A 5-day bridge in the Vall de Boí by motorhome: our experience
Next, we invite you to read about our experience. A 5-day holiday weekend in the Vall de Boí in a motorhome. A family getaway with our children, ages 2 and 6, and our dog, Max.
Our second experience in the Vall de Boí by camper. In the first we came with our old california, now with our 7,5m long motorhome.
If you want to take a trip or a family getaway, the Vall de Boí will be a hit by motorhome or camper. Its multiple landscapes, activities and its good gastronomy will make adults and children fall in love.
September 11th long weekend, 5 days. From Friday afternoon to Wednesday.
- Inside
- Caldes de Boi
- Taull
- viella, youWe had to go to the hospital and not because of tourism due to an accident during a hiking route, our 6-year-old son fell into a lime pit :(, luckily everything was an anecdote and nothing happened to him.
- Cubells (on the way home on the way back, for climbing).
- Hiking through Aigüestortes. You can go up in 4 × 4 and then make a flatter route to one of the lakes.
- Enjoy a bath in the river or the heated pool of Barruera
- Have a good barbecue in the Barruera area
- See the Romanesque churches as Sant Climent de Taull World Heritage Site
- visit charming town of Barruera or Taull
- Climb around the Cavallers reservoir
- Make a route through the Cavallers reservoir and see it from its viewpoint
- Go to Caldes de Boí spa
- Visit a school farm with activities for children or take a horse or pony ride in Barruera
- Make the trail easy and short for children as the path of ityou in love with Caldes de Boí until the Aiguestortes car park.
Car parks and overnight stays by order made on the Garrotxa route by motorhome or camper:
- Barruera motorhome area, two-night stay has drains, water and barbecues with tables: GPS coordinates: N 42 ° 30'5.0399999999997 ”E 0 ° 47'44.592” 42.501400,0.795720
- Parking of the Cavallers Reservoir: For those of 2 m or less in width you can park in the parking above, for those of more than 2 m, as we have in the one below and hitchhike 🙁
- Parking of St Climent de Taull, overnight for 1 night, has toilets and swings: GPS N 42 ° 31'1.1927999999998 ”E 0 ° 50'54.3228”42.516998,0.848423
- Parking Caldes de Boí, parking to make the path of lovers (you can stay overnight) (: N 42 ° 33'46.8 ”E 0 ° 50'36.6648”42.563000,0.843518)
- Viella center parking
- Parking at the foot of climbing routes in Cubells de la Serra Mania, on a dirt road with potholes where you can touch the butt of the AC.
Total € 125:
- Tolls + gasoline approx € 80 (from St Pere de Vilamajor round trip)
- Overnight areas € 0
- Restaurants + supers + bakeries € 45
Synthesis of the route and activities done in our experience in the Vall de Boí
- Summary of visits and activities carried out:
- Barruera (2 nights)
- Visit the town, tourist information, parks and walk along the river
- Barbecue at night
- Caldes de Boi
- Ascent to the Cavallers Embassament
- Climbing
- Taull (1 night)
- Visit and games in the playground
- Romanesque church St Climent de Taull
- Walk along the path of lovers
- Viyella fabric
- Visit to the town and hospital 🙁
- Cubells (1 night)
- Excursion 20 minutes
- Climbing
- Barruera (2 nights)
The best and the worst in our experience in the Vall de Boí by motorhome
- Make a night barbecue in good company in the Barruera area with products from the town's agrobotiga, all great!
- Play with the children in the Barruera and Taull parks. And fly the kites on the Barruera soccer field.
- Dine in front of Sant Climent de Taull with its lights on and spend a pleasant evening in good company
- Cavallers embassament, beautiful landscape and place
- Climb with the kids in the Cavallers and Cubells embassament
-
The fall of our son in a lime pit of two meters and something on the walk of lovers that comes out
of the Aiguestortes National Park car park, which made us go to the Viella hospital, to make sure
which was fine (luckily he had a star and he only had a scratch) -
The heat that Cubelles did in the climbing sector, which is a mainly winter sector
during the mornings or we should have gone in the afternoon.
