Els Ports and Tarragona

One flight destination that I had available to me was Reus in Catalonia and I was interested because several people had recommended nearby Tarragona to me as an attractive Roman city. I did some research on the web and found that there was a Natural Park to the south of Tarragona, near the town of Tortosa, called Els Ports. Indeed, I found that there was a Cicerone guide that covered the park (see Books). So I planned this trip, with one day less walking than usual to give myself time to look at Tarragona.

Costs. Flight £90. Car parking £18.99. Tarragona hotel €48.75 per night. Paüls hostel (B&B) €30. Arnes hotel (B&B) €73. Reus Airport–Tarragona bus €3.00 each way. Tarragona–Tortosa train €6.65 each way. Tortosa–Paüls bus €2.60. Arnes–Tortosa bus €3.95. Evening meal with drinks €10–€23. Entry to Roman ruins €10. Travel insurance £5. Total cost of trip £405.

Places I stayed and was happy with. Sercotel Urbis Centre, Tarragona (Days 1 and 4, Read my review); Ca Les Barberes, Paüls (Day 2, Read my review); Vilar Rural de Arnes, Arnes (Day 3, Read my review).

Books. Mountain Walking in Southern Catalunya by Philip and Vivien Freakley (Cicerone, 1st edition). Field Guide to the Dragonflies of Britain and Europe by Klaas-Douwe Dijkstra and Richard Lewington (Bloomsbury Wildlife, 1st edition).

Maps. Parc Natural dels Ports, 1:30,000, Editorial Piolet.

Day 1: Travel to Tarragona. Left work at 4.30 pm, drove to Prestwick, and caught 6.25 pm flight to Reus, arriving 9.50 pm local time. Caught 10.15 pm bus to Tarragona, arriving 10.30 pm. Found hotel (pre-booked) and enjoyed a beer before bed.

Day 2: Travel to Paüls; circular walk. Left hotel and caught 10.39 am train to Tortosa, arriving 11.49 am. Bought a walking map (see Maps), found the bus station, and caught the 1.45 pm bus to Paüls. This was a crowded school bus (the children found me an object of great curiosity) and we arrived way behind schedule at 2.45 pm. As planned, I started doing Walk 1 from Mountain Walking in Southern Catalunya (see Books), following the GR171 north-west out of Paüls, and arrived on the ridge at 835 m altitude. I went a small way along the ridge on the PR-C9 but then decided (probably incorrectly) that I did not have time to finish the loop before it got dark. So I retraced my steps to Paüls, arriving about 7 pm (so 4 h 15 min walking), found my excellent budget B&B (pre-booked), and had a lovely rustic Catalonian dinner, attempting to converse with my hosts in a comic mix of English, Spanish and French.

Day 3: Walk to Arnes. Left the hostel at 8.15 am as I had a long walk ahead of me. I walked up the quiet road to the picnic area at Sant Roc and then joined the outward leg of Walk 25 from Mountain Walking in Southern Catalunya (see Books). Once over the lovely Coll de les Canals, I chose to take the southern (alternative) loop, staying on a dirt track rather than following the (main) northern route and its possibly flooded stream bed (which I would have taken, of course, if I had not been on my own). I arrived in Arnes about 4 pm (so 7 h 45 min walking), found my luxurious hotel (pre-booked), had a swim in the pool, and then had dinner. After dinner, much to the bemusement of the locals, I photographed some of the exotic insect life I found adhering to the external walls of the hotel.

Day 4: Explore Arnes and Tortosa; travel to Tarragona. I had planned to make an early start and follow the inward leg of Walk 25, diverting to Alfara de Carles, and catching the 4.35 pm bus back to Tortosa. But it had been blisteringly hot, I was tired from the previous day, and an early start would involve missing a nice breakfast (the word sybarite has been applied to me). So I had my breakfast, spent a couple of hours reading by the pool and swimming, and then, after checking out of the hotel, headed down to the nearby river to see what was about. And there I found... The Pool of Wonders! It was a sort of Heathrow Airport for dragonflies and damselflies, yet I could only spend an hour there before I had to go back to Arnes and catch the 2.43 pm bus back to Tortosa. There, I looked around the old town and its very extensive fortifications before catching the 5.25 pm train back to Tarragona, arriving at 6.29 pm. I found my hotel (pre-booked) and had dinner.

Day 5: Explore Tarragona; travel home. Left the hotel about 10.15 am and spent a long day looking at Roman Tarragona. This included taking a bus 2.5 miles/4 km out of the city to look at the Pont del Diable, a very well preserved Roman aqueduct. Caught the 9.10 pm bus (it left at 9 pm) out to Reus airport and got the 10.25 pm flight back to Prestwick, arriving 12 midnight. Arrived home at 1 am.

Wildlife seen. Broad Scarlet, Copper Demoiselle, Emperor Dragonfly, Mediterranean Bluet, Desert Darter, Red-veined Darter, Common Darter, Keeled Skimmer, Willow Emerald, Clouded Yellow, Speckled Wood, Wall Brown, Great Banded Grayling, Red Admiral, Praying Mantis.

Other useful links. Renfe trains

Tortosa/Els Ports local buses

Reus Airport buses

Tarragona local buses

Reflections. Tarragona was an interesting and pleasant city – but not a patch (in my opinion) on the great Andalusian cities. However, unexpectedly, Els Ports was a revelation; a most scenic park with some truly excellent walking. The practicalities were somewhat trickier than I was used to from Andalusia, not least the blistering heat, but also the infrequent bus service to the villages (there seem to be none at weekends) and the low altitude of the surrounding villages. I hope to go back to Els Ports at some point and give it more time and try and be a bit more adventurous with my hiking.

© 2014 The Untravelled World