Along the Catalan Coast

I had a fantastic walk through beautiful countryside, stayed at first-rate hotels with friendly staff, and excellent food.  This is my second trip with Inn Travel and I could not be more pleased.  I'm already looking forward to a third!

We had the most wonderful holiday, got loads of exercise, stayed at great hand-picked hotels, ate really delicious food and drank good and very reasonably priced wines. We were surprised just how unspoilt and beautiful the coast is.  Navigation was easy and although we are not walking fit at the moment, we coped with all of the days fine, despite the heat and humidity. Can't wait to do another Inntravel holiday. The Girona add on was fabulous, beautiful medieval streets and a gastronomic delight, and just the right size for a couple of nights.

This was our first walking holiday andwe were hugely impressed with the quality of accommodation and food and the accuracy of the instructions

As usual a great holiday, all arrangements went smoothly. We had some cloud and thunder but didn't really interfere with the lovely coastal walks. Botanical Gardens near Calell were definitely worth a visit (perhaps take a picnic) and on the short walk day to Hotel Levant, definitely worth going up to lighthouse.

Visiting the Botanic Gardens at Cap Roig is a must. Refreshments there, however, are via vending machine only.

Thanks for a great trip. See blog post:

https://www.lovetowander.co.uk/blog/walk-the-catalan-coast

Amazing! Such A lovely trip, great walks, great down time on the beaches. The hotels were all superb with friendly and helpful staff. The walk has stunning views and a great mix of terrain. We had some amazing food, would highly recommend 

We really enjoyed this holiday, for which we had waited for 2 years, and we appreciate your bonus for leaving the deposit with you. The quality of the hotels was consistently excellent, as was the food and the lovely, friendly service throughout the walk. Overall, we were again delighted with Inntravel's service. We have been customers of yours for many years now, and keep coming back because we know we will enjoy ourselves. We hope to be able to enjoy a few more!

The coastal scenery is gorgeous: we were constantly delayed by the need to take photos. All the hotels have great locations and are super comfortable. The L'Ancora, less glamorous perhaps than others, has great charm because of friendliness and very generous set menu very well cooked.

We especially enjoyed Calella de Parafrugell and Llafranc. Beautiiful accommodations, excellent food, and magnificent views. 

It was a wonderful holiday. There were a few tricky bits of climbing over rocks but the walks were breathtaking. Wonderful time of year the flowers were spectacular. We just loved it all. We booked a meal at the expensive restaurant in S’Agora, good but very expensive not sure we would recommend.

We can wholly recommend this tour 'Along the Catalan Coast'. It was very well organised, with all the logistics of getting us and our bags to the right places at the right time handled without any problems. The hotels were excellent and had obviously been well briefed by Inntravel. The walks were really scenic. 

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.

This was a great holiday. The scenery was beautiful and the hotels were special, particulary the location of Hotel San Roc and Hotel Aigua Blava. The walking was very manageable allowing plenty of time for relaxation and time on the beach. The seafood was delicious.

Highlights: Hikes were varied and sights were wonderful. All of the hotels were excellent! Weather in late April/early May was perfect for walking and there were not too many people. Highlights were walk through woods and cultivated fields on second day, botanical gardens, Hotel Llevant delightful, Aigua Blava elegant and what a setting. Begur an interesting city.

We loved this part of the Catalan coast - it was a real treat to see the Costa Brava as it would have been once upon a time.  We loved the little coves and the colourful boat houses - in our mind's eye we could imagine several generations of Spanish families having days out on the beach.  Friendly people and hotels.  We had breakfast outside almost every day and even a swim in the sea - not bad for late October!  Don't expect good vegetarian food in this region, but you won't starve if you manage your expectations! Our Barcelona add on was a real treat too.   Another great Inntravel holiday.  Thank you Inntravel!

This is a charming and delightful walk along a pretty coast. We thoroughly enjoyed strolling along, stopping for a lovely swim and delighting in a light lunch and a glass of Rosé or an ice cold beer at a beach cafe en route to our next destination or at our next destination. There were a couple of steep climbs which I would definitely class as Grade 2, and we were underwhelmed by Begur and the peninsular walk. All the hotels were great - we had a few interesting meals - our best one being the one we went out for on night one!! I am a huge fan of Inntravel who do a marvellous job of finding these lovely private holidays. Thank you.

