Weekend in Ripoll
My spouse’s and mine’s two birthdays (two days apart) justified leaving the radius we had closed ourselves to in recent months.
Since the last lockdown, we have been limited to the areas of the local authority to which we belong, and to put it mildly, I have exhausted all the nearby and less nearby forests.
I felt like replacing those trees with other trees. It’s true that we’ll be limited there too, but it would be a different and unfamiliar landscape.
The search took a few days until I found something that met all my requirements – open (a lot of places were temporarily closed), available (usually a problem when booking at the last minute), a stone house, suitable for children and with a kitchen (as mentioned, there are children and most of the time they say they are hungry). I posted the list of places (which were really comparable, it must be said) that I found along the way in my Facebook group . How was it? What did we do? And it was all about the marriage proposal.
Table of Contents
This place had been on my list for a long time. It wasn’t available on the original weekend, so I went around to all sorts of other places until I decided to postpone the date and get there.
Eva, the owner, was super helpful on the phone. We arrived late in the evening, after a little over an hour of driving. As we had agreed in advance, dinner was waiting for us there. It was a wise move.
Ova’s fondness for the little details is hard to miss.
She gave us a tour of the immaculately designed entrance floor. Anyone who knows me knows that I have a slight weakness for places that are specially designed. The kind where you walk in and immediately feel at home. I immediately asked who the designer of the place was. She smiled a slightly shy smile and said that she was.
Then suddenly I heard myself asking her ” Will you marry me ?” For some reason, she laughed and didn’t want to go into details. Note to self: Next time, travel alone to beautiful places.
dinner
The table in the dining room was set for two adults and two children. For us – cloth napkins, adult cutlery. For them, placemats with colors and a sharpener (!), paper napkins, smaller cutlery. The children ate a hamburger and crispy, good fries. We had a creamy artichoke soup that was excellent, beetroot carpaccio with fresh local cheese, and rice with vegetables. We ate a delicate and not too sweet tiramisu. The use of high-quality ingredients is evident in every dish. Eva told us that the vegetables were from the nearby farm, whose owners also sell at the Saturday market in Ripoll. The dairy and meat products were from another farm a short drive away.
Breakfast
Only in the morning did we see how beautiful and decorated the place was. A rich breakfast, all locally produced. Traditional Tupí cheese that the farmers would take with them to the mountains. It is fermented and has a strong smell (which I couldn’t get over, so I can’t report on the taste). There is plain and there is truffle. Yogurts and other Mató cheeses made from sheep and goat milk. Croissants, sausages, breads, a wide variety of jams and of course freshly squeezed orange juice. In short – you can’t leave hungry.
Eva's story - or how on earth did she end up in this place?
This blog is a great excuse to talk to people and ask them to tell me about themselves, which might sound a little creepy otherwise. So here it is. Eva Arbons started her career as an employee at her then-partner’s family’s hotel in the Pyrenees. She worked there for a few years in various roles and also studied cooking and pastry at the Hoffmann in Barcelona. (I knew I had to marry her!) She always dreamed of the day she would have her own hotel. One of the guests at that hotel was Francisco Heras, a chef from El Bulli, who offered her a partnership in a new restaurant. Together they opened Llamber Tavern, in the city of Avilés in the Asturias region. After a few years there, they decided to move the restaurant to the El Born district, where it still operates today, under the name Llamber , which in Asturian means to lick or eat something sweet. 500 meters from the restaurant, they opened a cider and vermouth bar called El Chigre 1769, which also serves food. Both places are affiliated with Slow Food Barcelona, which means they are committed to the principles of slow food, using local produce, etc. Also, both places were designed by her. For quite a few years, she searched for the hotel that would be hers, until in 2018 she found this building, which was used as a hostel. She renovated it, designed it using objects she had collected throughout her life, mainly from flea markets and which filled eight truckloads. Within three weeks (!) of the moment she moved in, the place was open to the general public. Today, she runs the place herself, alone, with the help of her partner. An exciting closing of the circle.
