The region of Catalunya
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Catalonia is the main area of operation of our company. Bike Catalonia wants to show you the greatest from our little country, and for this we have create all of our cycling packages. The best of Catalonia is that everything is close, you only have to spend only 3 hours with the car to cross the country and we are just in the center. Only one and a half hour to most of the best places to visit. We like to learn you more what’s catalonia for us!
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Active and nature tourism
Catalonia offers numerous natural areas that are ideal for leisure, adventure and nature watching activities, all while enjoying its varied landscape.
From the highest peaks of the Pyrenees to the most well-hidden coves of the Mediterranean, through the valleys of inland Catalonia and the natural sites of the Ebro delta and the Lands of Lleida, active & nature tourism offers a variety of options within everyone’s reach.
The mild climate allows to take part in various activities throughout the year, such as hiking on an extensive network of long and short routes, cycling through the Greenways and mountain biking in one of Catalonia’s 18 MTB centres. We can also interpret nature, observing flora and fauna, exploring the seabed or walking in one of Catalonia’s nature spaces.
The biodiversity of Catalonia’s landscape also allows you to take part in adventure activities like rafting and hydrospeeding on several rivers, sea kayaking, canyoning, hang gliding, paragliding, ballooning, skydiving, horseback riding and climbing.
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Roural tourism
Catalonia has countless rural tourism options, with something for everyone. You will find Catalonia’s most rural spots in a careful selection of very special rural accommodation, where authenticity and friendliness are among the most outstanding features.
These rural tourism establishments are classified by ears of wheat, a new category comparable to the stars used for hotels. This system makes it easier to find the accommodation most suited and tailored to your needs.
Each ears-of-wheat category establishes a set of features taking account of the specific characteristics of the building, its rooms, furniture and outdoor spaces, not forgetting the services offered to guests and the activities available in the area.
Country homes, farmhouses and agro-tourism establishments in isolated rural areas or small villages. Individual accommodation or accommodation shared with the owners and other guests, allowing us to enjoy a wide range of options in our free time and to discover other ways of life connected with nature and the countryside.
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Gastronomy
The secret of Catalan cuisine is in the quality and uniqueness of the products used, plus the combination of what is offered by the land and the sea.
Prades potatoes, wines from the Penedès, the ganxet bean, Siurana olive oil, calçots (a type of tender onion) from Valls, rice from the Ebro Delta, sausage from Vic and the cheeses of Alt Urgell, to name but a few of the Catalan products with certification of origin and agri-food quality. Catalan cuisine is internationally renowned for achieving a difficult balance between innovation and tradition, through the work of chefs like Joan Roca, Carme Ruscalleda, Santi Santamaria and, above all, Ferran Adrià, who from the kitchens of El Bulli restaurant revolutionised the world gastronomy scene.
Behind the cuisine of Catalonia today lies the story of a country, a land, a way of being and of doing things. That is why it has been nominated for recognition by UNESCO as part of the Intangible Heritage of Humanity.
In addition to its many restaurants of all kinds, Catalonia has a network of public markets where product quality is paramount, and a number of groups of restauranteurs dedicated to promoting the cuisine typical of each area, working with the two terms of territory and product.
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Wine tourism
The Catalan Mediterranean climate is especially favourable to growing vines. Catalonia has many hours of sun, even in winter, and enjoys summers with moderate temperatures. Rainfall is concentrated mainly in spring and autumn. Its great geographical diversity has led Catalonia to have 11 designations of origin (DO) for wine.
In addition there is a Cava Designation of Origin, located mainly in the Penedès region. Thus, Catalonia has many attractions for tourism in its wine regions, such as visits to wineries, walks through vineyards, festivals, wine tasting, and food and wine matching classes. Meanwhile, there are increasing numbers of wellness centres focusing on wine therapy treatments, which apply the properties of grapes and wine to health and well-being.
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Cultural tourism
Artists who have earned a place among the list of universal creators, such as Miró, Dalí, Tàpies, Pablo Casals and Gaudí, found inspiration in Catalonia for their artistic creation. Catalonia’s cultural heritage is rich and varied, taking in all disciplines and offering visitors monuments, unique traditional festivities and many music, dance, theatre and circus festivals.
Catalonia’s architectural heritage covers thousands of years of history. Its jewels include Iberian settlements, the remains of the first Greek city in the Iberian peninsula, the Roman legacy, Romanesque churches, Gothic cathedrals and Jewish quarters. With regard to artistic movements, Catalan modernism, which was at its height in the early 20th century with Gaudí as its greatest exponent, offers buildings that are unique in the world, such as La Pedrera, the Sagrada Familia and Güell Park.
Catalonia’s museums strive to live up to all this material, and the National Museum of Catalan Art (MNAC), as well as Gothic and Baroque art, exhibits the largest collection of Romanesque art in the world, a must for culture lovers.
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World heritage
Catalonia is privileged to have swelled the list of UNESCO World Heritage sites with architectural works by Antoni Gaudí and Domènech i Montaner, the archaeological site of Tarragona, Santa Maria de Poblet monastery and the Romanesque churches in Vall de Boí, among others.
All of these places have been selected for their exceptional qualities and because they exemplify the cultural or natural heritage that they represent.
According to UNESCO, what makes the concept of world heritage exceptional is its universal application.
The World Heritage List draws the international community’s attention to the richness and diversity of the planet’s cultural and natural heritage.
In Catalonia, the Patum de Berga festival and the Castells – the long-standing tradition of forming human towers – have also been declared examples of Intangible Cultural Heritage by UNESCO. In addition, the Montseny Nature Reserve forms part of the Global Network of Biosphere Reserves.
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Snow tourism
In Catalonia, geography, climate and love of sport have joined forces to make the snow a key element in the tourism offered.
The Catalan Pyrenees is an ideal destination for enjoying snow activities. With ten resorts for Alpine skiing and six for cross-country skiing, all with excellent infrastructure, it is among the most visited parts of Spain during the ski season.
In the wonderful landscapes of La Cerdanya, Vall de Núria and Aigüestortes i Estany de Sant Maurici National Park, for example, you can go on snowshoe hikes. Most of the ski resorts also offer, among other activities, sleigh rides pulled by dogs or horses, snowmobile and quad trips, igloo building and orienteering exercises, in order to enjoy a real adventure in the snow.
The Pyrenean experience is completed by enjoying the famed culinary offerings of La Cerdanya and Val d’Aran, while also enjoying the relaxation and well-being brought by the thermal waters at the spa and hot springs resort in Caldes de Boí.
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Quality
In order maintain Catalonia in the category of high-level tourist destinations, more than 15,000 tourism industry professionals strive, each year, to provide quality services. Beyond well-ironed sheets, well-set tables and good customer service, many establishments make the effort to remove architectural barriers and to respect the environment by using renewable energy and recycling waste.
As a sign that this effort has been made and of the added value offered by many establishments and municipalities in Catalonia, there are two distinctions to guarantee to customers that they have chosen a destination that forms part of the high level establishments: environmental certification, in which Catalonia is becoming a leader, and the Integrated System of Tourism Quality at Destination (SICTED), awarded by the Secretary of State for Commerce and Tourism in the Ministry of Economy, and by the Spanish Federation of Municipalities and Provinces.