Pedratour

Pedratour is an incoming travel agency in Berga, in the Berguedà, which describes itself as a tourism, cultural and environmental management company. Its motto is to connect people, heritage and territory. The company name is Pedratour SL and the office is at calle Ciutat, 16, in the centre of Berga. The website does not publish the year of foundation or the agency licence number.

Who runs it

The founder and director is Marinel·la Mosquera, who holds a diploma in Tourism and specialises in product creation. The team presented on its website brings together travel agents, information officers and guides with very varied backgrounds: environmental biology, geology, history, philology, a ski and snowboard instructor and mountain guide, and a sign language interpreter. A good part of that team guides or provides information at venues where the company works: the Tren del Ciment in La Pobla de Lillet, the Museu del Ciment in Castellar de n'Hug, the Montserrat caves in Collbató, the Riutort oil mine, the Pedraforca massif tourist office and the Bagà tourist office, which it manages. It also runs information, environmental education and volunteering services for the Cadí-Moixeró and Alt Pirineu natural parks.

What it offers

The range is wide and runs from the mountains to the classic travel agency. In hiking, it organises the Cavalls del Vent circuit and the Camí dels Bons Homes, as well as routes around Catalonia and beyond. For cycling, it hires out equipment and prepares Cavalls del Vent and Pedals de Ferro. In active tourism it has winter, spring and summer, and year-round offerings, among them the guided via ferratas at Vallcebre, near Berga, and it hires out equipment. For groups and schools it prepares cultural outings, stays and environmental education programmes, and on the agency side it sells flights, trains, hotels, cruises, packages and tailor-made trips.

The destinations it works most are the Berguedà, the Pedraforca and Cadí-Moixeró, the Cerdanya and Montserrat, and Catalonia as a whole.

Guides, groups and ages

On the Vallcebre via ferratas, according to its listings, the price includes a qualified guide, via ferrata equipment, helmet, insurance and photos, with small groups and different minimum ages depending on difficulty: the family via ferrata admits children from age 6 and the introductory one from age 12. For the other activities the website does not generally publish group sizes, ages or equipment, so check each offering. It recommends taking out its travel insurance to cover possible cancellation costs.

Booking and cancellation

You book online or by phone on 938 215 111, and the agents help you complete the booking if you would rather not do it through the website. The office is open Monday to Friday from 9:30 to 13:30 and from 15:00 to 18:00, and on Saturdays from 10:00 to 13:00; it is closed on Sundays. To cancel you must write or call. Its general conditions set administration fees and, in the 15 days before departure, a penalty of 5% between 15 and 10 days, 15% between 10 and 3 days and 25% in the last 48 hours, except in cases of force majeure. On group trips you can cancel free of charge until the group is confirmed; after that the full amount is lost. If the minimum number of participants is not reached, the agency may cancel by giving written notice at least ten days beforehand. The website is in Catalan, Spanish and English.

The two via ferratas it guides are on the listings for the Canalassa via ferrata and the l'Empalomar via ferrata.