Walking & Hiking Catalunya Montsant (4d) - Spain

Montsant, the Sacred Mountain, forms part of an intriguing limestone massif in southern Catalonia (Catalunya). This is a lovely area of quiet villages surrounded by vineyards, where you will travel on foot from village to village.
Along the way: fascinating historical sites, such as the Monastery at Poblet, and peaceful woodlands with an amazing diversity of Mediterranean vegetation. The delicious regional cuisine of Catalonia and the fine wines and cava produced in the regions of Montsant and El Priorat provide your sustenance for a week, while you relax at two carefully-selected accommodations in beautiful rural settings.
This short self-guided hiking trip will show you all the rural beauty Spain has to offer. 

Trip Highlights:

• Friendly villages situated in impressive natural settings
• Excellent walking routes through varied landscapes
• Vineyards of renowned wine- and cava-making regions, such as Priorat or Conca de Barbera
• Option of visiting the Cistercian Monastery of Poblet, an architectural gem
• Accommodation in welcoming hotels

Day 1  Arrival in Prades
Arrival by train in Montblanc and taxi transfer to the lively village of Prades. This evening, dinner at your welcoming 'casa rural'. 

Day 2  Walking trip from Ulldemolins
Walking time: 5 hrs, ↑430 m, ↓430 m. Transfer this morning to Ulldemolins, where you begin your first walking route, one of the most beautiful walks in Mediterranean Europe. Following an impressive gorge, you then descend into a side ravine. Along the way you pass a small church and monastery. At the end of the day, you return to the pleasant town of Prades.

Day 3  Walking trip: Prades - Montblanc
Walking time: 7.5 hrs, ↑460 m, ↓970 m. An excellent walking route, through beautiful natural surroundings: woodlands of evergreen oaks and a wide variety of Mediterranean flora, from strawberry trees to heathers and snowball trees (Viburnum opulus). If you find 7.5 hrs too long for today, you can ride with the luggage transport to Montblanc and do a shorter circular walk from there, which goes by way of Poblet Monastery.

Day 4  End of program
Your short walking tour comes to an end today after breakfast. Travel back to the airport by train (Barcelona or Reus).

Included:

• 3 nights in comfortable hotels on a half-board basis (breakfast and dinner included) (for an image selection, please see Flickr)
  
• One transfer according to program
• Luggage transport 
• Telephone assistance, just a phone call away
• Maps and detailed route descriptions in English

Not included: 

• Flight and public transportation
• Travel insurance
• Lunches (provisions can be bought in many of the villages, pack lunches may be ordered at some of the accommodations)
• Extra transfers (except on day 4) and transport to first and from last accommodation
• Personal expenses such as drinks, phone calls, extra transfers, tips, visits to monuments or wineries, etc.
• Any items not mentioned in the program

Optional services (to be booked in advance):

• Additional night(s) at any of the accommodations (please use booking remarks field)
• Airport or station arrival and/or departure transfers
• Single supplement

How to get there:
 Best arrival and/or departure airports are Barcelona, Girona or Reus. 

 From Barcelona airport you should first go by train to Barcelona Sants Central Station, and from there take a train to Reus. Once in Reus, you should take a taxi to La Morera de Montsant. From the Reus airport there is a good bus connection to the town centre bus station, where you can continue your trip by taxi. On your return you can take a train from Girona to Barcelona (about 80 minutes).

Tip: For online rail connections and reservations visit Rail Europe.