Old Railway Greenway E-Bike Odyssey

The morning begins in the heart of Girona, at the bike centre on Carrer de la Rutlla, where the first task is simple: trade the city’s stone streets for a saddle. Within minutes, the road tilts upward through the Sant Julià de Ramis ridge, and here is where the e-bike earns its keep. The motor hums softly, smoothing the gradient into a gentle suggestion rather than a challenge. You are not cheating the landscape; you are simply being let in on a secret—that the Alt Empordà’s rolling hills, which would normally demand a steady grind, become a lazy glide. This is an easy ride, not because the terrain is flat, but because the assist flattens it for you. It suits anyone who wants to feel the breeze without the burn: casual cyclists, couples on holiday, or those who have not swung a leg over a frame in years.

The route unfurls along the Old Railway Greenway, a paved corridor that once carried trains between the coast and the Pyrenees. Now it carries only the soft whir of tyres and the occasional chirp of a lark. The surface is immaculate tarmac, wide enough to ride side-by-side and chat, with not a car in sight. Vineyards stretch in every direction, their rows marching in disciplined green lines toward the distant blue smudge of the Mediterranean. The air smells of wild fennel and dry earth, and the light here has a particular clarity—that Catalan gold that makes even a simple farmhouse look like a painting. The 58 kilometres unfold gently, with just 283 metres of cumulative climbing, spread so thinly across the day that you might forget you are climbing at all.

A stop at Madremanya interrupts the rhythm, and it is worth the pause. This is a village of honey-coloured stone, its medieval walls and crooked bell tower rising from the vines like a dream of old Catalonia. But the true reward comes later, at the coffee stop in Espresso Mafía. The name might suggest a dark and brooding espresso, and it delivers—a short, intense shot with a crema the colour of hazelnut, paired with a pastry that shatters into buttery flakes. You sit in the sun, the e-bikes leaning against the wall, and the only urgency is whether to order a second coffee or roll on. This is the kind of moment the ride is built around: unhurried, grounded, and quietly delicious.

Each day of this multi-day journey offers four to six hours of riding, but the pace never feels like work. The guided format means the logistics are handled, the route is clear, and the stories of the region—Roman roads, medieval markets, the railway that died and became this path—are told at the right moments. You ride through the Alt Empordà’s vineyards, past farmhouses with laundry snapping in the wind, and down traffic-free stretches where the only decision is whether to take the wide line or the wider line. The e-bike’s battery lasts longer than your legs would, and by the afternoon, you will have covered ground that would have taken a full day on a conventional bike, with energy left for a swim, a siesta, or a wander through Girona’s Jewish Quarter. The ride is not a conquest; it is a conversation with the landscape, and the landscape does most of the talking.

Ride highlights

• A relaxed ride past Old Railway Greenway
• A coffee and pastry stop at Espresso Mafía
• Assisted climbs that flatten every hill in Alt Empordà vineyards
• Wide, traffic-free stretches suitable for all fitness levels

How the day unfolds

1. Day 1

   Welcome and shakedown ride

   Bike fit, a short loop into Alt Empordà vineyards to test the legs, and a welcome dinner in Girona.

2. Day 2

   Farewell ride

   A short final loop near Old Railway Greenway followed by a long lunch before transfers home.

What is included

On the road

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