A walking holiday in northern Catalonia

Weather was just right for walking, dry, a strong breeze, but not really warm enough sitting on sun beds. We loved the walking, very varied, and wonderful views, coves etc. We were an elderly party, 66 - 80 in age, and managed the walk very well, only struggling a bit on day 5, but we all made it, and enjoyed our evenings. Had some great salads at Puput, along the prom in Palamós bay, just after the footbridge over the canal - and resisted the invite from the manager of El Raco, who was now more welcoming than has been suggested before! If you like early morning tea, take a travel kettle, we found it invaluable as no hotels supply one. My big tip is to pack, and then remove half of it before you go, as repacking every day is a pain if your case is full, and we found you could rinse out clothes and get them dry at 2 night hotels.

Highlights: Wonderful walks and scenery...truly stunning countryside; hotel standard generally good; luggage transfers very smooth

Recommendations: If you are vegetarian be very clear what this means....it’s often understood as vegan; we would have liked some more demanding, optional walking routes....some days were too easy for us

The hotels were very good and the standard of cuisine was the best of all the ten Inntravel walking holidays we have now done. Everyone was very helpful and the coastal walking was extremely good except for the trudge along the two long promenade beaches on the day we walked to Fosca ( Ancora Hotel)

We were referred to Inntravel by my former manager who lives in the UK and has done a number of trips with the company. I have been wanting to try a walking holiday for a number of years and now that I am retired, we decided to combine a walking holiday with a 3 week tour "Highlights of Spain" that we took with our local university continuing studies travel program. The walking holiday was the highlight of our 6 weeks in Spain, and we'll definitely be looking to do another in the future.

Fantastic route with plenty of stopping points! Great mixture of woodland and coves. Lots of climbing steps each day. Hotels were great particularly Hotel Llevant.

One of our best Inntravel holidays, a delightful coastal path along this most beautiful and civilised and varied Mediterranean coastline. There are endless opportunities for swimming in the sea in stunning locations well away from the crowds. The hotels are all excellent, mostly located in interesting small towns. Our only problem was the gourmet food: our ageing legs can manage the walking with no problem, but our stomachs do not welcome multi course gourmet dinners late in the evening.

This is our third trip with Inntravel, and it lived up to our expectation, everything went as planned, no hitches anywhere. Very well organised. Thank you.

The quality of the hotels was excellent - far beyond anything we would book for ourselves. Guide notes and instructions were easy to follow. We took out the pages we needed for each day. Travel on Eurostar and TGV was more relaxing than flying.  

This is a wonderful holiday. Perfect walking beside the mediterranean sea. The walks are not too strenuous, mostly on made up paths. There is some rocky parts and sand. We were glad we wore our walking boots. The scenery is outstanding and although the weather was more cloudy and sea more rough, I still swam in the sea. The food was outstanding at most of the selected hotels. We tended to take picnics rather than have sit down lunches by finding a supermarket before we set off each day. We found this more flexible, especially with a large meal provided each evening. Our third holiday with Inntravel and probably the best so far.

The highlight was the walking, it was excellent. A specific highlight was the crossing over a trail between Hotel Llevant and Hotel Aiqua Blava, where you had to time your bolt to safety with the waves washing over the trail. Locals, and travellers alike, were both helpful and entertained by the spectacle of travellers attempts to avoid the waves and stay dry!

Authentic food very much appreciated at the Flintstone Beach, seemed more "authentic" than anywhere else we ate at.

INNTRAVEL NOTE: These customers enjoyed our Along the Catalan Coast self-guided walking holiday followed by our Contrasts of Catalonia discovery walking holiday.

Another wonderful holiday! However, we thought the walk to Aiguablava had some very tricky ascents and descents at the end, which possibly should be grade 2 and described as such, to warn walkers expecting grade 1 throughout.

The fantastic food at the hotel Llevant, the beautiful scenery, the chance to swim in the sea en route and the beautiful view from our balcony at the hotel Aigua Blava

This was an excellent holiday, well organised, along a beautiful coast.

The Aiguablava Hotel was a personal highlight and we were pleased to have 2 nights there. A 3rd/4th night would have been good but the flights did not work out unfortunately.

We were pleased that we made the decision to fly to Girona as it was an effortless transfer from the airport to Hotel S’Agaro by taxi. Charming taxi driver who selected some wonderful guitar music on the radio on our journey to the hotel. He also told us a few useful words in Catalan! 

This was our first Inntravel holiday - indeed the first for many years that we have not organised for ourselves.  We were very impressed by all the arrangements, the travel, the hotels and the quality of the walking notes and information.  I fully expect that we shall use Inntravel for future walking holidays.