- Not being able to access with vehicles over 2m wide to the car park above the Cavallers reservoir
Tips for this getaway from our experience
- Fall and Spring They are the best times of the year to go if you do not want crowds and if you want to find a place in the Barruera area.
- Summer if you want to enjoy the cool nights and the baths in the river and pool of Barruera. That yes, the Barruera area may be full, but you can go to the magnificent camping next door that has a jumper for the kids and its owners are very nice.
- Winter if you want to enjoy snow and ski.
1. Visiting the Barruera tourist information office will greatly help you plan the rest of your trip through the Vall de Boí. They have maps with routes and trails and information on the many activities available.
2. For climbing, always bring all the necessary equipment and have prior experience or go with experienced people.
3 For hikes, it is preferable to bring a mountain GPS with the tracks of the routes to be taken downloaded.
4. Always carry good hiking boots, waterproofs, and warm clothing in your backpack along with enough water and food.
5 In Barruera there is a small path next to the motorhome area along the river to the Salancar (a marsh-like area) with lots of fauna and flora to observe.
1 The Barruera and Taull parks are great allies for parents to go with their little ones.
2 The Barruera swimming pool in July and August is great for the little ones and the large one is heated, the small one is freezing because of that.
3 Behind the pool there is a farm school area where farm activities take place at 12 pm in the mornings and pony rides take place at 17 pm in the afternoons.
4. Be careful not to bathe in the Barruera river, there is a strong current.
5. Keep a close eye on the little ones at all times in the mountains; there are thousands of risks. In a moment of carelessness, our 6-year-old son fell into a lime pit more than two meters deep on the Lovers' Walk. It was a very, very big scare that luckily ended with just a scratch, but we learned our lesson: not a moment of carelessness in the mountains.
6 For children under 5 years old, bring a mountain backpack if you want to walk for more than 2 hours; the double mountain trolley could be used around the Caballeros reservoir, but for the rest of the paths the backpack is better.
7. Another highly recommended activity for families with children is taking a 4x4 taxi from Boí to Aigüestortes. From there, it's a 1-hour walk to Estany Llong, which is a fairly flat path. The taxi costs 8 Euros per person.
1 Any of the places visited and where we stayed overnight are good places for them. Cubelles was the best, as there was absolutely no one there and the countryside was flat so they could roam freely without danger.
2 Be careful in the Taull parking lot, it's the second time in two years that we've been there and both times we've found some Border Collie dogs running loose there, they belong to a nearby shepherd and are off-leash, they're not bad, but if your dog is male like mine and cocky you might get a scare.
3 Be careful in Barruera on the river because there is a strong current.
4. Dogs can ride in taxis going to Aiguestortes for €8, the same as any adult.
1. The Barruera motorhome area is only for overnight stays from 8 PM to 20 AM, according to the sign, but it's true that people stay during the day or longer and aren't fined for it. Camping is prohibited, though. The problem is that some people set up camp with caravans, tents, and even generators, as we found. And for these people, the authorities can come and remove you. Otherwise , the area is great. It has water filling and emptying facilities (downside: there's only one tap for toilets and clean water, so remember not to flush the toilet there!), picnic tables and barbecues, and the river is right next door. There's also the municipal swimming pool (open in July and August for €1,5 for children and €2,5 for adults), CrossFit and children's parks, and it's just 5 minutes from the town with its many restaurants and shops.
2. Be careful if it rains in the Barruera area; it turns into a mud pit where the wheels slip a lot. To get out of the mud, remember not to accelerate suddenly, but also not to brake in the middle of the mud; accelerate smoothly and continuously.
3. To reach the Caballeros Reservoir, you won't be able to drive your motorhome all the way to the upper parking area. Although the road is paved and in good condition, it's narrow, and vehicles wider than 2 meters are prohibited. There's a parking area before that road where you can leave your motorhome. From there, it's an hour's walk uphill to the reservoir along a busy and rather unpleasant road . Another option is to ask someone for a ride; many cars make the climb. We went with friends who gave us a lift in their van.
