Mr Thorp says...
The holiday was very enjoyable. The transport arrangements worked well but were quite challenging with taxi, 2 trains and transfer, perhaps flying into ...
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Combine a stay at the beach with a choice of gentle walking and cycling routes for an active family holiday. You stay in the fishing village of Calella de Palafrugell, where the rocky coastline has a number of small coves, nearby, to explore. We provide a range of fully researched, self-guided walking and cycling routes, typically at Activity Level 1. A complimentary Headwater bike for your exclusive use throughout your stay is included to give you total flexibility.
From the nearby town of Palafrugell there is also an excellent bus service (payable locally) giving access to some of the pretty medieval villages that surround the Catalonia area as well as the cities of Girona and Figueres. A full range of water sports can be booked and paid for locally, from Calella de Palafrugell or one of the nearby resorts. The nearby Cap Roig Botanical Gardens are also worth a visit and concerts are held here annually, in July and August. Previous performers include Woody Allen and his New Orleans Jazz Band, Anastacia, and Jason Derulo.
Your base for the week is the Hotel Garbi, a family-run hotel located on the hillside overlooking Calella de Palafrugell with its own extensive gardens, shaded by pines. The freshwater pool is a great place to relax after a day exploring. There is a great selection of restaurants nearby for you to dine in.
Arrive at your hotel in Catalonia where your room has a private balcony and sea view. There is a great choice of restaurants nearby for you to dine in. Below is our suggested itinerary, however, as you're based at the same hotel for the week, you're free to pick and choose your activities for each day.
Stroll through the woods and countryside near your hotel, passing through the sleepy hamlet of Ermedas. A short walk to get started, leaving plenty of time to explore Calella de Palafrugell and its lovely sandy coves.
There are morning street food markets every day as well as a full market, on Sundays, in Palafrugell. The town made its name as a centre for cork production, which brought wealth and prosperity to the area and the Museo del Suro (cork museum) is well worth a visit. In addition, there are plenty of lively bars and restaurants to stop for refreshments. From Palafrugell you can take the bus on to regional capital Girona where you can explore the city walls and the impressive cathedral.
Walk via delightful Platja El Golfet to visit Calella's Botanical Gardens at Cap Roig (optional). Head south to unspoilt Platja Castell with superb views from Puig del Terme. Return on a lovely inland route across farmland and through forest, or on the rugged coastal trail via Cala Estreta.
This leisurely circuit takes you to the lovely medieval town of Pals - make sure you go through the arch, from the Placa Major, signed 'el Pedro', to visit the Gothic Quarter and the famous Torre de les Hores - part of the 10th century Pals Castle. There are a few shops and lots of cafes, making it the perfect stop for lunch.
There are several options for this walk - something for everyone. For an easy stroll along the Cami de Ronda, walk to Llafranc (4km return, level 1). Extend the walk up to the lighthouse and viewpoint of Sant Sebastia (level 1+). Extend it even more for a full day out with a visit to the little resort of Tamariu in a beautiful cove, returning along the coast with stunning scenery (low level 2). For lunch you're spoilt for choice, depending which walk you do. There are bars and restaurants in Calella, Llafranc and Tamariu, and two at Sant Sebastia. In Tamariu there is also a small shop. Alternatively, take a picnic to enjoy on the beach at Llafranc or Tamariu.
An enjoyable circular route that takes you on part of the former 'Tren Petit' via verde. The route continues through woods and fields to Palamos, a lively commercial harbour town, with its old quarter and many shops on one side and new marinas filled with luxury yachts and a wealth of bars and restaurants on the other. An ideal place to stop for a leisurely lunch.
This single-centre holiday is based at the following hotel. If you'd like to extend your stay here, or upgrade your room, just let us know at the time of booking.
To find out more call our sales team on 0044 1606 720199 or email sales@headwater.com
Find out more on the hotel website.
Read customer reviews on Tripadvisor.
Room upgrades: Duplex Superior Room.
Duplex Superior rooms offer the same facilities as a standard room with the addition of a mezzanine level with sofa
Extra nights: Please contact us for details.
If you'd like to extend your trip with extra nights at the start or end, or if you'd like to arrange a stop off point en-route, then we recommend the following hotels.
Find out more on the hotel website.
Read customer reviews on Tripadvisor.
Extra nights: Please contact us for details.
Find out more on the hotel website.
Read customer reviews on Tripadvisor.
NEARBY:
Call now to speak to our specialist team at 0044 1606 720199 or email us at sales@headwater.com for enquiries or to book your trip.
Everyone who goes on a Headwater holiday will be emailed a link to our post-holiday questionnaire where they can give us an honest assessment of all aspects of their holiday - everything from how quickly we answer the phone to how clean the hotels were - plus an overall rating and comments about their holiday.
