Girona City Add-On

Another great Inntravel holiday. Started with two nights in Girona which was a great way to start the holiday. Would definitely recommend getting a taxi to the Hotel Historic as it is in the Historic Quarter and so is uphill and streets are cobbled. Quite a foodie city. Would recommend the restaurant Dit I Fet which is not far from the hotel.
For the main part of the holiday we enjoyed the contrast between France and Spain. Our favourite locations were Collioure and Cadaques. Both buzzy places and hotels were good in terms of service and location. We had an extra night at the Playa Sol in Cadaques which we would recommend and gave us the opportunity to visit the Dali House. Restaurant recommendations - Casa Leon in Collioure and Es Raco in Cadaques. Would suggest booking both. Walking was good - more Grade 2 than Grade 1 with some challenging sections especially on Day 4 but routes were all easy to follow. Unusually we had two other Inntravel couples on the same itinerary so we all did the Day 5 route down to Cadaques together which was really nice and social. It was also our favourite walk of the week - reasonably long but not too many ups and downs and great views all the way. 

Despite the disappointing hotel, we were very glad we extended the holiday with 2 nights in Girona. It's a very interesting city, with excellent restaurants. We would particularly recommend Casa Flora, Carrer de les Ballesteries; and El Cul Del Mon, Disseminat de Sant Daniel for lunch in a woodland setting only 15 minutes walk from the Historic. 

Although never far from civilisation we were struck by the unspoilt nature of the coast in this area plus the variety of landscapes we walked through and the wonderful smells from the pine trees and shrubs. We enjoyed the amazing views and stunning turquoise seawater (we are used to the very brown Bristol channel!) Dining on the terrace of the Hotel Aiguablava was very memorable. We would recommend walking along the city walls in Girona for a great overview of the old quarter

INNTRAVEL NOTE: This customer did our walking holiday 'Along the Catalan Coast' in combination with our city break in Girona.

The quality of the hotels you recommended was excellent, and the food was of the highest quality. We did find the day 1 walk lenghty but managable, but we were much fitter at the end of the holiday and took the walks very much in our stride (forgive the pun!). We found the walking notes were very clear and we really cannot fault the holiday... it was fantastic throughout!! We are now looking at next year in a different location.

This is an easy, calm and leisurely walking trip allowing plenty of time to enjoy the local food so is aptly named. No walk is too hard to carry on after a long lunch with wine and the hotels are wonderful choices. Hotel Aiguaclara is an opportunity to stay in a respectfully restored 'casa indiana' full of character and history. This is an area with a big Hollywood history, you'll be visiting the same coves as Elizabeth Taylor and Ava Gardner, if visiting in early October there is even an international film festival. Combining the Girona add-on gives you a chance to really immerse yourself in a wonderful part of Spain. The weather on early October was great, just a couple of rainy days that didn't stop the walks. The gardens at Cap Roig are fantastic, don't miss. 

An excellent holiday with good accommodation and walks. We would recommend Sinema (tapas) in Garriguella for excellent food and service and a flavour of village life. The Cooperative provides excellent value for money. In Cadaques we would recommend Pizzeria La Gritta es Painc for good food and lovely service. The walks were varied in terms of the views and terrain (and difficulty), stopping off for a swim en route to Cadaques was a bonus and the sea swimming in Cadaques itself was excellent. We added on two nights in Girona which is a fascinating city, very compact with plenty to see and enjoy. The Inntravel town trail is really good, easy to follow with lots of information and alternative routes and things to see and do.

INNTRAVEL NOTE: These customers combined our walk From the Pyrenees to the Sea with our Girona City add-on

HIGHLIGHTS: We loved Hotel Can Garay; plunge pools; pool and sea at S'Agaro; Amer was nice but would it be worth mentioning that if you go into Amer there is a climb back to the track; Angles wasn't worth visiting and we got confused by the references to the petrol station BUT the approach into Girona was lovely with the left hand turn down to the river (why didn't you mention that you could bathe there?); Girona itself.

INNTRAVEL NOTE: These customers combined our cycling holiday Freewheeling in Catalonia with our Girona City add-on

Generally the walking routes were good and the notes were accurate. The notes for the last days walk to Cap de Creus implied it was a little too long for a last days walk by suggesting the option of a taxi to the lighthouse and we would agree with that. The notes for that walk were not quite up to the same standard. We noted that there were boat rides from Cadaques beach out to the Cap and beyond, and with prior notice of that it would have been a very good addition to travel by boat rather than a taxi?

Girona: Superb location, loved the position and the hotel structure was unique, the owners had sympathetically created up to date air conditioned rooms within a very old structure. Very good breakfasts in atmospheric surroundings. We loved exploring the narrow and winding streets and walking the old city walls, experiencing breathtaking views.

