Collsacabra, Rupit and the Garrotxa volcanoes

North of Vic the land rises to the Collsacabra, a plateau that ends in cliffs, and the C-153 runs along the top of them towards Olot. It is the old royal road between the two towns and it still behaves like one: villages every few kilometres, long views, and a proper mountain pass at the end.

Start in Vic, an hour up the C-17 from Barcelona, and follow the C-153 through Roda de Ter to Cantonigròs. Detour to Tavertet, a village on the edge of a 300 m cliff above the Sau reservoir. Then Rupit, the day's centrepiece: stone houses built onto the rock, a river through the middle and a suspended footbridge over it. Park outside and walk.

From Rupit the road climbs to the Coll de Condreu and drops into the Garrotxa, a volcanic zone with forty cones under beech forest. La Fageda d'en Jordà, a beech wood growing on a lava flow, is the walk; Santa Pau, a walled village on the way to Olot, is the lunch.

Return from Olot on the C-63 and C-37 to the AP-7, a fast road with the Pyrenees in the mirror. Sport mode over the pass; the C-153 has real corners and real drops.