Pals: rice fields, stone and a long beach.

Pals has three things within three kilometres: a stone village on top of a hill, the plain of rice fields that gives a rice its name and a long beach with no buildings. This plan brings them together in an unhurried day. You start down below, on the little train that runs down to the mill between the rice fields, climb to the Gothic quarter at midday, eat in a fortified farmhouse and finish walking on the sand. From Girona it is fifty minutes; from Barcelona, an hour and forty.

The Day, Hour by Hour

9:00 · Departure. From Girona, take the C-66 towards Palafrugell and the Pals turn-off, about 50 minutes. From Barcelona, the AP-7 and the C-31, a little over an hour and a half. The old quarter does not admit cars: park in the car parks at the entrance to the village. The coach car park, on Carrer de l'Abeurador, is also the little train's stop.

10:00 · The rice route. El Xiulet de Pals leaves at 10:00 from the stop in the old quarter. The little train runs down between farmhouses and fields to the Molí de Pals, where there was already a mill in 1452 and which is still in the hands of a family that sells rice in the village. After the visit to the mill you walk back along the flat tracks of the rice fields. In all, an hour and three quarters. It costs €13 for adults and €7 for children, and the departures, with date, language and places, are published in the calendar on its website: book before the weekend. If there is no departure that Sunday, walk back along the country tracks that run down from the old quarter towards the mill.

12:00 · The Gothic quarter. Walk up from the stop. The wall keeps four square 14th-century towers; at the top is the Torre de les Hores, the Romanesque tower of the castle, built between the 11th and 13th centuries and the only thing left of it after the 15th-century Catalan civil war. Beside it, the church of Sant Pere, documented in 904 and rebuilt with stones from the castle. Cobbled streets, arches and the main square: an hour without hurrying, free and at your own pace.

12:50 · Josep Pla viewpoint. At the highest point of the old quarter. The whole Empordà plain at your feet, with the Montgrí massif and the Medes Islands in the background. Ten minutes, and if the day is clear, a few more.

13:30 · Lunch at Mas Roig. A fortified farmhouse from the 16th and 17th centuries on the road from Pals to Torroella de Montgrí, a few minutes by car. It is run by the Jubany family, in catering since 1946; the head chef, Diego Guzmán, trained with Nandu Jubany. It serves lunch from 12:30 to 15:30 and closes on Tuesday evenings and Wednesdays. The hotel opens its season at the end of March: outside it, confirm that the restaurant is open. Book on its website, by phone or by WhatsApp.

16:30 · Platja Gran. A few minutes by car, along the beach road, to its car park. It is 1,681 metres of coarse sand, open and with no buildings, inside the Montgrí, les Medes i el Baix Ter Natural Park, with the fenced dunes behind. Outside summer, you walk it almost alone. To the north continues the Grau beach.

18:00 · Return. In Girona before seven; in Barcelona, at a quarter to eight.

What to Order

At Mas Roig the cooking is Catalan market cuisine, with Empordà produce from sea and mountain, and the website does not publish the menu: ask about the dishes of the day when you book, and about meat-free options if you need them. The cellar focuses on Empordà wines and there is a sommelier. If you prefer something simpler and cheaper, La Vila, at the foot of the old quarter and on the same street as the little train, is a rice house: in a casserole or dry, for two at least, surf and turf, monkfish and prawns or black rice with Dublin Bay prawns. Its kitchen is open all day, useful if the route runs long; call to confirm the Sunday hours. The rice served in Pals is local: firm grain that holds the stock well.

With Children and Dogs

It is a good plan for children: they love the little train, the walk back through the rice fields is flat and you see birds, and the beach finishes off the day. With a pushchair, the old quarter has slopes and cobbles: a baby carrier is better. The Mas Roig hotel is adults only, but the restaurant admits children. With a dog you can walk round the old quarter and the rice-field tracks; onto the sand, in bathing season, no.