When shortlisting all the places we wanted to see or visit during our roadtrip, I had heard about Rodès, a village just a little further South of Ille sur Têt, its ancient castle, or rather ruins, and the hike leading up there. So here we are, leaving Ille sur Têt and on our way to Rodès.
After arriving in the village, we parked near the city hall and walked our way up to the charming Catalan-styled church. When standing in front of it, you’ll want to take the way up on your right and find some stairs leading to the beginning of the trail going up the mountain and Rodès castle.
After a few minutes, the trail starts off on a charming path in between prickly pear cactus. I am not plant-savvy or anything so I didn’t know what to expect and what’s growing in these lands but somehow I wasn’t expecting this so yes, I was kinda surprised! What a beautiful landscape we had there! Oh and also, we were alone during the entire hike up and down, which was so cool! (and very practical for the photographs I have to say!)
This hike then follows a one-loop trail so you’ll have two options there: either you take the first path on your left and explore this trail in the clockwise direction and rapidly climbing to the castle, or you can also keep on walking and do the loop the other way round. We chose the latter as the way up is longer but less steep in this direction. After climbing up, you’ll then join a much larger path on the mountain ridge leading to the castle on the left.
What’s left of the castle is not much but the place felt like a mix between Lord of the Rings and Scottish highlands castles, especially considering the threatening weather we had at this particular moment of the day.
When facing the sheer cliff on the opposite side of the ruins, you can see the ‘Gorges de la Guillera’ below and an ancient granite quarry built within the mountain facing the gorges. When looking a bit further in the background, you’ll also be able to observe the Vinça dam, Mount Corona and the Madres Massif.
From the other side of the castle is Rodès village down there as well as what’s left of the trail and the majestic Canigou mountain in the background. We stood there for a moment, took pictures of the different views we had to finally go down the main path back to the village, amid olives trees, agave plants and the prickly pear cactus we first saw in the beginning. Beware, for the soil on this portion is a bit more rocky and slippery which can be surprising especially on your way down.
In total, I’d say it took us approximately 1 hour to follow this trail, including the time we spent up there in the ruins admiring the views which is good if you don’t want to spend the entire afternoon in this place or wish to see a maximum of things! Should you want to better enjoy this village and its surroundings, I’d probably recommend choosing the ‘Gorges de la Guillera’ hike which takes you down the gorge first and then to the castle. This one is said to take approximately 1h30 without pause but I haven’t tested it so this is just me throwing ideas in case you’d need them!
Later that afternoon, we decided to go for a ride along Vinça lake to simply enjoy the views before going back to our Airbnb. We passed in front of a small outdoor water park right before the city but there’s apparently nothing else truly worth visiting in this city so we crossed the lake on the next bridge to the right and stopped the car on a road up the mountain to capture a few extra shots. And here they are!
