Why this ride
A 389 km round trip from el Baix Guinardó - roughly 6 h 14 in the saddle. On the way it passes Cova dels Segarulls, Triumphal Arch of Berá, Roca Roja and Abric de Can Ximet. It suits an unhurried touring pace.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Hospital de Sant Pau and Abric de Can Ximet
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 389 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 6 h 14
- Journey
- Recorded itinerary
Distance and timing basis
The recorded total and the leg detail need reconciliation. Inspect the leg notes before using this record for timing or navigation. 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. Hospital de Sant Pau
There is a hill in Barcelona that most visitors reach by accident, on the walk from the Sagrada Família down a long avenue named after Gaudí. At the end of it stands the Hospital de Sant Pau, one of the greatest works of Catalan Modernisme, designed by Lluís Domènech i Montaner and built between 1902 and 1930 with money left by a banker called Pau Gil. The architect rejected the idea of a single block. Instead he built a garden city of pavilions, joined by underground tunnels, each with brick walls, tiled roofs and mosaics, so that patients could look out on trees and sky. It worked as a hospital until 2009, and has since been restored as a museum and cultural centre. UNESCO listed it in 1997 together with the Palau de la Música Catalana, also by Domènech.
Read the complete Hospital de Sant Pau write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Hospital de Sant Pau is where the day begins. Next is Cova dels Segarulls.
2. Cova dels Segarulls
The vineyards of the Penedès roll out in every direction from Vilafranca, and the Cova dels Segarulls lies among them, a few kilometres outside the town in the low hills toward the coastal range.
Read the complete Cova dels Segarulls write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Cova dels Segarulls comes up 42 km in. Next is Triumphal Arch of Berá.
3. Triumphal Arch of Berá
For centuries traffic on the main coastal road of Catalonia drove straight through a Roman triumphal arch. The Arc de Berà stands on the line of the Via Augusta, the great Roman road from the Pyrenees to Cádiz, about twenty kilometres northeast of Tarragona, and until the road was diverted around it in the late twentieth century, cars and trucks passed under its single span. It was built at the end of the first century BC, and an inscription records that it was erected according to the will of Lucius Licinius Sura, a figure whose identity historians still discuss. It is part of the UNESCO listing for the Roman remains of Tarraco.
Read the complete Triumphal Arch of Berá write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
83 km in you reach Triumphal Arch of Berá. Next is Roca Roja.
4. Roca Roja
Roca Roja, the red rock, is a fitting name for this corner of inland Catalonia, where sandstone and conglomerate cliffs glow rust-coloured in the evening light above pine forest and small terraced fields. The point lies in the hills between Querol and Mediona, where the comarques of Alt Camp, Alt Penedès and Anoia meet, a rugged, thinly populated upland that most people speed past on the motorway between Barcelona and Lleida without realising it exists.
Read the complete Roca Roja write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Roca Roja, about halfway. Next is Abric de Can Ximet.
5. Abric de Can Ximet
The Penedès is a broad, gently rolling basin between the coastal ranges and the Montserrat massif, and it is one of the great wine regions of Catalonia. Vilafranca del Penedès, its capital, is a lively town with a Gothic church, a wine museum and a passion for castells, the human towers that teams of men, women and children build in the main square on feast days. UNESCO added the castells to its list of intangible heritage in 2010. Can Ximet is a farm name on the fringe of this landscape, and the shelter nearby is a modest rock overhang associated with prehistoric art.
Read the complete Abric de Can Ximet write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Abric de Can Ximet sits at 167 km, about halfway. Next is back through Roca Roja.
6. back through Roca Roja
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Roca Roja write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Roca Roja comes up 208 km in. Next is back through Triumphal Arch of Berá.
7. back through Triumphal Arch of Berá
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Triumphal Arch of Berá write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
250 km in you reach back through Triumphal Arch of Berá. Next is back through Cova dels Segarulls.
8. back through Cova dels Segarulls
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Cova dels Segarulls write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Cova dels Segarulls, late in the day. Next is Hospital de Sant Pau.
9. Hospital de Sant Pau
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Hospital de Sant Pau 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 389 km.
Leg by leg
Hospital de Sant Pau to Cova dels Segarulls
Hospital de Sant Pau → Cova dels Segarulls is 54 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Cova dels Segarulls to Triumphal Arch of Berá
Cova dels Segarulls → Triumphal Arch of Berá is 35 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Triumphal Arch of Berá to Roca Roja
Triumphal Arch of Berá → Roca Roja is 44 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Roca Roja to Abric de Can Ximet
Roca Roja → Abric de Can Ximet is 34 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Abric de Can Ximet to back through Roca Roja
Abric de Can Ximet → back through Roca Roja is 34 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Roca Roja to back through Triumphal Arch of Berá
back through Roca Roja → back through Triumphal Arch of Berá is 44 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Triumphal Arch of Berá to back through Cova dels Segarulls
back through Triumphal Arch of Berá → back through Cova dels Segarulls is 35 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Cova dels Segarulls to Hospital de Sant Pau
back through Cova dels Segarulls → Hospital de Sant Pau is 54 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.