Hola,

Friends and me will be in Barcelona next months for a week (Sep 14-21).
For one day, we are looking for a trip into the countryside.

Our domicile in BCN will be in walking distance to a rental car pick up location, and access to Ronda Litoral. The draft plan is to pick up a car in the early morning, get out of BCN before 9am, explore some places somewhere. And drop off the car at Sants (as that drop off location is available 24hrs).

The aim is not so much to enjoy super-important sights but rather to get out of the big city and enjoy some natural scenery, smaller towns or villages, the odd castle here and there, a nice mirador, roadside eateries, a stroll here and there, not hiking.. nothing fancy or spectacular.

As we have already seen several of the usual suspects, and do not want to visit a larger town, we have ruled out so far the following options (for either reason):
Montserrat, Sitges, Penedes, Girona, Tarragona.
With regard to distance/ time of travel to get there, we have ruled out:
The Pyrenees, Southern Catalunya/ Terres del Ebre.
In addition, no one of us is extremely interested in anything concerning Dali.

Not relevant are: motorway tolls (I know they are quite steep around BCN), and driving in BCN which I have done many times so far.

So far, I found interesting bits and pieces along a trail from BCN via Manresa to Cardona (castle/Parador, salt mine), further North on by-ways through the Natural Park around the reservoir near Sant Llorenc de Morunys and East to Berga and eventually South to BCN again.

Or would you suggest a completely different route, e.g. along the Coast towards the French border?
Or other inland sights? Maybe Vic + xyz?

Any suggestions are highly appreciated.

As an off-track thought you could catch a train to the Torres vinyard or the village where Frixenet is based and do a wine tour.

Vic is a fascinating destination but it might be more a "city" than you are looking for. But definitely give it some thought. I haven't been to most of the places you are considering, but if you find yourself drawn to heading in the general direction of the French border, I thought the greek ruins at Empuries wonderful and the nearby medieval town of Castello d'Empuries was the highlight of my trip to that area, and it is scarcely touristed at all. For more conventional tourist destinations, there are other tiny medieval villages scattered about + the pretty seaside village of Callela da Palafrugell (thought that the very nicest of the coastal towns that I saw).

But if you are look to immerse yourself in nature, then the stretch to the French border is intensely developed in some patches (condos, agribusiness, etc) so you might want to head elsewhere for unbroken vistas of greenery or boutique vineyards.

You might consider 12th century village Rupit, less than 2 hours drive from Barcelona.

It is surrounded by some spectacular scenery. You can see pics from a hike I recently did there here;

http://barcelonanavigator.com/hike-f...rtet-to-rupit/

The Costa Brava?

The Costa Brava will still be busy in mid-September. I'd head in the direction of Vic and from there take the BV-5067 up to Tavertet. It's a historic village with spectaular views of the surrounding countryside.

You'll be able to stop in Ripoll, Olot and the medieval village of Besalú, then head back to Barcelona on the E-15. I'd stop for lunch in Besalú. There are several good restaurants in the area, including Can Roca (www.restaurantcanroca.cat/ca/) and Cúria Reial (www.curiareial.com), which is in Besalú itself.

From Olot you can visit the Garrotxa and pick up some of their excellent Garrotxa cheese.

Many thanks to all!
Great food for thought and planning!