Trip report: Cami St. Jaume - from Girona to Vic

[RhysB]

Hi all!

I am not sure I have a great deal to share as I don't write as I walk but here I will share what I remember of the 4 day trip I just finished, walking from Girona to Vic.

Overall I mostly stuck to the stages from the book I bought: https://www.amazon.es/Catalán-Tranquil-Towards-Santiago-Compostela/dp/8412188055/

Though we did do some adjusting because we were late booking accommodation and there are not so many affordable options!

In this first post I will share the stages, and then I will make a short post per day below.


Stages:

I am using the amount of KM my fitness tracker reported (double checked against Google GPS), not the "official" numbers.

• Day 1: Girona > Amer (23k) [it is 26k from the Cathedral but we stayed on the edge of Girona, no the centre)
• Day 2: Amer > Les Preses (27k)
• Day 3: Les Preses > Cantonigros (23k)
• Day 4: Cantonigros > Vic (23k)

 

[Kathy F.]

Sounds nice. Thanks for sharing. Do you plan to walk to Santiago?

 

[RhysB]

Not this time! I already did the Primitivo this year, this trip was to give my partner a taste.

I will add a post for each day shortly.

 

[Former member 104756]

Thank you @RhysB Girona is high on my list of favourite Spanish towns

 

[RhysB]

Day 1: Girona > Amer (23k)

Accomodation: Fonda Giralt Restaurant (50 euros)
Comfortable accommodation with nice people running the place. We also had dinner here and it was very nice indeed!


The night before, we had stayed in a BNB in "Salt" which is a neighbourhood in Girona which is further away from the centre and already on the route. This made the day 23k instead of 26k for those looking to cut down! For us it was a coincidence, we just stayed at the cheapest hotel.

We left at sunrise and straight onto the "Via Verda" which is a very well signposted route which we followed all day! This day of the camino requires absolutely no navigation, it could not be clearer, I don't think we checked the book once other than checking for where there could be a place to eat or refill water.

Lovely day of walking along the old railway line and shady most of the time too. Completely flat for almost the whole day so not at all difficult and plenty of benches along the way. I will share some pictures.

Not sure what else to add! If you have any questions, please share them here for future walkers.

 

[RhysB]

Day 2: Amer > Les Preses (27k)

Today we had to go beyond the standard stage (Sant Esteve d'en Bas) because they Albergue was full when we tried to book. We ended up 3km towards Olot in Les Preses where we stayed at another restaurant/BnB.

Accomodation: Vertisol (70 euros)

It was another day on the Via Verde so no maps needed for the most part, slightly more up hill this time around but still felt mostly flat until the end of the day. Lots of cool places where the trainline was cut through the mountains and little bridges. Today the views started to show more of the landscape as we gained altitude too.

We passed through a town today called Sant Feliu de Pallerols was was beautiful and unique. There is a great bar (Bar l'Esbart) doing food and drinks on the mains square next door to a small local shop where you can get essentials.

Les Preses itself was nice enough though mostly situated on a main road, a special shout out goes to the store/restaurant "Can Central" where we had a great meal.

Photo attached, feel free to ask questions below.

 

[RhysB]

Day 3: Les Preses > Cantonigros (23k)

We thought today was going to be easy as it was so short, but actually it was by far the hardest day! Very rewarding though.

Accomodation: Hostal Cabrerès (80 euros)

This is the first day that we left the Via Verda and instead joined another well signposted route (which is also the camino path) the 'Cami Ral' - a road from the middle ages that connects Olot to Vic! It is pretty well preserved in some places, like walking on a cobbled street. This route is pretty easy to follow too and there are official Camino signs in blue for the rest of the trip too as well as yellow arrows here and there.

Most of the day is up hill and very rocky with lots of loose stones, as you climb up through the forest to amazing views at the top of the hill. After that it is mostly beautiful farm land.

Worth noting that the route has changed since @peregrina2000 did it so if you are following her GPS maps, the official Camino signs will disagree and send you on another route for the last few hours to cantonigros. Or you could follow her map, I am sure it still gets you there!

We stayed in Cantonigros rather than the standard stage (l'esquirol) because that happened to be where we found accommodation. Just before town there is a bar with a great view over the valley called Can Punti.

Note also that there are great shops in Cantonigros that sell local sausages and cheese, I recommend visiting them!

Photos attached, feel free to ask questions below.

 

[RhysB]

Day 4: Cantonigros > Vic (23km)

The final day was generally pretty relaxed and mostly downhill, still following the Cami Ral. Certainly the hardest day to navigate though still generally well signposted, we did have to check the GPS a few times on this one!

Accomodation: We did not need accommodation as we went directly home to Barcelona.

All the towns you walk through on this day are interesting in their own ways and save for some industrial parts, the walk is still quite green all the way into the city. Lots of nice bridges on the walk today too!

While you are passing through l'esquirol I recommend stopping at "Pastisseria Prat" which just won first place for the best croissant in Spain! Very nice place.

For those who have not been before, Vic is a great town and well worth exploring, we stopped off at the Roman temple and the cathedral to finish. If you want to celebrate your arrival with a drink, I recommend "La Ciutat dels Sants" which is a bar in and old chapel which you can see in my pictures.

I think that is it for now, I will update these posts as I think of more stuff or answer questions about there route here and elsewhere.

Photos attached, feel free to ask questions below.​