Last summer, my friend Maureen told us about a hike her friend had done in Spain, called the Cami de Ronda. where we interested? Of course we are! So that Sunday afternoon I start doing some research, create a trip in Triphub and add some hikes and hotels to the trip board. We talk about it more during some of our weekly hikes. In November we decide on dates, and I start mapping out the routes and hotels along the way. A year after our first conversation, we are about to embark on the Cami de Ronda hike. Day 5, August 26, 2025. Roses – Cadaques. 9 miles, 1,800 feet elevation.
Castello D’Empuries – Roses Montjoi
The reviews of the stage of Cami de Ronda from Castello D’Empuries to Roses are mediocre. The trail is mostly through farmland. We have done that 2 days now. Instead, we decide to skip and take the bus from Castello to Roses. The bus leaves right in front of our hotel.
We arrive in Roses 20 minutes later. The hike from Roses to Cadaques is a total of 19 miles with the last 8-9 including a steep incline of 1,800 feet. We do not want to do that in the middle of the day in the heat, so we decide to take a taxi to Montjoi, 2 beaches over. We have learned our lesson from L’Escala and Liane suggest we walk up to the nearest hotel and have the front desk call a taxi for us. Taxi arrives in 3 minutes and takes us to the little beach of playa de Montjoi.
Playa de Montjoi- Joncols
The first part of the trail is a gentle up and down along the coast. The views are great even though it is cloudy. And actually, we are glad it is still cloudy, it makes for a much nicer hike. We joke that Liane’s octopus from last night came from this bay, the Bay de Creus.
Joncols- Puig Alt
From the beach of Joncols, the trail goes inland, up the mountain of Puig Alt. We reach an intersection of roads, and we are at a loss. One sign with the Cami de Ronda name points down the main road, there is a white and red signs pointing up the hills. Then there is a new one: green and red pointing up a gravel road that is closed by a fence. We follow the familiar white and red up the hill. 10 minutes in, we stop, we have not seen any of the familiar white and red sign that marks our Cami de Ronda trail. There is another trail just below us. Are we supposed to be on that? We backtrack to the road. Let’s regroup. We look at all the signs again. Maureen convinces us that the green and red signs are what we should follow. We ignore the locked gate and follow the rocky trail up. And sure enough, less then 5 minutes in we see both green and white and red and white markers. We still don’t know what the difference is between the green and red and white and red.
It’s a steep trail, but at least the sun is still hiding. We power on, stopping regularly for water and snacks. I am glad we started early and skipped the beginning of the hike as I cannot imagine doing this in full sun. Finally, I see where the trail tips between the 2 mountain ranges. We get to the top and high five.
Puig Alt – Cadaques
From here, we still have several miles down. Alternating between road and trail, I tell them we are stopping at the first restaurant in town. That happens to be the restaurant in hotel Llane Petit. We are ready for our cocktails and lunch. And that’s where the little thief story continues. I have a Aprol Spritz. It comes with a really nice metal straw. I tell my friends the story from two years earlier. I had a cocktail in a very nice plastic glass at a pool bar. It looked and felt like it was glass. There were so many sitting around at the pool, that I decided to take it home for use at my pool. I told them “That doesn’t really make me a thief, right?” They tell me “Yes it does, but just a little thief.” They see me looking at the nice metal straw in my glass of Aperol and ask me “you are going to take this aren’t you? And of course I do. But I am still only a little thief.
Cadaques
Our hotel, La Residencia, is right downtown. It is full of pictures and art of Salvador Dali. We have 2 rooms, Dali and Picasso. After checking in, we meet at the little coffee shop across the street. From there, we wander around the streets of Cadaques. Little boutiques, and we find a beautiful ceramic store Joaqim Salo. We have dinner reservations at restaurant Oli.
Bar Oli
Bar Oli has very high ratings, so we are excited. It sits juts a bit back from the main street along the water. The interior is modern and cool. We are seated in the corner next to old mill equipment still attached to the walls and ceiling, and we realize this building used to be an old mill. The staff is all super friendly and enthusiastic. We talk to the manager. She tells us that she and her husband, who is the chef. opened the restaurant in April of this year. The food is different, refreshing and very good. We have a wonderful night.
Tips
The bus system in the Costa Brava is excellent and cheap. Moventis and other local buses have regular schedules between towns. If you don’t want to carry all your luggage, Taxi en Roses has a great luggage service. You can book all segments online, where they verify your hotel is on their list. Taxis are not readily available everywhere. Best is to ask a campsite or hotel front desk to call one. If I do this hike again, I will stay an extra night in Cadaques and spend time on and in the waters and enjoy this charming little town. The best sandwich I had was the melted Iberico ham with truffle cheese at Llane Petit.
All photos are credit to Liane Aihara, Maureen OGorman and Mariel van Tatenhove
