Begur

From Begur towards the Golf de Roses

This walk begins on the outskirts of the hilltop town of Begur. The nearby Cap de Begur is the easternmost point of this part of the Costa Brava (the Baix Emporda). Following the instructions in our walk book, we turned left looking for the trail signs which marked the start of the walk and were greatly amused to find three cars discharging a party of other walkers at the same point. We were less amused when they proved to be going the same way and making an incredible amount of noise as they did so. We eventually saw them off however.

The start point is at 200m and initially you walk north, down the road towards the sea, immediately enjoying fine views.



The road soon ends and you then follow a track into the scented woods.



You emerge onto a road, having made a short but very steep climb up a bank. As we climbed, we noticed a long thick rope on the ground, attached to a stout post at the top. What a good idea in wet weather when the slope would presumably be impossibly slippery. The walk we recently did around Cheddar Gorge would benefit from something similar.

The road leads to the Mirador de la Creu, a viewing point at 182m. The coast stretches away towards L'Estartit and the Illes Medes in the foreground with the Golf de Roses beyond.



You return to the road and now begin a long descent, after a while through a housing development to reach sea level at the Cala de Aiguafreda. This is a pretty cove, but lacks any beach. We saw a family despairingly searching for somewhere to set up their windbreaker.

Now of course, you have to make the 200m climb back. A stretch of road soon gives way to a delightful path through light, then deeper, woodland.



And eventually you emerge into a nature reserve near to an old watch tower known as the Mas d'en Pinc.



A few more steps bring you back to the trail signs and the car.

From: Rother Walking Guide to the Costa Brava by Roger Budeler.

Map: Mapes Topografics (Piolet) Baix Emporda Nord.

Distance: about 5 miles.

Rating: Three and a half stars. Great views initially, but quite suburban in the middle.