The freedom of having our luggage seamlessly conveyed from hotel to hotel, while we walked at our own pace, stopping when we wanted for refreshment or a swim, was ideal.  We enjoyed all the hotels which were well chosen: they all had individual characteristics but all made us very welcome, were comfortable and had excellent food.

We enjoyed fine sunny weather which helped us to really enjoy the beauty and variety of this coast.  While one of the walks is very short, overall it is clearly well-designed to take advantage of what another traveller (not with Inntravel) described as “the pretty bit of the Costa Brava”.

The walking notes are outstanding in terms of detail and ease of use - quite the best walking notes that I have ever used.

Lovely walks with a stunning little cove around each corner. Beautiful scenery each day. Hotels Sant Roc and Aigua Blava continued the theme with rooms and restaurants giving perfect outlooks.

We found the choice of hotels for the walk to be excellent, providing outstanding settings, comfortable accommodation and good food and good service, which complimented the walking perfectly.

The coastline is stunning and views are spectacular along the way. The trip to the lighthouse is worth doing on your arrival at Llafranc but then take a taxi to it on the following day if you want to avoid a steep walk in the heat and to ease the walking over the day. Hotel Llafranc is an extremely well run hotel and has an ideal position to relax on the beach at the end of the day. It also has amazing food in an excellent place to watch the promenade at night!

This was an excellent holiday! Many thanks to the Inntravel team.

We were pleasantly surprised at the variation of the walking, and also the beauty of the rugged coastline.  We particularly enjoyed the climb up from Cala Pedrosa!

A fabulous walk along a beautiful section of coastline. Hotels very good. Ignore previous review downgrading the Ancora - it is a very friendly family-run hotel with good food, nice pool and very helpful staff. We found this preferable to the "corporate-style" approach of Sant Roc which was much less personal and rather rules-based regarding half-board guests for example. It's still a very nice hotel but comparing it and the Ancora isn't appropriate - both have their good points and different styles of operation! We found a lovely restaurant (El Raco) for lunch on Day 1 right at the start of the long promenade of Palamos Bay - very untouristy & great food. We were so glad we stopped there & hadn't walked on to see if there was anything better further on! Also Day 6 the Headland Walk (worth doing but be careful not to get lost) the Sa Racassa restaurant in Aiguafreda was very good. Begur is well worth a visit if you decide not to stay by the hotel pool all day (tempting though it was).

All in all, a very enjoyable holiday and we would do it again.

We thought the standard of accommodation in all of our tours was outstanding. One personal highlight was walking along the Costa Brava Coast with its beautiful little bays and rugged headlands. Another was the slow train through Asturias and the chance to see small towns set in beautiful mountainous regions. In fact, we enjoyed all of our train travel, including the journey up the Douro River to Chanceleiros, which in itself was a highlight.

We all enjoyed our stays in the larger towns and cities, made even better because the accommodation was so close to the centres.

INNTRAVEL NOTE: Mrs Baker did a combination of our Along the Catalan Coast walking holiday, and two Slow Motion journeys - Cities, Palaces and Wine in Portugal and A Slow Train through Asturias.

Beautiful part of coastline----shame we had to walk past 2 long built-up areas on the 1st day but can see this was unavoidable.

The aquamarine colours of the sea near the rocky inlets was stunning. 

Along The Catalon Coast was one of the best walking holidays I've had. The beautiful coast path; cosmopolitan feel; good hotels, food & wine; all created a memorable holiday.  

Beautiful walks along stunning coastline. When we dropped our walking notes on the second day, we phoned Inntravel and minutes later a PDF file with information came through on our phone. All from a beach bar in an idyllic sandy bay. Excellent service

Recommendations - would be nice to have the background info that appears amongst the walk notes in a different colour so that they are easy to pick out from the walk notes. Or in italics if not in colour,

Highlights - Calella was definitely the best place on the route as it was a proper little town. Fornells was lovely too, but it was just a resort.

This is an incredibly beautiful area - walking the coast was a great way to discover quieter coves and deserted paths. The weather in early May was a bit mixed. Sea was freezing but swimming (as instructed) had to be done. I guess it’s a mixture of balancing the crowds with the warmer weather. Wonderful flowers and fabulous homes to peer at. Maybe steps would have warranted a level 2 at times. Food generally very good but exceptional at San Roc and the tasting menu at Levantine was fantastic. We would like to continue up the coast please for next year!

