Day 8 took me from Roses to Cadaqués, a 22-km hike with 750 m of ascents. A tough day of stony paths through the Cap de Creus Natural Park, but with the magnificent reward of Cadaqués at the end of it. Breakfast at the hotel was excellent again. There were quite a few French guests… Continue reading Costa Brava – Day 8

Day 7 would be the big one, distance-wise. It was indicated as a 31-km hike in the guidebook (with just 150 m of ascents), but I ended up walking 35 at least and, by the time I’d gone to dinner in the evening and returned to the hotel, I was probably up to 40 for… Continue reading Costa Brava – Day 7

Today’s hike took me from L’Estartit to another small coastal town, L’Escala. Around 20 km with 650 m of ascents, it looked fairly straightforward on the map but turned out to be quite tough because of the terrain, adding a new word to my Spanish hiking vocabulary. But more of that later. I got to… Continue reading Costa Brava – Day 6

For the fifth day, I had the choice of either following the coast or taking an inland trail through a number of rice-growing villages, either 18 km via the coast or 32 km via the interior. I opted for the coast, especially as the wind in the night had cleared the clouds away and there… Continue reading Costa Brava – Day 5

After yesterday’s fairly easy hike, the fourth day was tougher with 23 km to cover and 850 m in ascents. It took me from Palamos to the inland hill town of Begur.  Once again, the day was a little overcast, but at least there was no rain after a few drops on leaving Palamos and… Continue reading Costa Brava – Day 4

The third day on the trail took me from San Feliu de Guixols to Palamos, mostly along the coast on easy paths – 18 km, with just 350 m in uphill climbs – which was not a bad thing after the first two intense days. There were some horrifically ugly resort towns today but, at… Continue reading Costa Brava – Day 3

Another day of perfect weather for the second stage in the trail, from Tossa de Mar to Sant Feliu de Guixols – 21 km with a total of about 800 metres uphill (because I took the wrong turn at one point). After a terrific breakfast at the hotel (breakfasts in general would be excellent until… Continue reading Costa Brava – Day 2

And so, on May 21st, 2019, I arrived in Blanes by train from Paris, via Barcelona Sants. A very easy journey with the 10 am TGV from the Gare de Lyon after the short trip from home into the city (to the same station). The change in Barcelona was pretty easy – up an escalator,… Continue reading La traversía de la Costa Brava – Day 1

May 21st, 2019 As my train from Paris speeds south to Barcelona, carrying me away from the last few months of endless hassle and stress, I’m looking forward to discovering a new corner of Spain. The idea of walking the long-distance path from Blanes, 90 minutes north of Barcelona by train, to Collioure in France… Continue reading La Travesia de la Costa Brava