Corça, Planils and Cassa de Pelras

Corça is one of the Costa Brava villages from La Bisbal d'Emporda in the direction of Flaça (for the train station) and on to Girona. The old village is set back from the road and it would be easy to miss just our full of charm and character it has as you rush past in the car. We've walked from Corça on the northern side of the village (Corça, Casavells, Matajudaica). This was an opportunity to fill in a gap out towards Pubol and Flaça.

We start on the Sant Cristina side of the road and park by the Sala Municipal.

In contrast to the old village on the other side of hte main road, the Sant Cristina side of Corça is a residential area mainly made up of modern housing in a mix of terraces and detached houses on a small hill with views back to La Bisbal and up to the Gavarres above Monells so not too much to see.

We head to the top of Sant Cristina and then onto a track that runs past a football field. At the far side of the football field we take a left following the diret track that is signed as the bike route for Pubol. (For most of this walk we found ourselves on bike routes, but mostly off road).

We wander down the track with a field on one side and woods on the other before crossing a small stream on stepping stones. The path then emerges at a small tarmacked road by a farmhouse. The road is very very quiet so there is no problem following it along a small stream past fields and the occasional copice of birch trees. At one point we see a deep shaft just by the side of the road and looking on the map it seems this was once an area used for mining - though there is little other evidence.

The road is rural and quiet and we reach a collection of three or four large masias that make up the hamlet of Planils, first two next to each other, then a third which looks older with towers like a castle a little further on. We're still on tarmac and just after the last masia a dirt track goes to the left and the map shows a more off road route. So we follow the track and then head into the woods a little further on.

We continue through the woods for about a kilometre following sheep tracks in the soft soil, until the track reaches a tarmac road again where we turn right. We go down and then up the other side of a valley to the first of the masias of Cassa de Pelras. The masias here are large in a slighly darker stone with few windows to the road so they look quite intimidating. At the masia we turn left, then take the next right - again a track - which takes us to the cluster of buildings around the church.

The church is small and there is a slightly odd bank of three stairs separate from the church (made in 1908 according to the plaque on it), that would have been used by musicians for village fesitvities in older times. It's worth walking around the church as there are two small plaças in an area that only has about three buildings. Cassa sits on top of a ridge which separates the valleys of the river Daro (La Bisbal's river), from the valley of the river Ter.

From Cassa we head slightly north to meet the main C66 road - this is to reach another footpath and avoid walking along the busy road. We reach the bus stop and cross then take the path to the right of the house in front of us. We're in fields again and there are views now to the north across the Empordan Plain and across to Montgri.

As we approach an old farmhouse we notice on the map that our next path is actually very close, so we try cutting through the farmyard to make the connection. Unfortunately we can't find a route through, but some neighbours walking dogs show us a route that involves jumping over two walls to reach the path and road on the other side. On our map, we'd recommend taking the genuine dotted line path.

We are now back on a cycle path and a gentle down hill  walk through a mix of fields and woods down to Corça, emerging at the main C66 a little ahead of the village just by the Mas Pastor restaurant. However, we don't have to walk along the road as there's a separate path back to the village that connects to a small road towards the older heart of  Corça.

We've described the older part of Corça before, but it remains an interesting and intriguing village of terraced houses and an inner walled centre. On the side of the village closest to the road is a delightful square with plane trees just by the river and restaurants and cafes (quiet when we went past).

We cross the road via the underpass under the school and get back to the car.

Neighbouring walks: Corça, Casavells, Matajudaica - La Bisbal, Vulpellac, Castell d'Emporda, Fonteta - Rupia and Foixa - Cruilles, Monells and Sant Sadurni de l'Heura - La Pera, Pubol and around - Madremanya, Els Angels, Sant Marti Vell