For a short and close to home destination we chose the Ebro Delta as we are both road trip fans. The weather was still warm – for the autumn season – the trip was comfortable, interesting and… cheap. As usual, we rented a car (this time from my favourite, Sixt) and hit the road.
This is a tour that covers around 400 km (of course, it depends on the order you reach the various destinations). We made it a bit longer, as we choose to avoid highways (and tolls).
After the crowded roads of Catalonia, meeting the delta was quite an amazing experience: all of a sudden we found ourselves on a super-narrow two lane road at the same level as the rice fields. The boyfriend slowed down and I started to take pictures. Pretty cool, if I may say. Very few houses – and placed in eccentric locations – in the middle of nowhere.
We looked (on the GPS, please don’t forget it at home!) for the destinations recommended by previous travellers and the tourism department. And we were not disappointed. To give this short tour a little bit of colour (as it was all green), we added some adventure: put a finger on the map and header there. I strongly recommend you do the same, as the place is small (according to Wiki, the Ebre Delta has 320 square kilometres) and amazing: there are birds and nice scenery and good food and some experiences.
Our Ebre Delta tour was meant to cover two full days of wonderings, therefore we slept at the end of it, in Sant Carles de la Rápita (here’s what we thought about the Hotel del Port, we strongly recommend it for a short stay). Then, we visited the little city (and the market, near the centre – ask at the reception – we got some good deals for clothes – no antiques, though), headed to its panoramic point and then left for the sand dunes.
This part we count as our favourite: we got to drive and walk on endless sand dunes, between the two stripes of water, just us, in total solitude. We caught the sunset close to Punta de la Banya (there is a limit to how far you can go, as there is a salt exploitation in the area – nope, you cannot visit it) and agreed that we witness magic in development.
As we are adventurous (Marius more than me), we spent the second day driving a boat. Really cool, you should try, as they don’t request a licence. I personally freaked out, but drove the boat. It is an amazing experience. To stop me from trembling, we then walked to the wood tower that is close to where the river meets the sea.
There is also a nice walk to the Punta del Fangar, where there is a lighthouse (take your time, the trip is estimated at “two hours there and three way back, because you are already tired” as a funny fisherman explained).
We stopped on the side of the road to see how the rice machine does its work and to see how rice plants look like.
What else? Check the local festivals and try the water sports and the fishing trips (we didn’t). But, most important of all, take pictures, it’s worth it.