Figueres, Empordà, Girona & Montseny, 8 Days

It opens in Figueres: you arrive individually on your own machine or by trailer, with parking spaces ready. In the evening you meet the group over a welcome dinner and get to know your guide, who runs through the stages of the coming week.

The first riding day brings around 150 kilometres through the medieval villages of the Empordà, past fragrant pine forests and small places right on the water of the Costa Brava. Quiet country roads and wide views over the bay define the stage.

Today the way passes the lake of Banyoles on its route to the medieval town of Besalú, around 290 kilometres on winding, well-surfaced roads through dense forest landscapes. It is the longest stage of the week and the first into the pre-Pyrenees.

The stage links Figueres and Cadaqués, both closely bound up with the painter Salvador Dalí, on roads that drop down toward the Mediterranean. It continues to the former monastery of Sant Pere de Rodes with its wide outlook over the rocky coast.

A day at your own disposal interrupts the guided stages. The time can go into an optional excursion to Barcelona or simply into resting at the hotel, before the last two riding days come round the next morning.

Around 250 kilometres lead through the Montseny nature reserve with its dense forests and tight hairpins. The section runs entirely on tarmac and alternates shaded woodland passages with long sweeping bends, with the return following the coast.

The famous road of the 365 bends leads into the provincial capital Girona, where the Jewish quarter, the Arab baths and the cathedral are explored on foot. The way back passes the Els Àngels viewpoint, the last great panorama of the week.

The week ends in Figueres, from where everyone heads home under their own steam, riding out or loading the bike onto the trailer. What stays are the impressions of an intense week between the Mediterranean and the mountains of Catalonia.