Park Güell and Abric de la Serra de la mussara

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 1. Park Güell

   Few people arrive at Park Güell without a sense of anticipation, and the first view is rarely a disappointment. The park lies on a hill called Carmel in the north of Barcelona, a short distance from the dense streets of Gràcia, and it was conceived at the beginning of the twentieth century by the industrialist Eusebi Güell as a garden suburb for the wealthy. He hired Antoni Gaudí to design it, and between 1900 and 1914 the architect laid out roads on stone viaducts, a great hall of Doric columns, a serpentine bench covered in colourful broken tile and a lizard fountain at the entrance. Very few plots were ever sold, and in 1926 the city bought the grounds and opened them as a public park.

   Read the complete Park Güell write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Park Güell is where the day begins. Next is Roca Roja.

2. 2. 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 comes up about 85 km into the recorded legs. Next is Abric de la Serra de la mussara.

3. 3. Abric de la Serra de la mussara

   Climb out of Reus on a clear morning and the Serra de la Mussara rises ahead like a wall, a limestone escarpment that holds up the edge of the Prades plateau and drops steeply to the plain of the Camp de Tarragona. The rock shelters along this cliff line, close to the village of Vilaplana, are part of the prehistoric painted landscape of eastern Spain. The best reason to stop, though, is the view: on a good day you look straight down over hazelnut orchards and olive groves to Reus, Tarragona and the sea.

   Read the complete Abric de la Serra de la mussara write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   about 150 km into the recorded legs you reach Abric de la Serra de la mussara. Next is back through Roca Roja.

4. 4. 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, late in the day. Next is Park Güell.

5. 5. Park Güell

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Park Güell write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Back at Park Güell. That is the ride.