Rural areas around Barcelona

A couple of friends and I went to Montjui (obviously not spelt right), it's a monastry build into the mountain, about 1 hour train from Barcelona. It's a nice setting with walks and stuff, although it's a bit commercialised.

#1: do you mean Montserrat? Maybe you are confusing it with Montjuic which is the hilltop fortress in Barcelona itself. Montserrat is a nice daytrip though I think it is a bit overrated. If you go on some nice hikes from there, that would be good.

If you have a car you can explore the rustic park, Montseny, north of Barcelona. Let me know if you want more info on that.

There are plenty of beach areas north and south of Barcelona, but in August they will all be crowded with humans. There is the Aiguamolls nature reserve on the Bay of Roses.

You can take trains up north to the Pyrenees area, some national parks and other areas. Let me know more specifically what you are interested in and I can give you some more detail.

Badger

Ahh yes Badger I think you're right. I meant Montserrat, not that horrible Disneyland Church at the top of the hill.

Maclaren,
Well, the "horrible Disneyland church at the top of the hill" is not Montjuic either. I think you mean the church at the amusement park at Tibidabo. Montjuic is the hill that overlooks the sea and has several museums, the Olympic stadium and the Magic Fountains among other things. I am only making these comments so others here don't get confused about the names.

I'd go up towards the Pyrenees, maybe around Olot, or up into the mountains themselves. It will have the added advantage of not being so hot.

Friends,
I have a similar situation... two of us plan to arrive by plane or train to spain around 13 August, and we have a flight home to the States from Barcelona on 29 August. We'd like to spend at least a few days in Barcelona, but otherwise would like to see some smaller towns and spend some time hiking. We'd love to stay in some refugios or hostels in the Pyrenees.
Our current idea is to start near San Sebastian and move east as we go, ending up in Barcelona around 24 August. We won't have a car. Any advice on hiking routes, refugios, towns we should see, etc?
Also, what is the best way to get around? Bus? Train? Should I book all of this early? We don't plan to rent a car.
THANK YOU!!
Aleksandra

Olenka,
While you can certainly get to places in the Pyrenees via train and bus combinations, it is a lot easier with a car. You might consider renting one for a few days. If not, I would say find some places to visit like Vall de Nuria, or Parque Nacional de Ordesa, or Aiguestortes, and then work backwards from there looking for bus service, etc. If you read Spanish, search on "excursion" or "excusionista" to find info on hikes and refugios.

Another place to visit, if you have a car, is the natural park area of Montseny. This is near Barcelona and the town of Sant Celoni. It would be an easy daytrip from Barcelona.

Thanks Badger. So in fact we are renting a car. When we leave Barcelona, we're thinking of heading toward Torla to do some hiking in the Parque Nacional de Ordesa. From there, we will head to the coast near San Sebastian. Anything charming, interesting or spectacular we should see in between? If we're to make other stops, we'd like to see things that aren't strikingly similar to Barcelona, the area around Torla, and San Se.
Thanks again!!
Olenka

Hi Olenka,
A good route might be: Barcelona north to Vic, then Ripoll, then west to Berga on toward Ordesa via Ainsa, which is a cute little town as I remember (it has been years since I've been through there). Vic has a nice old town center and is worth a couple of hours stop, maybe for lunch. Ripoll is in the foothills and on a river, nice area too.

In Ordesa, one of the main trails is to the 'cola de caballo' waterfall. It is a nice day hike. Start out mid morning and take a lunch. Sorry, I don't know Torla or the area that well. The Pyrenees foothills are indeed very different from Barcelona.