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Exploring Pallars Jussà in western Catalonia by vintage train, bike and kayak

15h

Summary

  • A writer returned to Pallars Jussà in western Catalonia 21 years after a honeymoon road trip, exploring the region by vintage train, mountain bike and kayak.
  • The Tren dels Llacs runs 55 miles from Lleida to La Pobla de Segur through the pre-Pyrenees, taking in 40 tunnels and 75 bridges.
  • The remote Santa Linya halt is a station hewn from the mountainside with no ticket office and only a rocky trail leading out.
  • Highlights included the Mirador del Balconet viewpoint over the Collegats Gorge and kayaking Mont-Rebei Canyon, reached by dirt track with no roads or railways.
  • The writer stayed at the lakeside Hotel Terradets near Cellers, which offers bike and kayak hire and overlooks the Embalse de Terradets reservoir.
  • Pallars Jussà has no motorways, displays Estelada separatist flags widely, and serves local dishes such as escudella pallaresa and crema catalana.

Reactions

  • The writer recommends hopping on and off the Tren dels Llacs at its request stops and adding a bicycle to explore deeper into the region.
  • The writer called the Santa Linya halt surely one of Spain's most remote train stations.
  • The writer said the Tren dels Llacs line is not about efficiency and is all the better for it.
  • The writer described the view from the Mirador del Balconet as a world-class vista hidden miles from the nearest road.
  • The writer warned that the postre de músic dessert is only a saucer of nuts and raisins and wished she had chosen crema catalana.

Timeline newest first

  1. The writer and her husband hired kayaks from Corçà and paddled a three-to-four-hour round trip through Mont-Rebei Canyon between 500-metre vertical cliffs.

Sources newest first

  • ‘Seduced by a dramatic landscape of canyons and lakes’: exploring Catalonia’s wild sidetheguardian.com· 15h

    The Guardian sends a writer back to Pallars Jussà in western Catalonia 21 years after a honeymoon visit, exploring its wild pre-Pyrenees by the Tren dels Llacs vintage train, mountain bike and kayak. Highlights include the remote Santa Linya halt, the Mirador del Balconet over the Collegats Gorge, paddling Mont-Rebei Canyon, and lakeside stops at Hotel Terradets, with local food, Catalan separatist flags, and a recommendation to hop off the train with a bike.