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 215 km (133 miles) 5 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 do not cross at this time into France, rather we double back through Mollo to take a succession of outstanding twisty roads and, if the riders are up for it, we turn down a steep gravel path to stop at a house that serves a great lunch.

The twisty roads continue as we contory our way through the mountains eventually crossing into France just after Puigcerda for just 1.72km because then we enter Llivia a small part of Spain encircled by France.

Llivia to Chateau de Sibra- circa 200 km (140 miles) 4.5 hours riding

Llivia is akin to an island, it is part of Spain et surrounded by France, so, it is no surprise that we cross the border today as we leave Spain to re-enter France to descend over 1000m to medieval walled city of Carcassonne where we break for lunch. We get some fun roads leading there including the D4C loop and parts of the D118. We pass the Nature Reserve at Lac de Matemale and later the ruins of Chateau d'Usson et maison du patrimoine and cross several quaint old bridges before taking a break at a roadside cafe and fishery.

Shortly after we set back on the road look to yopur right where you will see a most ornate sub station. It is stone built with a round tower that looks like a medieval fortress. Later as we ride along the side of the Aude rocks overhang the narrow road as we cut through the gorge.

When we arrive at the ancient fortified city of Carcassone we park and take a stroll before stopping for lunch. Note that although traffic is forbidden in the city small delivery vans nip around the narrow streets at certain times. After lunch turn to the south and return to the Pyrenees to visit the old market town of Mirepoix. A few miles outside the tomw we stop for the day at tghe recently refurbished Chateau de Sibra.  We should arrive early enough for you to relax and stretch your legs in the parkland settingbefore dinner.

Chateau de Sibra to Lourdes - circa 300 km (187 miles) 6 hours riding

We leave the Chateau de Sibra and head south to Lavelanet then west to join the D618 a great twisty road largely through forest and at Massat we take a brief refreshment stop. This makes a convenient stop in terms of travelling time but the village looks like it has seen better days so if this doesn’t appeal we can press on to Saint-Girons (pictured left) named after a fifth century saint but with more ancient history having considerable Roman connections or further along at Audressein where there is a nice Patisserie.

We shall continue along the lesser travelled mountain roads of the French Pyrenees as we make our way towards Lourdes passing through many charming mountain villages and breaking for lunch at the Spa town of Bagneres-de-Luchon, which is in a valley where the rivers L'One and Pique converge and under 10km from the Spanish border although there is no pass to the south. After lunch we reach Col de Tourmalet one of the highest paved mountain passes in the French Pyrenees at 2,115 m (6,939 ft). It is one of the most famous climbs on the Tour de France. You might want to venture up the mountain to the observatory Pic du Midi de Bigorre. The road is loose gravel but there is a cable car to the top.

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.