Walking in the Costa Brava

Costa Brava and Barcelona, 4th edition (2017), updated 29/3/2020

Updates for walks and car tours (drives) in the Costa Blanca region given below supplement those provided in the guidebook. It is vital that this Update is read in conjunction with the text of the book, but note that the Update applies only to the edition stated and not to any earlier editions. (If you have an older edition of this book you can “upgrade” to the latest edition at half price.)

Information has been forwarded to us by users of the book, and Sunflower Books offers the data in good faith but cannot be held responsible for any misleading or inaccurate content in the Update. Unless indicated otherwise, what appears here has not been verified by the author or publisher, so please allow due caution when new or amended routes are suggested. Each piece of information is dated; bear in mind that some of the older observations may have since been overtaken by events or further changes. If, during your holiday, you are using the current edition of the guide and are able to provide any additional updating to add to this page, we will be pleased to hear from you. Please send information, preferably by e-mail, to info@sunflowerbooks.co.uk.

Users returned from the Costa Brava area just before Spain went into lockdown. They stayed in Girona and used public transport to access all the walks. The following are all updates from 29/3/20:

Walk 6: Access: the bus is now operating again but is operated by Sagales www.sagales.com  There is now an improved service running Sundays and holidays as well as Saturdays from the stop outside Sant Celoni station. You usually have to take bus 571 to Fogars de Montclus information centre car park where it connects with bus 573 to Santa Fe. It terminates at Santa Fe outside Can Casades information centre. You should ask for a return ticket to Santa Fe even if you have to change buses en route. The information centre at Santa Fe has no café but it does have toilets and is next to a restaurant. If coming from Barcelona you may be able to get a through ticket at the station called a Bitllet Combinat Tren + Bus Parc which is cheaper.

Walk 11
Distance: allow more time if you wish to visit the museum etc.
Grade:there are some steep descents towards the end. Use yellow waymarks whenever possible as most other waymarks have gone.
Access:The bus stop shown on the map by Parc Nou is just a local bus stop. Most buses from Girona etc. terminate at the bus station which is off the map in the town centre. The bus station has a café and loos. You don’t have to walk along the N260 main road from the town centre to the Parc Nou gardens. You can use Google maps to take a quieter parallel route through the geometric estates shown on the map.
1h. The Fageda d’en Jorda is a confusing area. Not all the turnings are obvious. Use gut instinct and yellow waymarks whenever possible. Eventually you will come out of the woods and pass below some buildings (not mentioned) to enter the head of a big valley. When you reach a road, turn right to reach the Can Jorda junction. If you go wrong, following the valley would eventually take you back to Olot.
1h15m. You re-enter the woods briefly before you reach the open section with the concrete track. Can Planissas house is obvious but La Portuguesa is not. Can Roure is obvious but Can Vidal is not. Have confidence and keep going.
1h40min. Els Camps is now ruined.
2h05min. The electrified fences have gone.
2h15min. The track goes up alongside the Sant Miquel del Corb chapel. The small saddle is not obvious neither is the fork a few minutes later. However keep going and you should reach the Font del Raco which has a sign.
When you reach the Mas El Raco, turn left along a track just after it.
After the Volca del Raco, the blue diamonds have gone. The 2 large barriers have also gone.
2h55min. When you reach the crossroads continue straight ahead along a road. The track signposted to Bosc de Tosca is now a road initially.

