Rupit: a 115-metre waterfall and a 1930 inn.

Rupit is a stone village on a rock, on the Collsacabra plateau, which you enter by crossing a suspension bridge over the stream. Following that stream downriver, on an easy walk of an hour and a quarter, you reach the Salt de Sallent, where the water falls some 115 metres in four stages. This Sunday combines the two: the waterfall in the morning, before the crowds arrive, the village and its bell tower at midday and a long lunch at Rupit's oldest inn. From Manresa it is an hour and twenty; from Girona, an hour and a half.

The Day, Hour by Hour

8:45 · Departure. From Manresa, take the C-25 to Vic and the C-153 towards Olot, which climbs to the Collsacabra in bends; an hour and twenty. From Girona, an hour and a half. From Barcelona, an hour and fifty via the C-17 and Vic. Park in the municipal car park at the entrance: 45 minutes free and €6 for the day.

10:15 · The Salt de Sallent. This is itinerary 2 of the town council's routes. It starts at the tourist office, on Camí de Sant Joan de Fàbregues, crosses the suspension bridge, goes through Plaça Major and follows the stream downriver: the mill and the Rodó waterfall, the Font de la Pomereda and, at the end, the viewpoint facing the fall. It is 3 km there and back with 100 metres of ascent, an hour and a quarter along the same path. The waterfall marks the boundary between the Collsacabra and Les Guilleries; below, the stream continues towards the Susqueda reservoir.

12:00 · The village and the suspension bridge. On your return, wander round the old village without hurrying: Carrer del Manyà, Carrer de l'Església with the church of Sant Miquel, Plaça Major and Carrer del Fossar, which climbs in steps over the rock towards the remains of the castle. Rupit had its best period between the 16th and 18th centuries, and the houses you see date from then. In 2022, UN Tourism recognised it as one of its Best Tourism Villages. An hour, free of charge.

13:00 · Rupit 360. The climb up the neoclassical bell tower of Sant Miquel, built between 1786 and 1789: almost 30 vertical metres to the highest point in the village, with the stone rooftops at your feet and the cliffs all around. It opens on Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays from 11:00 to 15:00, with tickets sold until 14:30. It costs €2; it closes in storms. Half an hour.

14:00 · Lunch at Fonda Marsal. On Carrer Manyà, right in the old village. It began in 1930 as a shop, butcher's and inn, and was the first place in Rupit where you could sleep. It is open every day except Wednesday, apart from about ten days around Christmas and from the end of June to the beginning of July. On spring and autumn Sundays, book.

16:30 · Return. The Collsacabra road has no lighting: drive down in daylight. In Manresa or Girona around six.

What to Order

Fonda Marsal serves an à la carte menu and a set menu of Catalan cooking with local produce. The house's most typical dishes: les patates farcides de l'àvia, stuffed potatoes, the selection of local cured meats, beans with butifarra sausage, veal with mushrooms, roast chicken and cannelloni. For dessert, flan or mató with honey. If you prefer another table in the village, the Hostal Estrella, on Plaça del Bisbe Font, has been run by the same family since 1946: Collsacabra lamb on the grill, Olot potatoes stuffed with goat's cheese or soupy rice with lobster, for two.

With Children and Dogs

The walk to the waterfall is one of the best in Catalonia for children from about four: short, beside the water and with a reward at the end. It is not for pushchairs: there are stones and steps. They love the suspension bridge; the bell tower has steep stairs. For the youngest, the en Rupes treasure hunt, with a mobile phone, to the Soler viewpoint. With a dog you can go to the waterfall and around the village, on a lead; they are not allowed up the bell tower.