We used the rail system in Spain and France which are excellent and on time, and you should be aware that there is a regular local train from Cerbere to Colloire which is both inexpensive and quick and is a good alternative to the taxi service which you offer.

INNTRAVEL NOTE: These customers combined our walk Collioure to Cadaqués with our Girona City add-on

The 'Along the Catalan Coast' holiday was very enjoyable. Doing it in late April/ early May, we found it cool enough to walk comfortably, but warm enough to enjoy frequent swims in the stunningly clear and blue Mediterranean Sea, as well as in several outdoor hotel pools. Sometimes we had a swim mid-walk, when the route led us down to one of the many beautiful sandy coves surrounded by rocky outcrops. The walking was quite hilly sometimes, similar to what I've experienced on some of Inntravel's Grade 2 walks, but there were easier stretches too. On Day 3, we spent hours at the huge botanical gardens at Cap Roig rather than to do a long walk, because there were so many interesting plants to look at. On Day 5, I was happy to have brought walking sticks.
We usually follow a plant-based diet, and sometimes had trouble getting things we wanted to eat, because Catalonian food is generally fish-based. However, this was not the case at breakfasts, where the food was always ample, varied, and fresh, and we always left having eaten enough to power our walks. At the Hotel S'Agaro and the Hotel Llevant, we had delicious vegetarian dinners; in fact, at the Hotel Llevant I had one of the best meals I've ever eaten anywhere.
We stayed in Girona for two nights before doing the coastal walk, and I would highly recommend this Girona City Add-On. Girona is a vibrant little city, and the beautiful Hotel Historic is well-placed to access it. We especially enjoyed the Old Town, and walking along the top of the old city walls. Sometimes we came upon groups of musicians informally performing, and enjoyed this. There are vegan restaurants and ice cream parlours to be found in the Old Town. I can recommend the B-12 Rte Bar Vegano in Independence Square.
We travelled by train rather than plane, and found the direct TGV from Paris to Girona pleasant. Thank you for a wonderful holiday!

Beautiful area, nice hotels, interesting variety of walks, seamless arrangements by Inntravel in terms of bookings, luggage transfers, etc -- overall a terrific holiday.  After two years of pandemic delay we were happy to be walking again!

All of the accommodations were great, and on the whole posher than the other Inntravel holidays I have been on (this is my third).  My personal favorite was Llevant -- because of their exceptional hospitality and also the food, which I would give five or six stars if you had that many -- it was really amazing -- and they catered creatively to the vegetarians.  They also gave us sea facing rooms, because they had them, and with towels for the beach steps away they had a lovely combination of fine service and a relaxed atmosphere.  This and Ancora were more like the Inntravel places I have been before -- smaller family run places.  Also exceptional was the room at Sant Roc -- probably the nicest hotel room I have ever stayed in, with views of the sea and the town and huge openable windows, and all very comfortable and fresh. I can imagine staying longer in both of those places, which were in little seaside towns.  The first and last hotels were quite nice but more resort-y and impersonal.  The Aigua Blava is an interesting cultural experience (not local culture, something else) and I loved the pool and the beach, but the dinners were not very good -- although their breakfast was great. Also there was an awful lot of smoking going on.

The walks were a bit less off the beaten track than the others I have done -- especially the long promenade walk on day one.   Like others, I would rate parts of some days (2, 5) a level 2 in terms of up-and-down difficulty but these were also really beautiful walks. I wore running shoes (trainers) most of the days but on these days light hiking boots and even poles/sticks were good to have.  The botanical gardens at Cap Roig are large, varied, and beautiful, definitely worth lingering in.

Note to swimmers: we were there in late April/early May and the sea was cold but swimmable (around 15C).  I brought wetsuit pants/vest but didn't use them, wasn't worth the carry, swam without.  The sea is amazingly clear and splendid and there are beaches all along the way and at most of the hotels.  Nice ones at El Golfet (little detour day 2) and Llafranc steps from the hotel, and at the Aigua Blava.  I saw some people doing longer distance swimming (beach to beach)-- for real open water swimmers this looks very possible and it would be good to have an orange safety buoy for visibililty since there are also boats.  Two of the hotels had very large pools -- the S'Agaro a large round pool and the Aigua Blava a proper pool I estimate was 25m.  Cold but open and swimmable too.  Later in the season swimming would be even better but walking would have been too hot for us -- air temps were also around our upper limit of 15-20C.

We added on and loved Girona!  Just walking around.  The Jewish museum, the Arab baths.  Good things to eat.  We found vegan food for my companions, not otherwise much on offer in Catalonia. Restaurant called B-12 ("the revolution begins in the kitchen") and vegan ice cream shop.  Loved the Hotel Historic!  Interesting and beautiful stone and wood, super comfortable, good breakfast, welcoming hosts.  Great location.