Palafrugell, Tamariu, Begur residential and Esclanya

Palafrugell is the main town for many of the coastal villages and unlike the coastal villages it remains busy all year long. On Sundays there is a big market with fruit and vegetables plus clothes and ancillary items. This walk starts in Palafrugell and takes the old road down to Tamariu (Cami Vell de Tamariu). It would have been the main access route to Tamariu in the early 20th century and though the top half to the Boblia (brick factory), past the deixillaria (tip) is tarmacked, the lower section is a sandy track barely wide enough for one car. It's difficult to imagine the route as a main road.

We start in Palafrugell and head out on Carrer Begur to the new apartment blocks by the new school, turning down past the school to meet the road to Tamariu. Around the back of Palafrugell are a number of tracks and hidden roads and hidden estates in among the hills and farmlands between the main town and the coastal villages. To start with the path follows the road and is more of a country stroll. After the factory we bear to the left to follow the main track down towards Tamariu. Tamariu itself is in a hollow, so whichever way you approach the village you have to go down, and in converse, getting out means climbing out of the hollow and depending on route this can be quite steep.

The sandy road seems to have been cut into the hill with big banks on one side, then the other with occasional glimpses over the fields when the banks disappear. There are trees around and nearby we hear the ratatatat of a woodpecker. The path gets a bit steeper (not so great if you're thinking of cycling up) before reaching a clearing in the woods. A small footpath forks off to the left along by a stream. We follow the footpath past an ugly font, then down the stream, criss-crossing over stepping stones as we go down. Eventually the path reaches a meadow and we continue following the track and it emerges by the side of Tamariu Campground. There's a chain across the path, so we're not entirely sure if the path we just came down is private, but there were no signs and it seemed well walked.

From the campsite we walk down in towards Tamariu. We could visit the town and go to the beach, but this time we follow a left hand road back up into the estate to the left above the village. We've included the walk from Tamariu to Sant Sebastian which has more about the village. Tamariu also has a route via the GR92 to meet up with the Aiguablava-Fornells walk but we're not so keen on the path between the village and Aiguablava.

The path up through the estate follows the roadway right to the top where the road ends and a small narrow path heads into the woods. We run along the top of the ridge with the main route from Tamariu to the Palafrugell-Begur road to the right beneath us (this is a gravel road, surprisingly untarmacked, but not so good to walk along). We meet the broad gravel path and walk up to the house by the junction, then across the main road towards Residential Begur.

Now we are on hard footpaths by the road of the estate. We miss the path we would have liked to take towards Esclanya and instead walk in among the houses. At the brow of the hill we are greeted with a view over the Pyrenees in full snow-capped glory. We follow the roadway through the estate. Though we guess the estate was originally built as a holiday area, most of the houses have permanent residents. Many are out in their gardens enjoying an early spring day. The road heads down before turning into a gravel track down to Esclanya. In summer, the gravel tracks can get very dusty, particularly if you're passed by a car.

In Esclanya we reach a T junction and take the left-hand direction towards the old part of Esclanya. Esclanya dates back to Roman times and the old hamlet of no more than 20 or so houses has a very pretty church and castle. The main part of Esclanya consists of more modern estates with a small school as a small commuter village for Palafrugell.

Rather than head back towards the newer part of Esclanya, we cross the main road again towards Blanquers/Cemeterie. This road also peters out into a track and we follow the track at the back of the woods to find our way to the back of the new apartment blocks and from there back into Palafrugell.

Neighbouring walks: Mont-ras to Calella de Palafrugell and Llafranc - Far de Sant Sebastia (Llafranc) to Tamariu - Fornells and Aiguablava walk (GR92) - Regencos to Pals via Quermany Gros and Petit - Eulogy to the Ruta del Tren Petit (Palafrugell, Palamos, Mont-ras and Vall-llobrega)

Swimming: Swimming at the beach at Tamariu