Priorat, Penedés Catalonia Spain

Medieval monasteries, rough mountains, beautiful coastlines, windmills, vineyards, ... this is the real Catalonia. A region world famous for its fine wines and cavas.

Priorat

The Priorat lies in Tarragona, the southernmost province of Catalonia. It is known for its excellent wines. It has an ancient tradition of wine growing that goes back to the 12th century. The typical nature of the Priorat, with its rocky and mountainous environment provides a limited production, but an excellent quality of wines. This typical montainous environment makes it worth to explore the region by bike. Indeed, you ride through a desolate, but unique landscape with scattered villages, where local growers receive you with pleasure to taste their products

A few recommendations for a cycling trip:

Prades - Montsant

This bike trip (71 km) starts in Prades, and brings you to the edge of the natural park of Montsant. From upon km 20, the next 20 km go downhill, an you'l descend for totally 600 m. Then we start climbing again. Just before we reach km 50, it is worthwhile to take a halt at the height of La Morera de Montsant for a breathtaking view of the natural park of Montsant.

 

 

Then we start the final ascent upto the final destination of Prades.

 

 

Montserrat and Penedès

The impressive mountain of Montserrat with its famous monastery are located in the Catalonian inland at about 60 km from Barcelona. The jagged mountain ridges, with the highest peak Sant Jeroni (1236m), are unique in Europe.

 

 

 

 

The monastery of Montserrat is situated at 770m altitude at the east side of the massif. The microclimate in this hilly region is very mild: in winter the Tramuntana is partially blocked by the Montserrat mountain ridges, while during the summer period temperature is still bearable, which makes it a pleasant bike destination for cyclists. We highly recommended the trip Sitges - Monasterio de Montserrat, which is a real jewel for mountain bikers.

Sitges - Monasterio de Montserrat

This mountain bike trip (79.08 km) starts in the cosmopolitan coast resort Sitges, a 60 km south of Barcelona and takes us almost continuously north. The first 35 km are alternating climbs and descents. halfway, we start a descent for about 20 km. From km 53 to the Monastery of Montserrat you climb about 650 m. During this trip you'll drive midst of the Penedès wine region, world famous for its cava. A visit of the wine cellars of the larger (Codorniu, Freixenet) or smaller producers is highly recommended.