Any feedback collected is posted to our website, so that people can make an informed decision based on past experiences before heading off on holiday. We don’t edit the reviews, the only thing we do is proofread them and alter any typos, where necessary, to ensure they are easy to read for everyone. All reviews will be published (except in certain extreme circumstances), and a member of the Headwater team will respond to any constructive criticisms/comments under the reviews, at their discretion. So, for the real tales, twists and turns of our holidays, look no further than the reviews from our previous travellers.
The holiday was very enjoyable. The transport arrangements worked well but were quite challenging with taxi, 2 trains and transfer, perhaps flying into Gerona would have been a better option but we would still have had to return via Barcelona. The outgoing flight from Manchester was a nightmare, having to queue for an hour to enter the check-in area at 3.00 am in the morning is totally unacceptable, but that's Manchester Airport.
The Garbi Hotel was generally very good, perhaps a little tired, but the staff were extremely helpful and friendly.
Visited in mid October resort very quiet hotel rather lacking atmosphere (it was due to close end of October) a very attractive region of Spain. Quite a steep climb up to hotel from village excellent helpful efficient local rep (Greg)
This was a one week activity holiday and it was well planned and varied. Freedom to choose when to do each activity or to vary it was ideal. The hotel would have been fine for a couple of nights, but not quite comfortable enough for longer due to quality of meals and constant background music. The actual town was lovely and we were pleased to extend our stay beyond a week. Visitors do need to be aware that the hotel has great views because it is up a hill. Lots of steps! Greg and Seonna were excellent reps with great advice and support.
Another very enjoyable Headwater holiday. Different from our previous cycling holidays in that we were based in one place and had walking as well as cycling options. We enjoyed the flexibility of choosing our daily programme. Calella de Palafrugell was an excellent base with good restaurants.
Fabulous family holiday, we were a mixed group of cycling abilities and found something for everyone combining walking, cycling and beach days. Hotel was quirky and comfortable and Saturday barbecue night is not to be missed! Headwater rep was really helpful and always available for advice.
This was a very relaxed and enjoyable holiday. The location of this simple hotel is just perfect. The setting and proximity to beaches and small interesting restaurants was wonderful. .Bike was super and well equipped. Hotel staff were kind and welcoming. I had a lovely holiday. Was on my own and felt safe and happy at all times.
Calella de Palefrugell is beautifully situated on a lovely stretch of rocky coat with small, sandy bays. The walking and cycling can be as strenuous or gentle as you wish with interesting viewpoints and places to stop. A must is the beautiful Cap Roig Botanic Gardens, which is a short walk or cycle ride from the hotel. The hotel itself is well situated in a quiet area a short walk from the busy and interesting seafront. Greg's recommendation of a visit to the local Tapas restaurant was much appreciated. Also, it was good to be able to fly to and from out local airport. Many thanks.
Lovely location and hotel. A beautiful area that I would visit again possibly with a car. Eating out is cheap and convenient. Walks and rides quite challenging due to the hills and flights of steps. The routes do overlap somewhat.
We had great service booking the holiday and that was more than matched by the service from Greg at Calella de Palafrugell. A good selection of walks and cycle routes were available and good local knowledge to tailor trips. We had a great time exploring an area we knew very little about.
The base location of the holiday in Calella de Palafrugell was excellent and the town itself had many restaurants and cafes. Hotel Garbi is a lovely hotel with very helpful staff and is located a few minutes walk from the town and beach. The walks are very straightforward with easy to follow route notes - the additional availability of GPS files compatible with a smartphone provided added reassurance to avoid taking wrong turns. None of the described walks are too strenuous, although care is required when following some of the coastal paths. From all of the walks available those along the coast were most interesting with tremendous views over the sea and rocky coastline. We found the reps very helpful during the holiday in advising us on the walks outlined in the route notes as well as suggesting additional routes that we might want to try out. Overall we were very happy with the holiday and would recommend it to other travellers.
The holiday exceeded expectations. The walking and cycle instructions were generally spot on. The GPS for the bike was wonderful and easy to use and follow. The bikes were new or nearly new and in exceptional condition. The proposed day activities which we followed were excellent. The scenery was gorgeous. Four of the six days were quite exerting so a reasonable fitness was required. It was a level one holiday but that didn’t mean flat and level! The hotel Garbí was excellent although having such great views did mean it was a very steep walk to the hotel. The rep, Greg was extremely helpful too and we felt we could rely on him should an emergency or accident arise (it didn’t!) All in all well worth the money and as a result we’re looking at booking another holiday with Headwater. Well done.
