Foothills of the Pyrenees

Catalonia’s ancient volcanoes

Holiday information
Nights: 7
Grade: 2, some ascents & descents each day
Terrain: rocky paths and trails across the wooded hills
Hotels: one country house; three 2-star hotels; two 3-star hotels
Meals: 7 breakfasts, 6 dinners, 5 picnics
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Extend your stay
If you are flying via cosmopolitan Barcelona or beautiful Girona, add on a city break for a contrast to your walking holiday.
Pyrenean Long Trail
For a fabulous 13-night adventure, combine this holiday with the Catalan Pyrenees to walk the Pyrenean Long Trail (see price panel for details); or, with our From the Pyrenees to the Sea walk.
  About La Garrotxa >La Garrotxa is divided in two by the River Fluvià: to the north are the abrupt chalk landscapes of La Garrotxa Alta, a rugged wilderness; to the south are the wooded hills and lush meadows of La Garrotxa Baja. This variety of scenery is further enhanced by timeless stone villages, richly varied flora and fauna, numerous Romanesque churches – often in the most unexpected of places – and by the region’s 30 or so volcanoes, which constitute one of the Iberian Peninsula’s finest volcanic landscapes. Clad in thick oak and beech woods which are truly glorious in autumn, the volcanoes are, strictly speaking, dormant rather than extinct, even though the last eruption was some 11,500 years ago. In keeping with the rest of Catalonia, La Garrotxa’s traditional cuisine is rich and flavoursome. The excellent local pork and mutton features in many recipes, while other classic dishes include rabbit with meatballs and wild mushrooms, duck with pears, and butifarra sausage stewed with local beans.
  • self-guided hotel-to-hotel walking, luggage transported
  • sense of discovery and adventure
  • a glimpse of ‘real’ Spain
  • authentic, welcoming inns

In the foothills of the mighty Catalan Pyrenees lies the little-known region of La Garrotxa, a land cut in two by the River Fluvia. To the north, the Alta Garrotxa is a rugged wilderness of crags and deep gullies, with ancient trails leading through an untamed wilderness where deer and wild boar thrive and eagles soar over the isolated ruins of Romanesque chapels and remote farmsteads.

Mountains gave way to precipitous hills – the sea beyond lost in a distant haze – and at last to lush lowlands pockmarked with the textbook cones and horseshoes of volcanoes.
     
Dixe Wills, The Guardian
To the south, surprisingly unspoiled medieval villages dot flower-filled meadows that are overlooked by ancient volcanoes cloaked in beech and oak woodland. This marvellous walk through changing landscapes offers a real sense of adventure as you discover hidden corners and inspirational viewpoints, and you enjoy some delicious regional cuisine and robust red wines at our small, intimate inns.
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