Why this ride
A 131 km round trip from Ciutat Vella - roughly 2 h 08 in the saddle. 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
Palacio Güell and Cova dels Segarulls
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 131 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 2 h 08
- 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
The ride follows Monserrat Mountain Road for 18 km.
Chapter facts
- Length
- 18 km
- Named road
- Monserrat Mountain Road
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Palacio Güell
Antoni Gaudí was in his thirties when Eusebi Güell asked him to build a town house just off the Ramblas, and he gave his patron a palace that looks plain on the street and wild inside. The Palau Güell, built between 1886 and 1890 for the industrialist who became Gaudí's greatest supporter, stands in the Raval, a narrow street in what was then a respectable neighbourhood and is now one of the most multicultural districts of Barcelona. The front has two huge parabolic arches of wrought iron, with a pattern of whiplash lines in the gates, and the interior has a central hall that rises through the building to a dome pierced with small holes, so that on a sunny day the ceiling is spotted with starry light.
Read the complete Palacio Güell write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Palacio Güell 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 18 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 65 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 Palacio Güell.
5. Palacio Güell
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Palacio Güell write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Back at Palacio Güell. That is the ride.
Leg by leg
Palacio Güell to Crypt at the Colònia Güell
Palacio Güell → Crypt at the Colònia Güell is 18 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 47 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Crypt at the Colònia Güell to Palacio Güell
back through Crypt at the Colònia Güell → Palacio Güell is 18 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.