Walk 12
Distance: the distance and time in the book are understated compared to those on signs and in reality. Also the stretch in the book between 30min and 35min adds up to 20 minutes not 5 minutes.
Grade:more like easy to moderate; it is not as easy as it sounds as there are plenty of ups and downs. It is very well-signposted. If in doubt, use gut instinct and follow any waymarks rather than instructions as some things have changed.
Access: Most buses from Girona etc. terminate at the bus station which is off the map in the town centre. The bus station has a café and loos. There is a minibus from Olot bus station to Can Serra. It is probably best to ask for La Fageda as it seems to be known as this rather than Can Serra. You can’t buy a ticket on the bus; you need to buy it in the bus station ticket office. The minibus takes a detour on the way to La Fageda by going round the housing estate of St Cristofol de les Fonts then past the housing at Can Blanc. Get off before the point shown on the map at the little roundabout just after the purple short walk 11 crosses the road. The bus stop is actually on the roundabout. Cross to the information centre in La Fageda car park.
The loos and drink machine are open when the information centre is closed.
The blue diamonds on wooden stakes have gone but there are excellent fingerposts.
30min. The stretch to 35min takes 20 mins not 5 mins. The Cooperative La Fageda factory seems to be a dairy processing plant. They do guided tours but it may be rather smelly! The settling pools seem to have gone.
35min. When the track turns right, steeply uphill into the forest, make sure you follow it uphill. When you come to the area of bare rock, you are now discouraged from walking over it. The path has been improved and you can easily go round it.
Shortly after 55min, there is mention of volcanic lapilli. To be honest, there’s not much to see here and you will see better further on. There doesn’t appear to be a track heading down to the right but you can’t go wrong if you follow the track you are on. It follows the edge of a wood alongside a field till it comes to the junction.
When you reach the lip of the crater of Santa Margarida, go left then right past Can Santa then right again down into the depths of the crater.
After Can Caselles there is a T-junction not a crossroads.
1h40min. The Area de Santa Margarida car park has loos.
2h. The Can Passavent interpretation centre has a drinks machine. The detour from the asphalt road at Restaurant Masnou past the Can Passavent interpretation centre to the Grederes and then all the way back again to the asphalt road is well worthwhile. However you do have to retrace your steps all the way to the asphalt road despite the apparent short cut path to the asphalt road from the Can Passavent interpretation centre; this is a private track and otherwise the sides of Croscat volcano are sheer as well as being firmly fenced off. So allow plenty of time and follow the instructions; they do make more sense!
2h30min. There only seem to be gates to one house, not two. The path heading into the woods is a good 5 minutes later (a bit after passing a hot air balloon place on the left) so don’t turn right as soon as you reach the woods.

Walk 14
Distance: You can shorten the long walk by returning from Llafranc which has occasional buses.
Grade:the trickiest bit is picking your way across the rocky beach at Cala d’en Roig as the descent to Cala Pedrosa has a rail to reassure you. Otherwise it is fairly easy but it is not a walk in the park!
Access:there are occasional buses all year between Llafranc and Palafrugell. There are also occasional summer buses between Tamariu and Palafrugell. These local buses can be found if y[ou dig deep enough on the Moventis SARFA website. Try: www.moventis.esand look for Route 6. To find the Mossos d’Equadra (police station) from the bus station, use Google maps and put in Carrer de Ramir Deulofeu.
Start by following the green and white waymarks. The cork oaks, farms and turn-offs are not obvious. However there is an obvious track as far as the Tennis Courts.
After the opulent second homes, the left turn between a row of cypress trees is not obvious but the way is clear. Where the track veers right, bear left on a narrow, overgrown path. This path has become more obvious than the chained-off track veering right.
1h15min. There are several tracks to the right with chains. It’s not the first one on the right (which goes uphill) but the one just before the house.
At the Pins Mar block of flats, the railing has gone but the steps are obvious.
2h30min. When you reach the pine woodland, the fallen pine mentioned where you veer up to the right has gone. There are quite a few other fallen pines in other places to confuse you. Best to follow gut instinct and any waymarks.
When you detour to Sant Sebastia, there’s quite a bit to see apart from the view. There’s an archaeological site of an ancient Iberian settlement which is free to wander round and takes about 5 mins. The chapel and watchtower may be open. Even if they’re not, they are next to a big hotel with a bar, loos and a car park.
From Sant Sebastia, you can shorten the walk by following the GR-92 which just follows the road down from the lighthouse to Llafranc. It’s an easy, pleasant walk and Llafranc has bars and an occasional bus service back to Palafrugell.

Walk 16: On leaving Cala Pedrosa, the waymarks are very indistinct but worth hunting out to make sure you go the right way. They are mostly green & white rather than blue arrows… After retracing your steps from Cala Ferriol to the 1h50min junction you can no longer see the next signpost on the horizon as it has become obscured by scrub. The path is clear however.