Lovely hotel in great location for cycling. Tracks were quiet and we rarely had to use roads. Hotel staff were very friendly and breakfasts were a good varied selection of stuff. Greg was very helpful, punctual and good humored. The bikes were set up well and the panniers complete with tools were brilliant. The saddles were suited to soft cyclists too rather than racing style saddles that cripple you after a few hours. We managed 2 days cycling 30km rides and were surprised to find we could still walk normally afterwards. The GPS ride app worked pretty well, but we noticed 3 or 4 directions were slightly out of date or took us down one way streets the wrong way. Overall we had a great cycling holiday and would recommend it for anyone who enjoys cycling along country lanes in the sunshine.
You can be confident that our pricing includes all the standard requirements of your holiday and many additional extras. Always ensure that you are comparing like for like when booking your holiday.
This 7 night multi activity holiday holiday includes:
Single-centre accommodation in a hotel
All breakfasts
Bike fitting and briefing at the start of your holiday
Headwater navigation app for your smartphone
Bike hire
Headwater navigation app for your smartphone
Standard transfers to/from your hotel (if booking inclusive flights)
How to book:
To book this holidays speak to our sales team on 0044 1606 720199 or click on the appropriate 'book now' or 'check availability' button below.
To book this holiday call our sales team on 0044 1606 720199 or click on the appropriate 'Book now' or 'check availability' button below.
Departing | Tour only | Prices ![]() |
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25th May 2024 | US$1910 | US$260 | Tour only: US$1910 Single supp: US$260 |
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1st Jun 2024 | US$2315 | US$260 | Tour only: US$2315 Single supp: US$260 |
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8th Jun 2024 | US$2315 | US$260 | Tour only: US$2315 Single supp: US$260 |
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15th Jun 2024 | US$2315 | US$260 | Tour only: US$2315 Single supp: US$260 |
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22nd Jun 2024 | US$2315 | US$260 | Tour only: US$2315 Single supp: US$260 |
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29th Jun 2024 | US$2315 | US$260 | Tour only: US$2315 Single supp: US$260 |
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6th Jul 2024 | US$2315 | US$260 | Tour only: US$2315 Single supp: US$260 |
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13th Jul 2024 | US$2315 | US$260 | Tour only: US$2315 Single supp: US$260 |
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20th Jul 2024 | US$2315 | US$260 | Tour only: US$2315 Single supp: US$260 |
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27th Jul 2024 | US$2315 | US$260 | Tour only: US$2315 Single supp: US$260 |
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3rd Aug 2024 | US$2315 | US$260 | Tour only: US$2315 Single supp: US$260 |
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10th Aug 2024 | US$2315 | US$260 | Tour only: US$2315 Single supp: US$260 |
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17th Aug 2024 | US$2315 | US$260 | Tour only: US$2315 Single supp: US$260 |
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24th Aug 2024 | US$2315 | US$260 | Tour only: US$2315 Single supp: US$260 |
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31st Aug 2024 | US$2315 | US$260 | Tour only: US$2315 Single supp: US$260 |
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Departing | Tour only | Prices ![]() |
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7th Sep 2024 | US$2315 | US$260 | Tour only: US$2315 Single supp: US$260 |
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14th Sep 2024 | US$2315 | US$260 | Tour only: US$2315 Single supp: US$260 |
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21st Sep 2024 | US$2315 | US$260 | Tour only: US$2315 Single supp: US$260 |
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28th Sep 2024 | US$1910 | US$260 | Tour only: US$1910 Single supp: US$260 |
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Departing | Tour only | Prices ![]() |
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5th Oct 2024 | US$1910 | US$260 | Tour only: US$1910 Single supp: US$260 |
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12th Oct 2024 | US$1910 | US$260 | Tour only: US$1910 Single supp: US$260 |
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19th Oct 2024 | US$1910 | US$260 | Tour only: US$1910 Single supp: US$260 |
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The prices quoted for each individual departure supercede those published in our current brochures. Air prices are subject to change and we advise early booking to obtain the best prices. Please see our Planning your holiday and What's included in the price? pages for additional information.
Solo travellers
Please call for details and prices
Children
Please contact us for child prices.
Holiday type
Independent multi-activity holiday Managed by Headwater rep.
Departures
Every Saturday from 25th May 2024 to 19th Oct 2024, for 7 nights. All dates are subject to availability, please contact us to check.
Meals
All breakfasts
Electric bikes
It is possible to hire electric bikes for this holiday at a supplement of £140 per person. As these are available on a first come first served basis, we recommend early booking to avoid disappointment.
Tour only
Transfers can be arranged at a supplement from Flaca train station at 17:10 and back to Flaca train station at 11:15.
To book this holidays speak to our sales team on 0044 1606 720199 or click on the appropriate 'book now' button above.
If you need further information before you book simply complete our Holiday Enquiry Form and a member of our sales team will get back to you.
To book this holiday call our sales team on 0044 1606 720199 or click on the appropriate 'Book now' or 'Check availability' button below.