Getting lost for a while in the Pyrenees is never a bad plan if you know what to see in Camprodon. This old town dates from the early 12th century and It has its origin in the ancient monastery of San Pere and in an old market granted in 1118 by Ramón Berenguer III, the Count of Barcelona. The town became a popular holiday destination for industrials and wealthy people from Barcelona and Catalonia, partially thanks to the influence of Doctor Robert, an important polemic doctor, and politician, who recommended Camprodon as a perfect destination to help to heal some diseases. So let’s see that besides the outstanding climate & the crispy fresh and clean air, what to see in Camprodon.

What Camprodon can offer to tourists?

The best to do in Camprodon is simply getting lost around in the streets of its old center, many of them still with traces of the old medieval stones, present in every corner. Strolling you can cross the bridges and admire Camprodon from the other side.

Besides that Camprodon has very significant places. The town is perfect for hiking and nature lovers who can visit Can Pascal oak grove, Font Nova and Maristany Promenade.

For history, architecture and heritage fans the town provides the icònic and famous Stone bridge, Sant Pere monastery and Santa Maria church.

If you are a gourmet, Camprodon is also your place, since you could enjoy the local gastronomy at any of the many restaurants around or just simple strolling and shopping in Valencia Street to catch up with any of the delis where to buy local sausages. Moreover, if you prefer the sweets you can go to the famous Galletas Birba Biscuit Factory or just buy and taste its classic old-school biscuits.

Strolling in the old town: Valencia Street

Valencia Street is probably the main and most significant street of Camprodon. This is the busiest place in the whole town. The visitor can find a multitude of diverse shops and bars. The traffic of vehicles is not allowed in some periods, like weekends and holidays, just to make the walk more pleasant for pedestrians.

We can recommend to buy sausages, especially fuet, bull blanc and bull negre. If you have no clue about Catalan sausages, those are very local and interesting. Don’t miss them!

There is a one more very interesting detail in Valencia street: the amount of ancient bakeries. Why a small town in the montains has that many old school bakeries? Were there in old times enough clients for all of them? The answer might be yes since the town was full of wealthy people living for long periods or spending vacations.

Doctor Robert, in 19^th Century, was very important for that. This doctor recommended for some lung and many other kind of diseases to spend a period in Camprodon as a treatment. The high-class society of Barcelona used to accept his advice since we was a successful politician, congressional representative and Major of Barcelona. Maybe as a politician, he was influent but as a doctor, no doubt about it. As a doctor, let’s see, he made a famous conference in 1899 called “The Catalan race” comparing the Catalan skulls with the skulls of the rest of Spain. By the way, he has still some statues to honour him all around Catalonia, which neither the most leftist Catalan politicians have ever thought to remove. He died at 60 years old in a restaurant in Carrer Ferran of Barcelona.  

The New Bridge of Camprodon

The New Bridge of Camprodon (El Pont Nou) is not very new. It is located over Ter River, just after its confluence with Ritort River. The bridge was built between 1196 and 1226 and partly redone in the 14th century, to make way for the bridle path that led to Cerdanya Region. Now it is very iconic and probably the spot which receives more shots from the tourists’ cameras.

Maristany Promenade

This is one of the most important promenades in Camprodon. It is especially beautiful when the fall of the leaves in autumn. Maristany Promenade was made in 1923 by the modernist architect Bernardí Martorell as an imitation of Passeig de Gràcia in Barcelona, 1923. It has some of the unique buildings in town that belonged and some of them still belong to some of the very important families of Barcelona: Can Ballvé, Les Heures, Can Font de Dalt, Can Guasch, Can Farrés, Can Garcia Nieto and Can Maristany.  

Monastery of Sant Pere de Camprodon

Monastery of Sant Pere has its origins in an old church of the 10th century, dedicated to Saint Peter. That time, they decided to build the monastery and remove the old church. The monastery that we can visit today was finished in the middle of the 11th century, although over time it has undergone some renovations. The building has a rectangular Latin cross shape and stands out above all its beautiful bell tower that emerges from the walls.

The monastery is private property. For visits check further information here.

Church of Santa María de Camprodon

This is the Parish Church of Santa Maria de Camprodón and is located right next to the Monastery of Sant Pere. It is a Romanesque building of a single nave. Inside, there is an 18^th Century chapel and some sacred art pieces.

Town Hall

The Town Hall’s building of Camprodon is a Catalan civil Gothic building. It is well preserved and it is located in a nice square full of bars and restaurant. Indeed a very nice place to eat on a budget or to drink vermut outside in the sun.

Fountains

Due to its geographical location in the confluence of the Ter and Riutor rivers, we can find up to 15 sources in Camprodon. The most famous to visit are:

• Sant Patllari
• Boix
• Vern
• Botàs
• Forcarà
• Can Moi
• Llandrius

What can we visit nearby Camprodon?

Setcases

Setcases means in Catalan seven houses. Around these first houses, the villagers built some more, reaching the current image of the town. Precisely, the main attractions of the village is its typically mountain houses, made out of stone.

Likewise, in Setcases, there is the church of Sant Miquel, which presents an image of its patron on the front façade. Indoors, it has a beautiful golden baroque altar, full of all kinds of religious figures.

Setcases also has a very particular beach, which takes advantage of the flow of the river Ter, and where visitors can enjoy, in summer, both a bath and a beautiful mountainous landscape.

Llanars

The village of Llanars has an undeniable charm in terms of its buildings and streets. One of its highlights is the Romanesque parish of Sant Esteve de Llanars. Outside there is a small square with steep stairs in the shape of a half-circle, where you can get excellent pictures of the church skipping the traffic of the road.

The bell tower has a curious pyramidal roof which is very iconic and the locker and the iron crafts on the door are amazing. In its interior, the apse and the facade stand out, with some decorative friezes and the impressive and valuable Romanesque altar frontal.

Villalonga de Ter

The main tourist attraction in Vilallonga de Ter is the parish church of Sant Martí, a Romanesque church from the 12th century, with a beautiful apse and a waterfall in its vicinity. The village is a popular destination for hikers and the natural surroundings are excellent.

Where to stay in & around Camprodon?

Camprodon is very popular among tourists, hence there are many accommodation options to choose from, but it’s definitely better to be quick as during the peak seasons the places can get full very easily. You might be surprised, but Camprodon indeed a very famous tourist attraction within the county of Ripolles. Here you can find our favorite places to stay within the area, feel free to use our discount code of 20% once you are booking on Booking.com. Click here to use this discount code.

• In Camprodon:
  1. Hostal La Placeta – book here directly with our link.
  2. Hotel Edelweiss Camprodon – book here directly with our link.

• Around Camprodon:
  1. Hotel Grèvol Spa, Llanars, 2 km from Camprodon – book here with our link.
  2. Les Planes del Grau, Sant Joan de les Abadesses  Show, 7 km from Camprodon – book here with our link.
  3. Sports House Nord Sud, Villalonga del Ter, 5 km from Camprodon – book here with our link.

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