Barcelona - Pyrenees Smugglers' Route

Eight nights from Barcelona to Andorra and back, guided, off-road in a 4×4 along old smugglers’ tracks across the Pyrenees.

The smuggling routes are the thread. The Pyrenean border was crossed illicitly for centuries, by contraband in peacetime and by people during the wars, and the tracks that carried them are still there, which makes for a route with a genuine reason behind it.

A free day in Barcelona opens it, then the training day and the Penedes valley vineyards with a river crossing, and an evening walk at Sitges. The Pyrenean tracks begin on the third day among rocky mountains and cliffs near the Cadi-Moixero Natural Park, with a picnic lunch and an optional visit to a mountain natural prison. The Pre-Pyrenean line follows with technical passes and river crossings, then the smugglers’ routes proper into Andorra, reaching some of the highest peaks in the range. Another old route crosses La Cerdanya, with an optional climb to the Pic Negre and lunch at a family restaurant. Rupit, a medieval stone village, and a large reservoir come next with lunch in an old monastery, and Catalonia’s highest waterfall at 115 metres closes the driving.

The guided round trip from Barcelona by way of Andorra, seven nights of hotel with breakfast, a packed picnic on the second day, eight days’ use of a 4×4 and all the vehicle running costs are included; the optional cava cellar visit, flights, the first Barcelona hotel night, most lunches and dinners, travel insurance and personal spending are not. The rate allows a maximum of three people to a vehicle. Late spring to early autumn is the window, since the high tracks are impassable in snow.