DAY 1 – BETWEEN HISTORY, FLAVORS AND THERMAL WATERS

08:00 • Breakfast and check-out

09:00 • Visit to the Medieval Seu

• Explore the most important Romanesque cathedral of the Catalan Pyrenees, its cloister and the old town.

10:30 • Optional activity: Rafting on the Olympic canal

RAFTING PARC (1 km / 5 min)

• Guided white-water descent through La Seu d’Urgell’s Olympic channel.

12:00 • The Cheese Route at Espai Ermengol

• City Museum (1 km / 5 min)
• Tasting and tour of Alt Urgell’s cheese-making tradition.

13:30 • Lunch at Cal Serni – Traditional farmhouse

Calbinyà (8 km / 15 min)

Specialties:

• Escudella i carn d’olla
• “Masqueraded” potatoes
• Honey with mató
• Pairing: Costers del Segre D.O. red wine

15:15 • Thermal circuit – 7 stages of thermal water

• Els Banys de Sant Vicenç (35 km / 40 min)
• Relax in a course of natural thermal springs surrounded by mountains.

20:00 • Dinner at the Sant Vicenç spa – Pyrenean cuisine

• Specialties:
• River trout with Cadí herbs
• Potato cake with caramelized onion
• Sheep’s-milk cream with red berries
• Pairing: Cava Brut Nature D.O. Catalunya

21:30 • Accommodation at Els Banys de Sant Vicenç

09:00 • Breakfast and check-out

10:00 • Trementinaires Museum

Tuixent (30 km / 40 min)

• Discover the history of the women who traveled the Pyrenees selling medicinal herbs.

11:00 • OPTIONAL

Tot Nòrdic (7 km / 10 min)

• Cross-country skiing or snowshoeing in Tuixent–La Vansa
• A gentle activity through forests with views of the Cadí

Tot Nòrdic (22 km / 25 min)

• Skiing or snowshoeing in Aransa
• Another charming Nordic resort in Cerdanya.

13:00 • Lunch in Gósol – Berguedà cuisine

Gósol (30 km / 40 min)

Specialty:

• Veal fricandó with mushrooms
• Country-style bread
• Catalan cream
• Pairing: Red wine D.O. Pla de Bages

14:30 • Picasso Centre in Gósol

• Cultural visit about Picasso’s stay in the Pyrenees.

Optional activities:

• Scenic route to Pedraforca: Interpretive hike with views of the iconic mountain.
• Forat Negre gorge: Guided canyon descent.

Additional optional activity:

• Via Ferrata Roques d’Empalomar: Secured climbing with views over Berguedà.

Bellver (30 km / 35 min)

• Escape the Town – Bellver de Cerdanya: Outdoor escape-room game guiding you through Bellver’s historical curiosities.

Dinner in Bagà – Medieval gastronomy

Bagà (15 km / 20 min)

Specialty:

• Marinated wild-boar stew
• Sweet potato and chestnut purée
• Almond cake with ratafía
• Pairing: Wine D.O. Montsant or rosé cava

Overnight in Bagà

08:30 – Breakfast and check-out

09:15 – Departure for the Cerdanya (via Martinet and Montellà, 40 km / approx. 50 min)

10:15 – Guided visit to the Cabiscol bunkers

• A tour of the network of trenches, shelters and bunkers in the Pyrenees, built as a defensive line after the Civil War.
• Includes historical and landscape interpretation from the area’s natural viewpoints.

12:00 – “The Keys of the Cerdanya Churches”

• An intimate, personalized route through the small Romanesque gems scattered across the region.
• Includes exclusive entry to two distinctive rural chapels and a tasting of blessed bread and local honey.

14:00 – Lunch in a rustic dining room with permaculture cuisine

Restaurant type: Dining space set within an organic garden using permaculture methods, with views of the Cadí.

Why we chose it: For its total sustainability approach, zero-waste cooking, and 100 % local ingredients.

