A bike ride along the Maresme doesn't mean an early start. From Santa Susanna you can cycle by the sea mid-morning, after breakfast, without the heat and at your own pace, then head back hungry for a relaxed lunch and some time by the pool.
You probably have that picture in your head of 'cycling on holiday': alarm at seven, roads still empty and that grey early-morning light. And then there's reality: you, who prefer an unhurried coffee, a leisurely breakfast and heading out on the bike once the sun has been up for a while.
At Hotel Tahití Playa, we firmly believe in the second option. We know the Maresme isn't going anywhere by mid-morning, and that a bike ride can be just as good, or even better, if you start it when you feel like it rather than when you're supposed to.
NO NEED FOR AN EARLY START TO ENJOY THE MARESME
The Maresme has something that makes it especially rewarding by bike: along the coast, the terrain is mostly flat, so heading out depends less on the time than on how you feel. By mid-morning the traffic has eased, the light is better for taking in the scenery and, in autumn, it isn't hot enough to force you out at dawn.
Santa Susanna makes a convenient starting point. You leave our hotel, take the path along the sea and decide as you go how far you want to ride… because there's no 'official' route here that has to be completed in full.
CYCLING AFTER BREAKFAST? PERFECT
'What time are we leaving?'
'When we've finished our coffee.'
'Sounds good to me.'
That's how simple the negotiation can be. Nobody has to persuade anyone to get up early, and nobody is left feeling they've missed the best part of the day by sleeping in a little.
If you're naturally an early riser, of course, you can still set off early. The route stays the same; all that changes is who enjoys it, and when.
THE SEA AS YOUR RIDING COMPANION
Much of the ride hugs the coastline, so the Mediterranean comes and goes depending on the stretch, but it's never far away. At times you're pedalling with the sea right beside you; at others the path drifts inland a little before finding it again.
It's a landscape you never tire of, precisely because it changes without ever becoming unfamiliar: you always end up seeing the water again, even if you've taken a different path from the one you came out on.
WHEN THE RIDE BECOMES AN EXCUSE TO STOP
Nobody said you have to get anywhere in particular. Some people stop every twenty minutes because they've spotted something worth a photo; others never stop because they're enjoying the ride too much to interrupt it.
Both ways of doing it are equally valid.
In the end, many of these rides are remembered less for the kilometres covered than for that impromptu mid-morning stop, bikes propped up by the beach and nobody checking the time.
BACK WITH A PROPER APPETITE
After an unhurried ride, you come back genuinely hungry, and that's where the other half of the plan begins: a relaxed lunch, perhaps some time in the pool for tired legs, and the feeling of having done something active without the whole day revolving around a timetable.
There was no need for a seven o'clock alarm. Just the urge to head out, at some point in the morning, and see the Maresme from the saddle.
Book your break at Hotel Tahití Playa and discover the Maresme by bike, at whatever pace you really fancy.
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