ground between the southern slope of Montjuïc and the Zona Franca, the city's great industrial and logistics zone, with the port cranes on one side, warehouses and new apartment blocks on the other, and the motorway ring roads that make escape from the city fast. It is a neighbourhood in transition, long a pocket of workers' housing among factories, now slowly being rebuilt.
Read the complete la Marina del Prat Vermell write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Montseny Natural Park is where the day begins. Next is Montseny Natural Park high point.
2. Castelldefels
Castelldefels is where Barcelona goes to the beach, and where the coast suddenly stops being flat. Behind the town's long sandy shore, the limestone hills of the Garraf massif rise abruptly, and just south of town the coast road begins its famous run along the cliffs to Sitges. A castle on a small hill, rebuilt many times, gives the town its name and keeps watch over the plain of the Llobregat delta to the north.
Read the complete Castelldefels write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
You top out here; the road stops climbing. Next is Montseny Natural Park scenic road.
3. Cunit
Cunit is where the Garraf coast stops climbing and settles into long, flat sand. It is the first town of Tarragona province as you come down from Barcelona, sitting just past Cubelles and the mouth of the Foix, with Calafell running on to the south-west. The town is mostly holiday apartments and family streets, quiet in winter and crowded in August, and its great virtue at the end of a ride is a broad beach with a promenade where you can park, peel off the jacket and watch the sea go pewter in the evening.
Read the complete Cunit write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 58 km into the recorded legs you reach Montseny Natural Park scenic road. Next is Photo stop near Vallfogona de Riucorb.
4. Photo stop near Vallfogona de Riucorb
Vallfogona de Riucorb was once a spa village, and in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century its mineral waters drew visitors from Barcelona to a grand balneari and a few hotels. The glory days faded, but the village keeps the air of a place that knew better times, with old villas, a church on the hill and the little Riucorb river running through a quiet valley in the Conca de Barberà.
Read the complete Photo stop near Vallfogona de Riucorb write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Photo stop near Vallfogona de Riucorb, about halfway. Next is Food stop near Sant Aniol de Finestres.
5. Food stop near Sant Aniol de Finestres
Planning note
Food at 411 km, roughly 8 hours into the riding. Next is Barcelona / Catalonia.
6. Barcelona / Catalonia
Girona sits where the Onyar River meets the Ter, and its old town is one of the best-preserved in Spain. The town of Girona, about ten kilometres away, has nearly a hundred thousand people and is the main city of the northern part of Catalonia.
Read the complete Barcelona / Catalonia write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
The route ends here after 514 km.
Leg by leg
Photo stop near Vallfogona de Riucorb to Food stop near Sant Aniol de Finestres
Photo stop near Vallfogona de Riucorb → Food stop near Sant Aniol de Finestres is 171 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Food stop near Sant Aniol de Finestres to Barcelona / Catalonia
Food stop near Sant Aniol de Finestres → Barcelona / Catalonia return is 39 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.