Do it yourself

TRAVEL

Direct flights to Girona are available from many London airports, with prices varying hugely dependant on when you are travelling. Our return flights in June cost around £300. Transfers from Girona Costa Brava airport cost £45 return, but it’s only 10km from Girona itself, and buses follow the same route for a fraction of the cost. Rather than take a bike, we pre-booked a hire bike from Girona’s Bike Breaks Cycle Centre (gironacyclecentre.com), which cost around £40 a day.

ACCOMMODATION

We stayed at the Hotel Nord 1901 (nord1901.com). This friendly hotel offers rooms at its main premises in the new town of Girona plus one and two-bedroom apartments within two minutes’ walk of the historic cathedral of the old town. Our spacious one-bed apartment, complete with kitchen and lounge, cost from £100 per night, and was a 60-second ride from the starting point of the Gran Fondo. Breakfast is provided at the main hotel building, a pleasant 10-minute stroll via one of the town’s historic bridges.

Girona is home to numerous pro cyclists, and good spots for breakfast, coffee and cake include Federal (federalcafe.es/girona), La Fabrica (lafabricagirona.com) and Espresso Mafia (espressomafiagirona.com).

GIRONA CYCLING FESTIVAL

The Gran Fondo is the culmination of a week-long cycling celebration, which also includes a 10km hill climb and a Nocturne crit race around the old town on Thursday. For those who can’t face the full 142km Gran Fondo there’s a shorter 125km route available, but why would you come all this way and not do the ascent of Rocacorba?