We could have done without the rain on the first day, but we survived :-) You have certainly chosen the best sections of the coast path. I wonder if you might say more about the seasonality of the area; doing the walk in April, which was great for relative peace and quiet, also meant that many cafes and restaurants weren't open, and there is no public transport to speak of at this time of year – just two buses a day from Begur to Girona for example. All in all though, a very good experience, with all the InnTravel arrangements working smoothly. Thank you!

Been walking with Inntravel for years - all successful - and this holiday didn't disappoint. As we are older we found grade 1 walking suited us, especially the numerous opportunities for swimming in the sea on the way and the number of cafes to stop at.  Some more grade 1 walks please!

This is our 8th walk with Inntravel & we were absolutely delighted with the stunning scenery & wonderful hotels & food provided. It just got better, the further we walked. A lovely time of the year for our visit.

The arrangements for the holiday were excellent throughout - attention to necessary detail was reassuring. The staff of Inntravel have a great combination of professional ability together with personal communication skills - you always feel you are dealing with a good humoured informed 'person'. All of this means your holiday happens without having to think about it - or indeed worry about anything. 

You will not be disappointed with the Costa Brava on this holiday. We have simply fallen in love with the area. All the hotels, bar the Ancora, which was something of a disappointment, were absolutely fantastic. The food was quite excellent, again bar the Ancora but as you're only there one might please don't let this put you off and the others more than make up for it. The paths are generally very good but beware the last leg from Hotel Levant is particularly uneven and rocky with a steep climb out of one bay up what looks like a vertical cliff but a path of sorts is there and the view at the top is well worth it. Sturdy footwear is a must for this section. There are many, many steps on this holiday! We found the dress code in the evening quite posh and gents are required to wear long trousers in a couple of the hotels, but this was so nice to dress up a bit in the evening after arriving dusty and sweaty! I can't recommend this holiday enough!! 

Our favourite walk was the one from Llafranc to Fornells which was very varied and wonderful views and even made the steps at the end worth while. Maybe mention the number of steps encountered on the walks overall. Beautiful scenery and clear blue or torquise seas were a delight. We heartily recommend this walk.  

My husband and I had an absolutely marvellous time seeing beaches, coves and other parts of the landscape we would never have seen if we had gone on a traditional driving holiday. Stunning scenery, beautiful beaches and great quality food. We were able to go at our own pace, stop for refreshments or lunches along the route. We have already been recommending this holiday to many friends and family members. It was brilliant.

This has been our third holiday with Inntravel, booking from Australia. As with our previous trips the whole process has been faultless from the beginning. I can thoroughly recommend using Inntravel if booking from overseas. Both holidays were different in their own way. The Alsace is a beautiful part of France... each town seemed to be prettier than the last, with great local cuisine and wines. The Catalan coast has amazing coastal scenery which is surprisingly unspoilt on the whole. The grading of walking/cycling was about right for us for both trips. I would advise, however, that the set dinners in the hotels can be a bit hit and miss. I would recommend choosing from the a la carte or eating out at the many local options available.

INNTRAVEL NOTE: These customers combined Alsace Discovery with Along the Catalan Coast

We had a wonderful holiday. It was the first time we had done a walking holiday like this and we loved everything about it! The sense of excitement setting off each day and the achievement at the end of the holiday was great. The coastline is beautiful and so varied and we were blessed with good weather all the time. The route directions were very dependable and accurate and it was interesting to read about the local area information too. We appreciated the re-routing directions for one of the days. All the hotels were different in character and made it interesting. We loved the Sant Roc and its location in Calella and also loved our room which was an upgrade at the AiguaBlava hotel. It was so friendly and in a perfect location. It was also really good to finish off with 2 days in Girona. Inntravel you have delivered another lovely holiday. Thank you.

INNTRAVEL NOTE: These customers enjoyed our Girona 2-night city add on after Along the Catalan Coast.

The quality of the hotels was far higher than we'd expected with lovely rooms throughout our tour, The staff were, without exception, friendly and very helpful. The final hotel in particular was outstanding and really rather luxurious. We fell in love with the area and will look to visit again.

We have completed lots of Inntravel self-guided walks over the years and this one has been one of our most enjoyable. The ease of walking, the lovely views along the coastal paths and the highlight being a visit to the Botanical Garden, a must visit option for anyone who likes gardening, you have to see it to believe it. We have visited many Botanical Gardens on our travels and this one is probably better than the one we visited in Madeira. We decided to take the taxi to Begur and walk back. On the way up to Begur, close to our destination, our taxi driver pointed out the start of the path we needed to take to return to our hotel. (this was very useful as we noted certain shops, petrol stations that we could identifiy for the return walk back to our hotel), we also used the return walking notes in the itinerary book which were also useful.