• Main course: Seasonal vegetable stew with textured soy and fermented root broth
• Dessert: Carrot-almond cake with fresh rosemary glaze
• Pairing: Cold-pressed apple, beet and garden-herb juice

16:00 – Check-in at an eco-mountain lodging (ecoresort)

• Optional afternoon activities:

Nature above and below

• Hot-air balloon flight over the valley: 360° panorama of the Cerdanya, the Cadí peaks and Puigcerdà lake
• Spelunking in volcanic caves and limestone formations of deep Cerdanya

Winter hiking and active

• Snowshoeing or cross-country skiing at Guils Fontanera station: among pine forests and animal tracks
• Self-guided visit to Puigcerdà and its cultural heritage: mountain architecture, alpine commerce, Jewish legacy and art

Unique routes

• Ride on the Cement Train: scenic journey through tunnels and mountains on the old mining railway
• Excursion to Vall de Núria by rack railway: the only access to the sacred valley of the Eastern Pyrenees, with waterfalls, snow and spirituality

20:00 – Dinner at the eco-lodge

Cuisine style: Plant-based integrative mountain recipes, served in a glass-walled dining room by candlelight.

• Signature dish: Pumpkin-garden cream soup with kale chips and toasted sesame
• Dessert: Quark mousse with wild-berry compote
• Pairing: Hot herbal infusion of sunset-picked melissa, mint and lemon thyme

22:00 – Stargazing or illuminated garden walk

• Observe the night sky from the garden with no light pollution, or stroll among scented terraces under soft lights accompanied by natural ambient music.

08:30 – Breakfast and check-out

09:00 – Departure to Ripoll (45 min)

10:00 – Monumental visit in Ripoll

• Entrance to one of Catalonia’s most emblematic complexes:
• Romanesque portal, declared World Heritage
• Monastery cloister, with sculpted columns
• Ethnographic museum, showcasing rural life and blacksmith crafts
• Includes a specialist guide who links the art to Catalan identity.

11:30 – Iron and Coal Route

• Cultural trail along an old “greenway,” telling the story of coal, iron and human endeavour in the Pyrenean industry.
• Ideal for enjoying nature and living history on foot.

13:30 – Lunch in a farmhouse with pastoral cuisine

Restaurant type: Farmstead with integrated dining room, surrounded by pastureland and its own livestock.

Why we chose it: They cook what they rear, plant and harvest—flavour, traceability and true hospitality.

• Main course: Brown veal stew with wild mushrooms and rustic smashed potato
• Dessert: Homemade mató with mountain honey and toasted hazelnuts
• Pairing: Naturally-aged red wine from small Pre-Pyrenean vineyards

Includes a short guided stroll through the pastures and a chat with the producer on organic livestock farming.

Afternoon of cultural discoveries and adventure (visits included and optional)

15:30 – Visit to the Monastery of Sant Joan de les Abadesses and the Vila Vella

• Sacred site where Catalonia’s first abbesses lived, amid Gothic art, Black Madonna legends and enchanting cobbled squares.

17:00 – Guided visit to Camprodon

• Old town centre brimming with modernist architecture, medieval bridges and century-old shops.
• Includes optional tasting of local charcuterie and pastries.
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Optional activities by traveller profile

• Extreme high-mountain adventure
• Climb Gran de Fajol via the northeast ridge: an alpine experience with guide
• Canyoning in a Pyrenean gorge: jumps, rappels and natural slides in a spectacular setting
• Snow and altitude (winter)
• Discover Vallter 2000: skiing, snowshoeing or simply taking in the view from 2,500 m
• Self-guided hike along Setcases’s white paths with poles and photo stops
• Rural gems and hidden art
• Guided tour of Beget: one of Catalonia’s most beautiful villages, with a Romanesque church, stone alleyways and frontier legends

20:00 – Dinner and overnight in a rural lodging with character (Camprodon – Setcases area)

Accommodation type: Restored manor house with wooden interiors, in-house kitchen and mountain garden.

Why we chose it: It blends contemporary living with the ancient rhythm of the Pyrenees.

• Signature dish: Celery-turnip cream with black truffle and walnut oil
• Dessert: Almond cake with wild blueberry coulis
• Pairing: Red wine from Empordà, aged in chestnut barrels with a backdrop of damp forest aromas

22:00 – Free time: walk among holm oaks or chat by the fire

• Choose to stargaze from the garden without light pollution, or enjoy an indoor gathering with herbal infusion and local tales.

08:30 – Breakfast and check-out

09:15 – Departure for Olot (approx. 1 h)

• Route through beech woods and volcanic plains, descending the slopes of the Garrotxa Volcanic Zone Natural Park.

10:30 – “Walking on Lava” Route

• Interpreted trail across ancient petrified lava flows, with views of the Croscat crater and the Jordà beech forest.
• Includes a local guide narrating the natural and human history of this fire-born territory.

12:00 – Visit to the Olot Crater Space

• Immersive interpretation centre to explore the volcanic origins of the comarca.
• With interactive exhibits and sensory models linking science, culture and landscape.

