From Garraf Station to La Pleta on the GR 92

What it is

It is the way into the Garraf Natural Park on foot from the sea. You get off the train at the Garraf halt, next to the beach with the little beach huts, and climb the long-distance GR 92 path, the Camí de les Costes, to La Pleta, the modernista farmhouse that is now the park office. It is about 3.5 km of continuous climbing through the limestone massif: white rock, dwarf fan palms and low scrub, with the Mediterranean ever further below. The return is by the same path, so the whole outing is about 7 km.

It has no technical difficulty, but it is all uphill on the way out and there is no shade.

The route step by step

1. Garraf halt: on leaving, go back along the road towards Barcelona. Walk on the mountain side and with care, because it is the Costes road, with bends and traffic.
2. Start of the GR 92: on the mountain side you will see a marker post at the start of the path, the Camí de les Costes. The GR waymarks are red and white.
3. The climb: the path gains height up the hillside between dwarf fan palms and limestone. As you climb, views open up of the village, the beach with the huts and the Garraf harbour.
4. La Pleta, about 3.5 km from the start: the park's office and information centre.
5. Return: along the same path to the halt.

La Pleta

It is a farmhouse from 1894 attributed to the modernista architect Francesc Berenguer i Mestres, a collaborator of Gaudí. It began as a livestock farm; the Diputació de Barcelona bought it and restored it as a park facility. It has a permanent exhibition, a panoramic viewpoint, a self-guided trail, a drinking water fountain, toilets, a defibrillator and charging for electric bicycles. It also lends adapted equipment free of charge: handbikes and extra wheels for wheelchairs, by reservation.

The office is open Monday to Friday mornings and at weekends and public holidays from 10:00 to 15:00. The park's website gives two different weekday hours (until 13:30 or until 14:00), so phone if you will be arriving close to closing time.

Getting there

By train, on the Rodalies R2 Sud line, to the Garraf halt; from Barcelona it is half an hour. No public transport reaches the park, and this path is the most direct way in on foot from the railway. By car, you reach Garraf by the C-32 (exit 42) or the C-31, but there is little parking in the village; La Pleta has its own free car park, on the Plana Novella road.

When to go

From October to May. The sun falls full on the hillside and the white stone gives the heat back: in summer, only first thing in the morning, and even then with plenty of water. With the low light of winter the contrast between the white rock and the sea is the best part of the walk.

Water and shade

There is no shade along the whole route and no water until the La Pleta fountain. Bring at least a litre per person and a cap.

With children and a dog

With children who can already walk an hour uphill, it is fine; the reward is the farmhouse and the views. With a pushchair, no. With a dog, yes, on a lead, and with water for them too: in summer the stone burns.

Complete the day

Go down to the beach with the huts for a swim when you finish and eat at El Chiringuito de Garraf, on the sand, with its kitchen open all day.