The best charming houses of Pla de l'Estany

The Pla de l'Estany region is made up of 11 municipalities since 1988. Its lands rich in water, are made up of a unique and privileged country environment where you can enjoy nature and fauna, as well as sports, gastronomy and hiking among many other things.

Each municipality of the Pla de l'Estany area has some secret to discover, such as the Dolmen del Turó de Sant Dalmau, in Palol de Revardit; the Banyoles Estany or little lake, the Dolmen de les Closes, in Porqueres, and La Draga Neolithic Park or the prehistoric caves in Serinyà, the two cultural heritage of the region. You will also discover distributed throughout the territory more than fifty churches and hermitages, also castles, country and farm houses, some of them transformed into little accommodations. Whet travelling from onw town to the other, we recommend that you stop along the way, as there are many places that form a landscape that will simply make you stop and contemplate.

With an area of 112 ha is the largest natural lake in Catalonia, which is "fed" from the subsoil through aquifers that come from Alta Garrotxa area, and also receives a small amount of water through from some small streams that lead to it. It is a real show to sit on a bench and watch the great diversity of flora and fauna living in the lake. You can also go around it running, walking or by bicycle, it's a flat terrain and well-groomed to do it as a family, it longs approximately 6 kilometres. You can also sail in La Tirona boat or in a rowboat and go at your own pace.

Around the rural environment of Pla de l'Estany you can visit the Pla de Martís. As a curiosity of this place, it was that at the time of the civil war, between 1938 and 39, the Republican army used it as a field of aviation and later, on the year 1944, it was recovered by the pro-Franco government, until about 1960, that due to the change in the world political order, the fields were returned to their owners, curiously, there is the Pla de l'Estany Aeromodelling Club. Apart from wars, it is a place where you will enjoy magnificent views and if you like landscape photography, it is a recommended stop. Many astronomy enthusiasts also frequent this area because, due to their low light pollution, it is an idyllic place to practice this hobby.

During a clear day you will see perfectly the Pyrenees with the mountain of Canigó as the main protagonist and near the same area you will find the Espolla Lake, known for triops, and the Martís Waterfall, about 60 meters high that if it has been raining, it descends very intensely.

One of the best deposits in Western Europe, an indispensable space where kids and adults will discover how humanity lived in Prehistory, since in it, almost 200,000 years ago, they used to live pre-Neanderthal humans, and later on, about 50,000 years ago, the Neanderthals. In the different excavations there have been different pieces of historical interest that have helped to know who lived there and how for so many years in this territory.

A place where you can experience how they lived in the Neolithic era, as you will discover a reconstructed town, just next to the lake. It is where the farmers of the area lived in that period. Thanks to the humidity that was due to the location of the site, organic remains and part of the wood of the huts that formed the town where now is located in the capital of Pla de l'Estany were surprisingly conserved.

In this museum you will find different remains of the wildlife of the caves of Serinyà and remains of La Draga Neolithic town, which will be the perfect closing to end this interesting route to one of the most distant past of our history.

A museum where different pieces of natural history reside thanks to the Francesc Darder i Llimona legacy. Also known because it was the museum were the well-known "El Negro from Banyoles" was exposed for so long, today it has exhibited a great variety of animals and pieces related to nature.

It is made up of 3 different hiking trails that start at Palol de Revardit and continue through Sant Miquel de Campmajor, Cornellà del Terri and the Sanctuary of Santa Maria del Collell. Which brings us closer to what was experienced at the end of the Spanish Civil War and makes you an exercise of historical memory of how the war was lived in the Pla de l'Estany region and will show you the routes and hiding places that were used by a lot of people at that time, and which were made popular by Javier Cercas with his famous novel "Soldiers of Salamina".

The first references that we have of this castle are from the year 1074, later, on the seventeenth century, it became a charming house accommodation. At that time, a large part of its characteristic wall was demolished. However, now the main tower has been preserved thanks to its recent rehabilitation.

The gastronomy in the Pla de l'Estany region is one of its main attractions. You can find both a restaurant with Michelin star and also traditonal kitchen restaurants. Some of them are in Banyoles, but many others are scattered throughout the territory. 

Many people relate the Pla de l'Estany area with the sport, and it is like this. For years, this area is very closely linked to those sports which use to be done in the water or outside. There are numerous sport events related to running, mountain bikes and road bikes. But if you are one of those who do not compete, nothing can happen, you can also enjoy low-level hiking trails so you can walk on foot quietly and enjoy a rural environment surrounded by nature.