Walk 17
Distance: We found 13 miles in just over 4 hours to be over-ambitious and would recommend allowing a lot more time as there is much to see along the way.
Access: If taking the bus from Figueres, get off in Castello d’Empuries opposite the Hotel Emporium (bar open to anyone) as that is where the directions start. However on the way back the bus doesn’t stop anywhere near here. To find the return bus stop, with your back to the hotel, turn left and walk along the main road till the pavement ends. Turn left here down a side street (signposted Biblioteca). The bus stop is outside the secondary school (opposite the primary school and the old wash house).
To start the walk, with your back to the hotel, turn right and walk along the main road to a new roundabout (not shown on the map). Cross an access road and continue straight ahead to reach a second roundabout (shown on the map) where the old main road meets the bypass. The river is just before this roundabout.
On the 20-min stretch along the river, look out for terrapins on logs in the river.
40min. When you bear left after the Water Treatment Plant, the first hide on the left is actually an observation platform on the right. When we were there we saw a family of muskrats but no flamingos.
As you go round the Estany Europa lagoon, there’s quite a long gap between each hide so keep going.
1h20min. The crossroads of tracks is actually a T-junction. Turn left for the 10-min detour (each way) to the Estany d’en Turies. This is best seen at low tide so might be better on your way back depending on tides.
1h35min. We saw our first flamingos at the Aguait Quim Franch. The El Cortalet information centre has loos behind it. The shop has snack and drink machines. In the car park is a bar which is probably only open high summer weekends. From here on you should see or hear plenty of storks.
2h. There are actually 4 silos but well-worth the detour for the view. If you don’t want to retrace your steps there’s now a new path that continues to the left round the other side of the rice paddies and rejoins the main route nearer to the beach so you can have a different route on the way back.
Between the signs to the Aguait del Bruel and the beach, the bridge is now parallel to the sluice gate.
2h30min. The beach itself is usually walkable outside the breeding season. However it could be slow-going on the sand and it is the connecting path from the other end of the beach back inland which is often flooded. When we were there it was flooded to knee height. So it’s definitely worth checking en route at El Cortalet Information Centre shop if thinking of doing that.
3h15min. Another option for walking back from El Cortalet is to retrace steps to Can Comes then follow the white track (shown on the map) straight up to the road over the ford which is easy to cross.

Walk 20
Grade: despite the warnings we under-estimated how windswept this peninsular is so it took a long time. Many of the yellow waymarks are now red & white or red & green. If you follow these you can’t go far wrong.
Access: if using public transport you can do it as a linear walk by taking the bus from Figueres to Port de la Selva and then another bus back from Cadaques to Figueres. Figueres bus station (across the square from the train station) is old-fashioned but centrally-located and welcoming with a café and loos. However there’s a bleak new bus station in Cadaques which has no facilities and is very pedestrian-unfriendly. It is on the edge of town near the stop shown on the map but walk up the main road in Cadaques to reach it, not the dry river bed as that becomes fenced off.
Zona Portuaria is actually down to the left of the road (which follows the directions). If you do turn left to the Zone Portuaria you can follow a path above the beach to rejoin the road just beyond the crossroads.
The Carrer Emporda has no sign but this turn-off is obvious on the map.
The sign to Puignau has gone but the ruined farm is obvious.
The cage-like structure has gone but the small building is still there.
After Sant Baldiri de Tavallera, the electric fence has gone.
The signpost at Mas Vell has fallen over.
The gully had no snakes, terrapins or frogs when we went past.
After Prat  de Romagos, the metal gate has gone.
The Cap de Creus sign is actually a noticeboard rather than a signpost.
We took the short cut along the road at 2h55min. This actually rejoins the main route at the 4h45min point not the 5h point. It was a bit of a shame to miss the lighthouse but still a fantastic walk even with the short cut and it did mean we made it to Cadaques with time for a drink before the last bus. There’s still quite a way to go from here so make your choice carefully!
After the 5h point there’s a bit where it says the path crosses more or less straight over the road. In fact it turns right along it for some distance past a house before turning left to continue downhill along the gully to the beach.
Between Port Lligat and Cadaques you will pass a church. Turn left down a path immediately after the campsite (following waymarks and the map) to drop down an interesting way into Cadaques. We saw a family of semi-wild boar at this point.