4 The Taull overnight parking has toilets, but no other services for motorhomes.
5. The Cubells overnight area is a perfect spot for campervans, but it's not listed on Parking4Night. It's on a dirt track with speed bumps that, luckily, didn't cause us to scrape the undercarriage of the motorhome . We won't go into detail about the place because, although we arrived safely and the spot was perfect, it's not really a place for a campervan, as simply encountering another car makes things very difficult. I'll just say that anyone who wants to venture there should go ahead; they'll get there, but it's only a place to access the climbing area there. You won't find anything else, and it gets very hot in the summer with no shade.
6 For the drainage and preparation of the motorhome on the return trip we used the Cervera motorhome area, which is super well equipped and requires no detour as it is located at the entrance to the town.
Story of the escape to the Vall de Boí in a motorhome
Day 1: Puncture and arrival in the Barruera area
Leaving work and with the campervan ready, we hopped in and headed towards Barruera to enjoy our long weekend in the Vall de Boí. As soon as we set off, we noticed one tire had lower pressure than the others. We got out and immediately spotted a nail! Luckily, we bought this easy-to-install, solar-powered tire pressure monitor! We highly recommend it; for just €45, this little gadget can save you from major scares on a trip, as we discovered (and this is the second one that's saved us!) . We'll soon be posting a blog and video on how to install it—it's really worth it!
Here is the link to the one we have that we buy it here on Amazon:
After fixing the puncture and 4 or more hours of travel, it is 20:XNUMX p.m. when we arrive at the Barruera motorhome area. It has rained and the area has a muddy terrain that makes wheels skid depending on the area. There are few motorhomes but they arrive throughout the night.
The area is great next to it there is a fenced soccer field great for the little ones and as a bit of air we made the kite fly.
We dine on one of the picnic tables with the food that we have prepared in tuppers and after a movie we go to bed.
Day 2: Barruera with barbecue and ratafía night party
We will pass this bridge in the company of our climbing friends and neighbors, who have introduced us to the world of climbing and these days we will try to improve our techniques. So during the morning while we wait for them to arrive, we are going to take a walk through Barruera.
We go through the tourist office, where they kindly give us all kinds of information on activities to do with the children and on the trails there are. He has no more information about the climbing sectors than to point out to us in the maca that are around the Caballeros reservoir.
Let's go play in the park for a while and buy bread and some more supplies from the agrobotiga.
Our friends were taking a while, so we decided to have lunch in the picnic area. When we finished, they arrived, and we joined them. We chatted for a bit while the children played, and then we went to the park for a walk around the village together.
We decided to take the day easy and go buy meat from the agrobotiga to have a night barbecue, taking advantage of the large area with barbecues that we have.
Between parks and gathering, the afternoon passes quickly and we go to prepare the barbecue.
The night is cool but with the fleece it is great, the children play with flashlights and have a pipe, and the adults with the gathering and ratafía for dessert also enjoy the evening.
Some even went to sleep at 2 o'clock in the morning and at least there was very little left, you can imagine hehe
Day 3: Sport climbing to the Cavallers reservoir and evening in Taüll
Already in the morning, some more hungover than others, we all get going and after picking up the AC and van, we all go to the Caballers reservoir.
We parked the AC in the Caldes de Boí car park, just before the reservoir road for about 3 km. The access road to the reservoir is prohibited for vehicles of more than 2 meters wide.
We are lucky our friends go by van and although it is just 2m they have a good time. They make a couple of trips and take the 4 of us up in the van.
Upstairs, in the parking lot of the reservoir dam, we walked for about 20 minutes until we reached the reservoir and right next to the climbing area on the right.
The morning and half a day go by climbing children and adults while we eat snacks and even those of us who wait sunbathe.
The day threatened rain but only 4 drops touched us.
At around 16 pm we went down to the van and AC and we are preparing to spend the late night in the parking lot of St Climent de Taull, a beautiful Romanesque church, where we have a great playground for the little ones.
The afternoon is spent in the park and on the basketball court, where 2 border collies unleashed by a shepherd (this is the second time in two years that we have seen them) are also encouraged to play with the kids.
