Why this ride
133 km from Sagrada Família to Sagrada Família, about 2 h 14 of riding. On the way it passes Crypt at the Colònia Güell, Cova dels Segarulls and back through Crypt at the Colònia Güell. The line favours views over speed.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Nativity Façade and Crypt of the Basílica and Cova dels Segarulls
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 133 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 2 h 14
- Journey
- Recorded itinerary
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.
Scenic road chapters
Monserrat Mountain Road
Expect company on a summer weekend. Early is better than fast. For about 19 km this is Monserrat Mountain Road, a road with a name of its own and a reason for it.
Chapter facts
- Length
- 19 km
- Named road
- Monserrat Mountain Road
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Nativity Façade and Crypt of the Basílica
Gaudí took forty-three years of his life on the Sagrada Família and still did not see it finished. He began work in 1883, soon after taking over from another architect, and from the 1890s onward he devoted himself to it almost completely, living in a workshop on site in his last years. The Nativity Façade, on the east side, is the part that he built the most of, and it was the only one to be substantially completed in his lifetime. Its carved portals teem with plants, animals and figures, tortoises at the foot of its columns included, and the effect is like a cliff of stone coral.
Read the complete Nativity Façade and Crypt of the Basílica write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Nativity Façade and Crypt of the Basílica is where the day begins. Next is Crypt at the Colònia Güell.
2. Crypt at the Colònia Güell
Few people ride out of Barcelona expecting to find Gaudí in a mill village, but that is exactly what waits at Santa Coloma de Cervelló, a short hop up the Llobregat from Sant Boi. The Colònia Güell was a textile colony founded by the industrialist Eusebi Güell, who moved his cotton works out of the city in the 1890s and built housing, a school, shops and a theatre for the workers around the factory. He asked his friend Antoni Gaudí for a church. Gaudí spent about ten years on the design and its foundations, and when money and the Güell family's enthusiasm ran out around 1914, only the lower level had been finished. That crypt is what you come to see.
Read the complete Crypt at the Colònia Güell write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Crypt at the Colònia Güell comes up about 19 km into the recorded legs. Next is Cova dels Segarulls.
3. 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
about 66 km into the recorded legs you reach Cova dels Segarulls. Next is back through Crypt at the Colònia Güell.
4. back through Crypt at the Colònia Güell
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Crypt at the Colònia Güell write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Crypt at the Colònia Güell, late in the day. Next is Nativity Façade and Crypt of the Basílica.
5. Nativity Façade and Crypt of the Basílica
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Nativity Façade and Crypt of the Basílica write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Back at Nativity Façade and Crypt of the Basílica. That is the ride.
Leg by leg
Nativity Façade and Crypt of the Basílica to Crypt at the Colònia Güell
Nativity Façade and Crypt of the Basílica → Crypt at the Colònia Güell is 19 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Crypt at the Colònia Güell to Cova dels Segarulls
Crypt at the Colònia Güell → Cova dels Segarulls is 47 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Cova dels Segarulls to back through Crypt at the Colònia Güell
Cova dels Segarulls → back through Crypt at the Colònia Güell is 48 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Crypt at the Colònia Güell to Nativity Façade and Crypt of the Basílica
back through Crypt at the Colònia Güell → Nativity Façade and Crypt of the Basílica is 19 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.