Costa Brava, A Hiking Must
If you love hiking and beautiful beaches, you’ll want to add this to your travel bucket list.
By Monxi Garza
CEO/Founder of SUAVS Shoes
La Costa Brava in Catalunya, Spain may be one of the most scenic hikes we’ve ever done. There’s a trail along the coast called Camí de Ronda. Built in the XIX century by the Civil Guard, this foot road was used to connect all towns along the coast, to help fishermen find their way back easily, and to keep smugglers at bay.
There are various sections to the trail, going from the most northern part in Cap de Creus to the beautiful town of Cadaqués, to the southernmost part of Sant Felip de Guíxols. We decided to take the route from Tamariu to the Platja d’Illa Roja beach, and our entire route was about 18 km long.
Our first hike up after leaving the town of Tamariu was probably one of the most spectacular views of the Cala Marquesa cliffs. I’m honestly not that great with heights, and had to hold on to tree trunks or rocks in order to not lose my balance from looking down.
The road took us back down to the beach of Aiguablava, where we paused to have a beer. Then, we circled around the edge and reached the tiniest pebbled beaches where we found hotels and houses with their own docks that led to the ocean.
The interesting part about this section is, you won’t see the trail leading around the houses. Instead, many of these properties have the trail built into or in between them. We continued onward through a tunnel going right underneath one of these beach houses in Cala Smiroli.
Next, the trail led us through the roughest part of this section, which was climbing up the steep mountain towards the small town of Begur. Once there, you will walk through the town to the highest hill top to reach the ruins of the Medieval castle of Begur. This was the highest point of our walk. After the castle, it’s all downhill. The trail will take you along a small creek that crosses the town and leads to the beach of Sa Riera, where we stopped to have the best ceviche and grilled Octopus we’ve had in a while.
After lunch, we headed over across the beach and took the brick road along the cliff walls towards Platja D’Illa Roja, a nudist beach with a giant red rock and amazing views.
It took us about 6 hours total, including the stops to rest, drink, eat and take photos. The great thing about this hike is you don’t need much preparation or particular equipment. All we took was our phone to take pictures, and wore a pair of sneakers with comfortable clothing. There’s so many routes to take along the coast and so many beautiful things to see, you’ll definitely want to check it out. So, whenever you’re thinking about your next trip, remember La Costa Brava!
Great read! Thanks for the post Monxi, sounds like an amazing trip!
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