The hotel itself
The building is probably from the 14th century. In the nearby church, there is documentation that Mrs. Mir sold a cow to a neighbor in 1366, so at the very least it existed back then. Five double rooms of different sizes are located on the upper floor of the main building. Each of them is decorated a little differently, with antique furniture, white linens, and natural cosmetics that a woman makes especially for the hotel (I was given a special tour, the conclusion of which was that I should come here again with my husband, without the children). The public areas have a small, intimate dining room, a games room, and two relaxation rooms, each with a blazing fireplace. The largest of them overlooks the pool and the valley. On the entrance floor, there are more seating areas and a farmyard with chickens and goats. From the outside, you can reach another building called the “casita,” which is intended for families. That’s where we stayed (I uploaded a video to my story, I’ll also put it in the highlight). Incidentally, the place is also used for weddings (I almost succeeded).
Update January 2022 – I came back here with a group of girlfriends, without children, to celebrate a birthday for one of us. It was an unforgettable weekend.
Update December 2024 – The hotel has become adults only . A luxurious suite has been added on the top floor, where Eva used to live herself. She has moved into the casita, which is actually the apartment where we stayed.
Update July 2025 – Eva invited me and my spouse to stay here for a couple of nights. We stayed in a new suite that was formerly this exact living room you see here bellow. It was the first time I have experiences this place in summer time and it was just f a b u l o u s!
Our trip has been shortened to 1 night, but we managed to enjoy every minute of it.
Thanks, Eva!
Check out this reel on ig
Aerial video
A video I shot and edited while everyone was still sleeping…
What to do in Ripoll?
If you live in Catalonia, you have probably passed through this city on your way to the Pyrenees / Val de Noria .
There is a Lidl branch here near Escalat next to a small and somewhat strange nursery. Anyway, it is a nice old city and has a nice center with a pedestrian street.
Farmers Market – Saturday morning
If you’re in the area, it’s definitely worth a visit. You’ll be surprised to find stalls in all sorts of corners and alleys a few blocks from the center of the city. It has everything you’d find in a Catalan farmers’ market, at reasonable prices and with fresh, good produce.
Trip to the waterfalls
The weather was not hot by any means, but a coat and a good mood do the job until the sun makes a significant appearance. This route starts right out of the Masia. We started walking along the path according to Eva’s precise instructions. After saying goodbye to the cows who were honking their bells, we went further and further down until we reached a tiny split. There we took a left onto a path that was easy to miss and within two minutes we reached a small waterfall. If you miss the turn, continue and then you will meet the stream that crosses the path. That day the water was high (about half the height of an adult’s ankle – half the way to the knees). This place by the waterfall is a great stopping point for a mid-day picnic / coffee / tea. In the summer it seems to me an ideal place to swim without many people (don’t tell anyone). There are two more waterfalls / pools like this further on.
Bike/hike tour on Ruta del FERRO
The path runs parallel to the Ter River, which originates in the Pyrenees at an altitude of 2,400 meters and is suitable for bicycles, pedestrians, runners and even strollers. It is nice to know that this road was used by coal and iron convoys for a distance of 12 km to Sant Joan de les Abadesses (a small town where we stayed on another trip ). It is part of the Via Verde project, which has transformed more than 3,100 km of disused railway lines in Spain into walking and cycling paths.
If you would like to rent a bike, there is a place at the beginning of the route where you can rent one – CAT Can Guetes and there are two other places that rent bikes not far away – Bicicletes Pirineu Oci Actiu Pirineus – Bikes Ripoll
It is highly recommended to make arrangements in advance and find out updated opening hours.
How to get to the route? Put Rute del ferro, Ripoll in the navigation software. Park near the square – there is a spacious lot there, which is also suitable for caravans.
Seven Lakes and Adventure Park
If you haven’t done the Seven Lakes Trail, it’s really close and worth the walk. It starts near Campdevánol – near the rope park, which is a point of interest in itself.
What do people eat in the area?
Unfortunately, I don’t have much to contribute in this area. Two restaurants that were recommended to us were closed. One local – Els Amigus – Casa de menjars and one Italian – La Piazzetta . In the end, we found ourselves in a place that is not worth writing about at all.
Les Lloses – Ecological farm shop and restaurant
A small shop with a good selection of dairy and meat products. We left with cheesecake, matou, all the types of flan they had (egg, matou, vanilla, chocolate), and a few other cheeses. The Tierno was especially tasty for me. They also have guided tours. Mas el Lladré If you’re there, Eva recommends making a reservation at Dachs, a Catalan restaurant that should be very good. It was also closed on our weekend, due to the regional lockdown. Restaurant Dachs





