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Sant Feliu-Girona-Olot bike path Part 1

The Sant Feliu to Girona and on to Olot bike path or "carril bici" or just "carrilet" is an old railway line which has been converted into a great bike path. More suitable for mountain bikes or hybrids than road bikes because it is made mostly of compacted gravel and sand.

From Girona it is 58km but starting in Sant Feliu on the Costa Brava adds another 36kms to the trip. One crucial point to remember is that going from the coast to Girona only involves climbing about 50m from sea level but from Amer for the next 20kms it is a solid climb to nearly 700m before the descent to the valley of Olot.

So it is recommended to actually start from Olot as this way there is only some 5-7 kms of hard climbing before enjoying a long, steady downhill. The best way to get to Olot from Girona is by bus from the bus station (in front of the train station) and they take up to 5 bikes in the hold for a cost of 7.25€ per person one way. Just as easy is to get a bus from Girona to Sant Feliu de Guixols or to catch one from there if you want to cycle to the coast and end up with a cool swim which is highly recommended in the hot summer months.

Bikes can be rented in Girona, ask at the tourist information offices or send me an email to arrange it: discovergirona@gmail.com

This guide will give you the main sights and places to visit along the way.

See Part 2 for path details.

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Click here to download:

Girona_to_Olot_via_bike_path_P.zip (174 KB)

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Filed under // bike path BTT carril bici carrilet cycling disused railway Girona MTB old railway line Olot railway Sant Feliu vias verdes

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Bescano-Industrial History walk

Bescano lies along the River Ter 7kms from Girona and the nicest way to get there is via the bike track or "carrilet" which is an easy and scenic ride or walk. If you keep on the bike path you will come to a large factory called the Grober and if you take the next turn to the right you see a beautiful ruin of what was once an impressive house complete with a chapel and gazebo. Passing through an arch on the other side of the house you come to a canal with a restored flour mill next to it, behind which starts a track along the side of the canal.
The point of this trip is not only the beauty and tranquility of the surroundings but to point out how one small village was transformed by the Industrial Revolution which arrived here in the late 19th and early 20th Century. The canal was built to take water from the Ter to a hydroelectric station where the twin turbines produced electricity for the textile mill (now the Grober factory) as well as the village. This was the modern day equivalent of building an industrial park with high speed internet connection and good links to major roads and markets.
Water was needed for all types of mills with electricity as well to power the machinery so this model was repeated along many of the rivers which flow from the Pyrenees. The ruins of big and once grand houses are also proof that a great deal of wealth was created during this period with some businesses surviving to the present day and the buildings preserved as architectural and industrial models.