Barcelona sightseeing

We shall stay in one of the top hotels in Barcelona, such as the Sheraton, Hilton, Grand Central, Princess, Majestic, W (at the waterfront), etc. Usually the Hotel will be on or close to Avinguda Diagonal and ideally placed for those wishing to sightsee the city. There is a lot to see and do in Barcelona and so there will be something to interest everyone.

Selective Barcelona's highlights are shown on the map linkincluding Casa Batllo, La Sagrada Familia, Park Guell, Mercado de La Boqueria and Montjuïc Castle but there are many more places of interest and far too many to list.

You might wish to wander the streets admiring the architecture by Guidi (such as Casa Batllo pictured left) and others of the Catalan Modernism or you might like to do some shopping or visit the market.

Then again you may prefer to relax at the water be that the hotel pool or on the beach (Barcelona has several beaches), or visit the Port Vell or Port Olympic to admire the yachts.

We shall regroup for dinner at our hotel for formal introductions and to discuss the plan for the week ahead.

Barcelona to Besalu - circa 230 km (142 miles) 4.5 hours riding

Those hiring bikes shall collect them the night before or first thing in the morning. One of the dealers is only a five minute walk from the hotel. 

We will depart soon after breakfast heading north on some highways at first before joining some great twisty mountain roads. This first day of riding is a relatively light journey heading north from Barcelona to Besalu. The route we shall take is indirect and traverses varied road types but all in all expect to spend about 4.5 hours in the saddle.

We break for morning coffee at a café close to Massís del Montseny which towers to just over 1700 meters and the route continues twist through the mountains to Les Guilleries park where we stop for lunch.

The final stretch takes us to the outskirts of Olot then east to Banyoles before turning north to Besalu. We rest for the night at a 3-star hotel in Besalu. It is a quaint old building with many of the bedrooms having mountain views or overlooking the old town bridge.

The name Besalu is derived from the Latin Bisuldunum, meaning a fort on a mountain between two rivers. The medieval walls and Romanesque bridge over the Fluvià river help emphasise the fortification that this ancient town commanded.

Besalu to Llivia - circa 240 km (150 miles) 6 hours riding

As we head north towards the Spanish/French border you will be on steep mountain roads. These roads can be twisty and narrow and so progress is never hasty.

Depending upon the progress made we might take a refreshment break at the hamlet of Rocibruna shortly before reaching the border. Otherwise we break at the border (if the café there has re-opened).

Regardless of the refreshment break, we shall stop momentarily to admire the panoramic views at the border crossing into France before beginning our descent.

We pass through the village of Arles, not to be confused with the town near Parc Camargue, this Arles is a town of about 2,500 population and situated in the southernmost valley of France on the banks of the Tech river.

We stop for lunch a little further down river at Amelie-les-Bains-Palalda where there are several nice café's. As we continue our descent from the Pyrenees we take a single track road across country to visit Ille-sur-Tet where the rock formation 'Le Orgues', organ pipe shaped rocks that are quite dramatic.

We end the day heading back towards the Spanish border crossing into the Spanish department of Llivia where our hotel for the night was converted from an old farm building.

Llivia to Mirepoix - circa 200 km (140 miles) 4 hours riding

As Llivia is a part of Spain within France it is no surprise that we cross the border today as we leave Spain to re-enter France to descend to medieval walled city of Carcassonne where we break for lunch. The ancient fortified city is an interesting place to visit but be prepared to walk because traffic if forbidden in the city and we need to park outside the city walls.
Next we head back south to the Pyrenees and end the day in a in the interesting market town of Mirepoix. We should arrive early enough for you to relax by the pool or stretch your legs in strolling through the town; the choice is yours.

Monday is the main market day in Mirepoix and so before we depart in the morning you might catch the open air town market.

Mirepoix to Lourdes - circa 255 km (160 miles) 5 hours riding

We start the morning at the market in Mirepoix before continuing our motorbike tour in France by sticking to the lesser travelled mountain roads on the French Pyrenees making our route to Lourdes passing through many charming mountain villages making stops in Saint-Girons (pictured left) named after a fith centuary saint but with more ancient history having considerable Roman connections.

Our next stop is the French Spa town of Bagnères-de-Luchon where the rivers L'One and Pique converge.

We end the day in Lourdes one of the world's most famous pilgrimage sites in 4 spa star hotel created from a classical old river fronted town house. Riders might want to try the wellness centre, spa, sauna or get a massage. The hotel is also close to the Sanctuary of Notre Dame de Lourdes where Bernadette Soubirous saw the Virgin Marys apparition. The sanctuary counts more than 60 miraculous cures registered by Lords. A nice spot to end this days motorcycle tour in France.

Lourdes to Boltana - circa 250 km (156 miles) 5 hours riding

We take some great twisty roads and we make our way towards the border with Spain to continue our motorcycle route in the southern side of the mountains.

The protograph to the right gives an insight to the fantastic scenery you see along this route near the top on the north side close to the France Spain border.

Picking our way through more pretty mountain villages before stopping at Broto for lunch.

Later we shall spend time exploring Ainsa which was once the capital of the Kingdom of Sobrarbe and the birthplace of the Kingdom of Aragon. The Plaza Mayor which is surrounded by medieval arcaded buildings and Palace of the former kings of Aragon is also on the main square.

From Ainsa we double back slightly to our 5 star spa hotel resort located within a converted former monastery. I'm sure you will agree that this is a superb Pyrenean motorbike route.

Boltana to Castell de Ciutat - Circa 225km (140 miles) 4 hours riding

We begin our return journey to the east along high mountain roads. The surface can be a little broken from the harsh winter weather so progress is never quick in these parts.

We take a break in Tremp which is a town of about 6000 population but most of the villages we shall pass are small and the area is mainly hill farms.

There are so many mountain passes we can take in this region but one of our favourites is the L511, Coll de Boixols to Coll de Nargo, which has good surface and superb views, so, you will want to stop and take pictures.

We end the day in a former castle just south of the border with Andorra. Some might want to cross the border to Andorra which is favoured by many for tax free purchases but note that it is not uncommon to be stopped at the border where a tax might be levied others will prefer to stop and enjoy the excellent hotel facilities.

Castell de Ciutat to Barcelona - circa 225 km (135 miles) 5 hours riding

We end the journey heading to Solsona where much of the old town fortifications remain. The town is about 10k population and makes a pleasant stop.

As we continue south we take our next stop at Montserrat, not to be confused by the Caribbean Island the Christopher Columbus named after this location, this Montserrat is where you will find a Benedictine abbey (pictured right) and the backdrop is a multi-peaked range of mountains.

Our final section of the journey returns us to the Hilton hotel in Barcelona. You stay for dinner bed and breakfast and depart the following day.