13:30 – Volcanic cooking workshop at the county market

Experience type: Participatory workshop followed by tasting dishes made with products born of volcanic soils: chickpeas, truffle, Vall d’en Bas potatoes and smoked sausages.

• Tasting dish: Buckwheat trinxat with black sausage and charcoal oil
• Dessert: Almond cream with edible beet ash
• Pairing: Mineral white wine aged on volcanic-slate lees
• The workshop takes place inside the market and ends with informal dining at a gastro counter.

16:00 – Visit to the Carles Fontserè studio-workshop (Porqueres)

• An art-and-resistance space where the legacy of poster art, visual poetry and graphic struggle for freedom dialogues with the lakeside landscape.
• Includes a tour of his library, work tools and original sketches.

Optional afternoon add-ons:

Nature and volcanoes

• Free walk through the Jordà beech forest
• Easy ascent of the Santa Margarida volcano and visit to the hermitage within its crater

Art and memory

• Visit Olot’s contemporary art museums
• Outdoor sculpture trail in Pedra Tosca park

20:00 – Dinner at a rural lodging or traditional volcanic house (Santa Pau area or nearby natural setting)

Accommodation type: Restored volcanic house with rock garden, baked-clay rooms and in-house restaurant.

Why we chose it: For its full integration with the landscape, peaceful atmosphere and commitment to slow-food cuisine.

• Signature dish: Lamb cannelloni with onion-ash cream and confit leek
• Dessert: Sheep’s-milk ice cream with buckwheat-cookie crumbs
• Pairing: Red wine from lava-grown vines – medium body, spicy notes, aged in clay amphora

22:00 – Nocturnal walk among rocks and silence

• Short rural stroll between cooled-lava walls, with stops to listen to the night sounds and stargaze from an ancient circular threshing floor.

08:30 – Breakfast and check-out

09:00 – Departure for Banyoles (15 km / 20 min)

09:30 – Circular walk or bike ride around the Banyoles Lake

• Trail skirting Catalonia’s largest natural lake, through clear waters, aquatic vegetation, migratory birds and floating fisherman’s huts.
• Includes explanation of the lake’s karst formation and ecological curiosities of this unique ecosystem.

11:30 – Visit to Banyoles museums

• Combined entrance to spaces dedicated to nature, archaeology and local history.
• Tour of fossils, millennia-old boats, Neolithic human remains and the evolution of the landscape.

13:00 – Artisan paper-making workshop in a traditional mill

• Sensory experience in a restored old factory where the art of making paper from rags and pure water is revived.
• Each traveller takes home their own handmade sheet as a souvenir.

14:00 – Lunch by the lake with Pla de l’Estany cuisine

Restaurant type: Dining room in a natural setting, seasonal menu of reclaimed recipes and local produce.

Why we chose it: They work with comarca producers and offer views over the lake that has shaped life here for centuries.

• Main course: “Arròs caldós” (soupy rice) with lake carp, confit artichokes and rosemary
• Dessert: Warm “melindros” sponge fingers with mató cheese cream and acacia honey
• Pairing: Regenerative-farming white wine from Pla de l’Estany, with fennel and white-flower notes

16:00 – Visit to the prehistoric caves of Serinyà

• Archaeological tour of one of Europe’s most important sites, once home to Neanderthals and Homo sapiens.
• Includes park entry, introductory film and guided walk through the rocky surroundings.

17:30 – Guided visit to the medieval complex of Besalú and its Jewish heritage

• Stroll across the fortified bridge, through ritual baths (mikvé), the synagogue and cobbled streets of one of Europe’s best-preserved medieval towns.
• Includes tales of Sephardic legends, defensive structures and medieval daily-life curiosities.

20:00 – Dinner and accommodation in a historic house or masia (Besalú area)

Accommodation type: Restored medieval house with stone interiors, ancient wine cellar and market-style dining room.

Why we chose it: To end the journey in an atmosphere steeped in history, serenity and rooted gastronomy.

• Signature dish: Wild-boar stew with chestnuts and fig bread
• Dessert: Cinnamon artisan ice cream with Sephardic-style biscuit crumbs
• Pairing: Barrel-aged oak red wine, D.O. Empordà, with dried-fruit notes

22:00 – Free evening stroll through Besalú

• Wander silent lanes under soft lights by the Fluvià River—a symbolic finale to a trip that began among mountains and ends among memories.