This is a very pleasant and reasonably gentle 6km countryside walk for those who are reasonably…read morefit, which will take between two and a half and three hours, depending how quickly you walk and allowing stops for photos and drinks.
The walk takes in rolling countryside full of fields and vineyards, and in early summer both fields and verges are full of wild flowers. It passes several large and impressive mansions belonging to wineries, and has stretches of pine woods providing relief from the heat of the Spanish sun.
The destination is the little town of Sant Pere de Ribes, which has a lovely old church and small castle, and a rather larger 19th century church, several bars and a handful of restaurants.
Practicalities
Most of the walk is on small lanes, but there are sections of path and track which are a little rougher, so reasonably stout footwear is advisable (good training shoes will be fine). In wet weather, the paths can get very wet, so walking boots would be a good idea. There are no shops or bars to stop on the way, so take your own provisions in the summer, this includes plenty of water, sun cream and a hat.
The total length is 6km (8km from Vilanova railway station if you walk rather than catch the bus) with a total climb of about 150m (500ft) in a series of short stretches, with roughly the same amount of descent. It runs about 200ft above sea level, so in summer you may catch a cooling sea breeze.
The route follows the GR92-4 long distance path throughout its length, and there are waymarkers in the form of parallel red and white lines to help you on your way, painted onto telegraph poles, walls, boulders and even on the path itself. (Red and white crossed lines means the path does NOT go this way useful at junctions).
The Route
The walk starts at the junction of Cami Molinant and the Passatge de la Masia d'en Notari. The walk here from Vilanova railway station is fairly dull, but you can avoid this by getting bus L1 (red line) from the station to Poligon Industrial Marquès (P. I. Marquès). Some buses only go as far as the suburb of Taco, in which case alight at the terminus and follow the Avinguda de Vilafranca del Penedès past the petrol station and turn right into Passatge de la Masia d'en Notari, which dives under the C-15 road to Vilafranca. This adds another 1km and fifteen minutes to the walk.
From the junction, walk along the Cami Molinant towards the suburb of Torre del Veguer. This is a narrow lane, so keep to the left and beware of cars. The junction is on the edge of a small industrial estate, but we soon leave this behind and pass fields of vines and patches of scrub. After 1km, ignore a series of turn-offs on the left, which are lined with villas some are quite small, others quite impressive. Number 1 Carrer de La Muntanyeta has an impressive tiled sign in its wall.
Ahead, you can see the buildings of the Torre del Veguer winery. After 1.5km we fork slightly to pass the winery on its left, following the line of its high walls. The road is now a good gravel track, suitable for vehicles, with a concrete surface in parts. We begin to climb through a patch of woodland, and turning back you have an excellent view of the impressive mansion of the Torre del Veguer winery. After a few minutes, the track stretches out ahead of us between two walls, and to the left we see the impressive bulk of Can Marti, a mansion built in 1870.
A few minutes further on, we turn right and then immediately left to follow the rough track through some more trees, and towards a modern underpass under the C-32 motorway. The road is metalled under the bridge itself, but soon returns to being a rough country track, surrounded by vineyards. After another few minutes, about 3km into the walk, the track forks at the edge of some woodland. Take the less distinct left-hand path through the woods the shade is a delightful relief from the hot sun.
Emerging from the woods a few minutes later, we turn left onto the small road ahead of us, (look out for the red and white way-marks) and then take the right fork signposted 'Can Ramonet'. We follow this road for about 1.5km. There are nice views across the countryside towards Sant Pere and the hills of the Garrif Massif beyond, although in one or two places the signs of redundant agriculture are less attractive. We pass another impressive winery five minutes after the fork, at Can Ramon.
After a few hundred metres, we take a right turn to follow the Cami de Can Zidro, another roughly gravelled road. This soon passes the attractive but rather smaller mansion of La Masieta (literally the 'little country house') and begins to descend gently towards San Pere. It passes through yet more attractive woods, and over the bed of small seasonal stream (or barranco), which has carved out a steep-sided channel.
After another 1km or so, the track becomes a small lane, and veers right with tall, old estate walls either side, heading straight for