This was such a wonderful holiday, thank you so much. Gorgeous hotels, stunningly beautiful scenery,  lovely walking that seemed mainly just about within the grade, but surely grade 2 at times. We loved Catalonia and hope to return.

Please could you do more grade 1 holidays, we have had many walking and cycling holidays with you and others over the years, but now long for the same sort of holiday but easier. I suspect there are many like us, a potential big market. Ramblers do Adagio which is meeting the same need, but unfortunately for groups only. Also please more holidays in the winter months. 

The walks are spectacular and not difficult especially in early autumn sun. All the hotels were comfortable with good views and swimming facilities. The food exceeded expectations especially at the Llevant hotel. All staff at both Inntravel and their chosen destinations were delightful.

What a beautiful part of Spain! We loved discovering the quieter part of the Catalan coast. The walk was along the coastal path for most of the time with a couple of breaks to cool off in the shady woods and experience a change of scenery. The views along the coast were stunning with picture postcard views at every twist and turn of the path. Every hotel provided a warm welcome and the standard of food was excellent. The Hotel S'Agaro offers a great setting with their gardens and pool as well as a beautiful patio for their outstanding breakfast. Hotel Ancora in La Fosca gave us a super-warm and friendly welcome and their paella had a big thumbs up from us. Hotel Sant Roc has the absolute best view of beautiful Calella de Palafrugell - our room felt like a perch over the Mediterranean. The hospitality and cuisine of the Hotel Llevant were second to none and it was very much worth upgrading to a room with sea view. Our last two nights at the Hotel Aigua Blava were bliss. We appreciated having a terrace to sit out on and enjoy the view and a lovely spacious room, and their breakfast won first prize on this trip. Stopping for lazy lunches at beachside restaurants every day is definitely something we could get used to! It's difficult to pick out highlights, but we'll go with walks and lunches in Calella de Palafrugell, exploring Begur and an amazing seafood lunch in Sa Tuna.

Walking along the Catalan coast was a revelation, with stunningly beautiful bays and hidden coves, pine clad hillsides and the bluest of sparkling seas. The path winds up over rocky headlands, through tunnels built into the cliff, and down to often very secluded beaches. We would do it all over again - though might be tempted to extend the holiday a little and spend a few nights longer in some of the resorts!

Highlights of the Catalan Coast were swimming in beautiful bays every day, great walks with stunning views alone rugged coast line.  Walks were not as long as many of the other Inn Travel walks we have done so we had more time to enjoy the accommodation and time swimming each day. Would love to walk Along the Catalan Coast again.
Positano and Path of the Gods simply stunning views. Loved Marina Del Cantone feel very lucky to have been there.

INNTRAVEL NOTE: These customers combined two Inntravel walking holidays - Along the Catalan Coast in Spain and Positano and Path of the Gods in Italy.

The Levant Hotel in Llafranc is family run, and service is particularly high.

Enjoyed the experience. The hard work was worth it.

We first did this holiday 5 years ago, our first walking holiday ever! We have holidayed with Inntravel every year since because we have found them very efficient and we have always been pleased with the accommodation. We decided to do this one again because we thought it was the best we've done so far. It's an interesting coastline, lovely views and the walks are challenging (for us anyway) in places, especially to the last hotel. We always add an extra night in each hotel so we can explore the local area and relax a while, rather than ploughing on the next day. Recommended restaurants - S'Agaro: Arnall Degustacio - deli/bar/cafe/restaurant - very nice simple menu of local cuisine - atmosphere changes up in the evening; Calella: Calau - fantastic tapas bar for lunch. When we were there 5 years ago this was very small, with just the two owners serving. Now it has moved a couple a metres up the hill into bigger premises and there are always queues, but they took our number and texted us when the table was ready. Girona: Brots de Vi - Small, looks like a cafe but again comes to life in the evening - we went there both nights - small simple local menu - booking essential as people were being turned away. I would avoid Independence Square for food based on our experience 5 years ago and comments from a couple who were at our hotel this time.

INNTRAVEL NOTE: These customers enjoyed our Girona City add-on following our Along the Catalan Coast self-guided walking holiday.

The whole experience was first class, the scenery and variety of walking was wonderful and the Aigua Blava Hotel at the end was a much appreciated luxury.

One tip is insulated water bottles and fill them up every morning.

An easy walk with the most beautiful scenery! Unspoilt by tourism, excellent coastal path with the most wonderful swimming opportunities in delightful coves and great food on the beach or in little cafes along the way. A most relaxing holiday!