Camins de ronda. A walk along the coast

You can stroll close to the Mediterranean sea, feeling immersed in a wooded landscape, along a large part of the Catalan coast thanks to the caminos de ronda paths. Girona is the province that contains the most rural kilometres of these trails, which ease out towards the Barcelona and Tarragona coastline.

Further north, the GR 92 camí de ronda begins in the municipality of Portbou, on the Costa Brava, and goes to El Port de la Selva, in a walk where you can admire cliffs and rocky coves of great beauty as you walk close by the pine forests of the Parc Natural del Cap de Creus. Following this route to the south, which owes its name to its former use as a lookout point to spot pirates, you will reach the Bahía de Cadaqués and the gulf of Roses, where you can catch the first glimpses of the Illes Medes, located opposite the l'Estartit, as well as views of the Montgrí massif. Before reaching L'Escala, you can turn off inland and visit the ruins of the Greek colony of Empúries. Back along the coast, in Tamariu, begins a section of the path which, passing through Llafranc, leads to Calella de Palafrugell. Leaving this last village is another path that offers spectacular landscapes while you descend through Palamós, Sant Antoni de Calonge and Platja d'Aro, before reaching S'Agaró. From Sant Feliu de Guíxols, you can access another stretch which leads to the more southern towns of the Costa Brava, first to Tossa de Mar and, later, to Lloret de Mar and Blanes.

Now in territory belonging to Costa Barcelona, there are several kilometres in the Maresme district, such as those that separate the towns of Calella and Sant Pol de Mar. Further south, in the Garraf region, there are more sections. The one that takes you to Sitges and Vilanova i la Geltrú is also a rocky terrain but with different vegetation to that on the Costa Brava. Continuing south, you will reach the province of Tarragona, which has beautiful sections of the camino de ronda on the Costa Daurada, such as the one that goes from the city of Tarragona to Altafulla, or those that run through the Terres de l'Ebre, the area closest to the province of Castellón. Following the coast you can go from L'Ametlla de Mar to Les Cases d'Alcanar, passing through the Parc Natural del Delta de l'Ebre, the largest water habitat in Catalonia with a rich diversity of enviroments which alternates between rice fields, salt marshes and dune beaches.

A diverse landscape

Exploring the camí de ronda is an excellent opportunity to admire the diverse landscapes of the Catalan coast. Whilst the Costa Brava is characterised by its spectacular cliffs and vegetation, which alternates between bushes and trees, the south has stunning plains with a basically bush flora.