At night to prepare dinners and enjoy the show of the illuminated church of Sant Climent de Taull. And once the children are in bed with a good Calvados, brought from Normandy, and a good blanket, they have just made the evening most endearing and pleasant for the adults, although tonight it's girls' night and we are the ones who go to sleep later. the men were dejected from the night before hehehe
Day 4: Hiking with the scare of our lives ... Viella in a visit with a happy ending and a wild night in Cubells
Today we decided to do a bit of hiking in the morning and in the afternoon go to another climbing sector that will bring us home, and thus we will cut the return trip so that it is not so
heavy for children.
We decided to do the camí dels enamorats, a path of approximately one hour and a half that surrounds the river.
We leave the car park in front of the path, just after the road that goes to the Aiguestortes car park.
The path goes through the river and with a bridge. We stopped at the old lime pit, and we struck up a conversation with some colleagues from another motorhome. We are many adults for the 3 children (little Anna is in the backpack) but accidents always happen when you least expect it and in a matter of a second.
Our 6 year old son Arnau falls into the lime pit more than 2 meters high and full of large pointy stones below.
The scare is tremendous, he cries right away so we rest a bit and as soon as I pick him up (there is access from below) I see that he has not fallen headlong by luck and that luck is tremendous: he has fallen on his ass and right in a circle where there was no stone. In any case, we do not remain calm, the child's back hurts where apparently only a scratch can be seen but the fall has been tremendous.
We take him in our arms and run to the motorhome, we call 112, we see that the best and fastest option is to take him to Viella where there is a hospital and they will be able to evaluate him better and if it is necessary to take X-rays.
With a heavy heart, since he is still not doing well and is in a lot of pain, we take him to Viella.
At the Viella hospital they behave great, the child on the trip was already better, but anything had to be ruled out. They made us enter right away and several doctors came by evaluating him and doing various tests, including urine.
Luckily everything turned out great, and I just had a scratch on my back. We are all breathing now, while we regretted not being more aware. With them in the mountains nothing is safe, you have to go with a thousand eyes and have them very close, we cannot trust ourselves for a second.
Since we were in Viella and after eating, we went for a walk through its streets and have an ice cream.
Until the rain made us of the terrace of the ice cream parlor and we decided to leave for Cubells, where we would spend the night near the climbing sector for the next day to continue climbing.
Two hours and a little later we arrived in Cubells, with a stop beforehand to buy peaches in Alfarràs.
The climbing area is reached by an unpaved dirt road right in front of some blue pipe installations that can be seen on the road past the town.
The road has bumps and we are careful not to touch the AC, they do not take two cars, but there is field next to it, it is flat and it is not much section until we reach the section that is without conrea where we can spend the night. We are totally alone ourselves and our friends, there is a wonderful tranquility. Max, our dog has a great time together with the children who play kite and ball flying.
After the intense morning experienced, we needed some relaxation and the place transmits that much needed peace to us.
Arnau plays normal, he says it doesn't hurt, everything and that we try to relax as well and not make too much effort. That's why we put Cars 2 on the 4 children in the AC while we prepare dinners and set the tables.
We have dinner and soon we all go to bed tonight.
Day 5: Sport climbing in Cubells and return home
Once everyone has had breakfast and the backpacks are ready, we are ready to go up to the climbing sector. They are 20 minutes walking with the children. It is a pleasant and suitable place for the little ones, but the sun begins to set early, and we have to get under the few shadows of some bush there.
We all climbed a bit , and around 14-15 pm we went back down to the RV where it was still very hot. It's a place to go in winter; it's very hot and there's no shade.
Well attached to the AC and its awning, we eat something and then we all get ready to shower and get home ready for dinner and bed. The new school year begins tomorrow!
Fresh with the shower, we get into the cars and make a trip home, stopping in the Cervera area to discharge water.
It has been a great bridge (except for the incident on Monday with our son where we all had a really bad time) and where we have had great luck for everything (even all the rain that they predicted we dodged and we saw almost no drop). And our friends and neighbors are always great company, they always take us to great climbing spots and we have a great time with them! From heart thank you!!
We will repeat for sure soon.
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