Cadaqués and Cap de Creus from Vilajuïga
The ride
This one does not start in Girona. It starts at Vilajuïga, out on the plain behind the Cap de Creus, and that is worth the drive: the roads over the headland are the best on this list and nothing like the rest of them.
The hard part comes early, with the climb over Mas Fumats and the road across to Cadaqués, and from there it runs north to Port de la Selva and Llançà before turning inland for the run home. Seventy-five kilometres, but look at the profile: there is almost no flat ground in the middle of it.
Take the train. Routes 17 and 18 both start at Vilajuïga station, on the Barcelona to Portbou line: bikes travel free on Rodalies regional trains and it is a little over an hour from Girona. They are two separate days, not two halves of one: this is the Cadaqués and Cap de Creus side, and route 18 goes north over the border to Banyuls. Ride the loop, finish back at the platform, take the train home.
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Layer 3Coffee stop
These are on the route. Check the opening days before you set off, because several of them close one or two days a week.
Featured segments
Port del Mas Fumats, the climb that lifts you out of Roses and onto the headland, and the ramp out of Cadaqués on the way north. The two climbs that frame the hard half of the ride.
