The coastline of La Costa Brava is truly stunning, and probably the best way to appreciate it is by walking the Camino de Ronda trail. But the coast isn’t the only place where one can find beautiful scenery around here. There are also lots of Vies Verdes, or cycle greenways, many of which have been adapted from former railway lines.
Pirinexus
The greenways are, in fact, part of a larger designated cycling route called the Pirinexus that runs from Sant Feliu de Guíxols north through the Baix and Alt Empordà comarcas and continues across the border into France before “hanging a left” into some gorgeous Pyrenean countryside and crossing back into Spain. It then goes through the towns of Ripoll, Olot and Girona and eventually finishes back in Sant Feliu again to close the circuit.
The total length of the Pirinexus route is 353km, but only certain sections are actually designated “greenways”, although new greenway segments are being added all the time. You can check out all the routes, including the newest ones, on the Vies Verdes website. For the purposes of this blog, though, we’ll just focus on those closest to us here on the Costa Brava as far as Girona City.
El Tren Petit – Palafrugell to Sant Antoni de Calonge
Palafrugell sits at 42m above sea level, and the seaside town of Sant Antoni de Calonge is, well, at sea level, so this is a very easy route with almost no hills and suitable for people of all levels of fitness. The first part of this greenway from Palafrugell to a petrol station on the edge of Sant Joan de Palamós follows part of what used to be the old train track that ran between Palamós and Girona and is known as the Ruta del Tren Petit or “Route of the Little Train”. It’s only about 7km in length.
Starting at the edge of Palafrugell town, a few metres from the Estadi Municipal and heading south, you immediately get off the main road and start cycling through the countryside following the River Aubí without being bothered by any traffic. Before long, you’ll come to a sign for the Hotel Malcontenta and the Benelux Camping, where you can either continue on the main Via Verde route to the right or take one of the branches that bring you down to the beaches of Platja de Castell or La Fosca – also a beautiful cycle!
There are also a number of offshoots to Calella de Palafrugell – all well signposted. These are not strictly part of the greenway, but you shouldn’t encounter much in the way of traffic.
If you don’t take any detours, you’ll come to the gas station at Sant Joan de Palamós at the end of the first part of the Via Verde. You can go around the roundabout and pick up a cycle track, which will eventually bring you to Sant Antoni de Calonge, at which point you’ll have covered a “whopping” 10km since Palafrugell (unless you took the detour to the beach). Honestly, though, this short stretch after the gas station isn’t the most interesting, and you’ll also have to join the main road towards the end for a bit.
We reckon a better option at the gas station is to take the road towards La Fosca and Palamós and then on to Sant Antoni de Calonge. This is a much nicer ride, although it is a little longer, and there are a few hills, but nothing too heavy! The next section that takes you further south from Sant Antoni is along a new cycle track almost into the town of Platja d’Aro, and then it’s just a case of following the road, so we’ll skip ahead to Sant Feliu de Guíxols. It’s all part of the Pirinexus route, as mentioned above.
Sant Feliu de Guíxols to Girona
This next greenway section of the Pirinexus is an almost 40km stretch that has a few ups and downs, but with the “highest” point being Cassà de la Selva at 136m, its difficulty is also rated as “minimum”. This route follows the old narrow-gauge railway line that used to run along here, thus giving it its very creative and imaginative name: “Narrow-Gauge Railway Route II”! (“Route I” runs from Girona to the town of Olot).
Following, as it does, an old railway line, this section of greenway is characterized by gentle curves and slopes. The route is mostly paved with grainy granite sand, but you will have to pass through a few towns on the main road on your way. Starting from Sant Feliu de Guíxols, you cycle through the Baix Empordà region, more or less following the Rio Ridaura, whose valley runs between the Gavarres to the north and the Massif de les Cadiretes to the south until you arrive at the town of Llagostera.
Leaving the river here and continuing along the greenway, you next come to Cassà de la Selva, and you are now in the Gironés region. Here, you will find a 15km offshoot called the Thermal Greenway that will take you to the historic railway and spa town of Caldes de Malavella, taking in more lovely farmland and forest scenery en route. It’s well worth breaking the journey there if you have the time and energy.
Back at Cassà de la Selva, we continue through more lovely countryside, and if the day is clear enough, you can also enjoy some lovely views of the mountains in the distance. This section of the Via Verde finishes when you arrive into the beautiful and very historic city of Girona.
Other routes
There’s plenty more Via Verde after Girona, with another 54km section between the and Olot, but we have to confess that we haven’t done that part just yet. We will, though, one of these days! There are plenty of other designated cycling routes in the region worth considering too. Just head to the local tourist office of whatever area you’re interested in and pick up a cycling map with its colour-coded network showing you which parts are rural paths and which parts are roads.
You may have to share the road with cars in some parts, but most of these routes typically see very little traffic, and the designated cycling route is well-signposted. You can read up on each of the routes in a bit more detail on this website.
But we recommend getting the map as well!
