Thanks to its privileged surrounding, the Camping La Ribera is the ideal departure point for a lot of cultural, natural and sportive activities. At the very immediacies of the campsite stands the Sant Ponç lake. Inside its clean blue waters, one can practise all kind of nautical sports. As well as in the Cardener river, the Sant Ponç lake is a suitable place for fishing.

The path all around the lake can be followed walking, cycling or by car. At the half of its course, it is possible to take a small deviation to visit the church and the crypt of Sant Esteve d’Olius, prototypical examples of the Catalan Romanesque style. Behind the church, arises a curious Modernist graveyard built inside the rocks by the Gaudí disciple Bernadí Martorell.

Another area where walking throughout the woods can be combined with the visit to Romanesque buildings and with amusing activities, is the flow of the Aigua d’Ora river. Its crystalline waters reach some rest in many pools and puddles ever inviting to spent a few moments having a relaxing bath. Going up through the course of l’Aigua d’Ora, we are going to find the Santa Eulàlia church and, a little bit upwards, the Sant Pere de Graudescales Romanesque ensemble, which was a former Benedictine abbey.

Near these churches stands Ca l’Ambròs, an old peasant’s house with its old flourmill and sawmill that still roll when the water’s hatch is opened. Not far away from the beautiful bridge of the house, stands the supposed place were Guifré el Pilós (count of Barcelona, who gave the current flag to Catalonia impressing his four bloody fingers upon his golden shield) was wounded of dead. From this special place, one can enjoy the spectacular sights of the Serra de Busa, pre-eminently place for mushrooms in autumn time.

Once upon the Pla de Busa, and after walking more or less 20 minutes, the visitor attains El Capolatell, a rocky island in the medium of a precipice that was used as a natural prison during the French War (beginnings of the 19th century). From any point of the Serra de Busa, the visitor enjoys spectacular sights of the region, and can see some of the main geographical attributes of the Central Catalonia, for instance Montserrat.

Descending the Pla de Busa, there is another privileged point to see the landscape of the region: the Besora castle and church. This is one of the most peaceful places of the region, where the silence is only broken by the bells of some cows grazing in the greenness of the meadows.

Some trips also in the mountains are those leading to the Vall de Lord, whose neuralgic centre is the village of Sant Llorenç de Morunys, where a part from the obligated promenades for its beautiful and stony streets and squares, one can visit the parochial church, with its impressive Romanesque cloister, its altarpiece, the Mare de Déu dels Colls chapel, and its Baroque organ, recently restored, whose pipes sound in concert during some days of summer.

Other trips include visits to the Serra de Montcalb, the Springs of the Cardener (with a very good restaurant nearby), the municipalities of La Pedra i La Coma and Guixers, the sky resort of Port del Comte (30 minutes away from the camping), or Canalda (available place for the practise of parapent). In these area there are also some routes to follow by foot or in BTT. To practise cross-country skiing and have extraordinary sights of the Pyrenees, the visitor can go to the village of Tuixén (in the neighbour region of l’Alt Urgell), where, furthermore, there is the curious Trementinaires Museum (old women who recollected medicinal plants and herbs). 

Returning again to El Solsonès, a nice place to make a stop is la Creu del Codó at Coll de Jou, whose sights of the whole region are great again, and is the beginning of the road that leads to Odèn. In this village, the Centre de Natura d’Odèn organises trips and activities around the Prepyrenees and its legends during the summer months. Other legends and stories are those concerning the Cathars, who sought shelter in these valleys when escaping from the Crusaders.



Also in the west area of El Solsonès, but now down from the Prepyreneean mountains, an ideal place to have a bath is the Ribera Salada. When it reaches the village of Castellar de la Ribera, near the beautiful Romanesque church of Sant Julià de Ceuró, the river grows in width, and when it arrives to Ogern, its breath finds three natural pools constructed taking advantage of its flow. In the high part of the river, however, the narrowness and rockiness of its bed, allow exciting trips and ducks going up inside its cool water.

Solsona, the capital of the region, is also the see of the bishop. The historical importance of this fact impressed a special nobleness to every edge of its streets and squares. The old city, 3 of whose 4 town’s gates are still standing, is full of emblematic buildings, such as the Council, the Bishop’s Palace, the Hour’s Tower, the Llobera Palace, etc. But the jewel of the city is the Cathedral, mainly Gothic, although it maintains some Romanesque elements (such as the three apses and the bell tower). The image venerated there is the Mare de Déu del Claustre (black virgin, which represents a masterpiece of the worldwide Romanesque sculpture). The Diocesan Museum holds one of the most valuable catalogues of medieval art in the Catalan Countries. But Solsona is not only known for its monuments, but also for the richness and originality of its folklore.

Leaving the capital and going to the South, the visitor arrives to the Miracle Sanctuary, a peaceful place where the sober Renaissance architecture of the Casa Gran amalgamates the spectacular Baroque altarpiece of the church. During the summer, in the freshness of the nice yard placed in the middle of the monastic dependencies, one can enjoy the evening concerts celebrated there. Near this sanctuary, there are also the villages of Freixinet and Su, and the Romanesque church and tower of Riner.

The rest of the South-west part of the Solsonès was the limit between the Old and the New Catalonia (the frontier, during the middle ages, between the Moorish and Christian territories). The battles and confronts held in these lands, provided this area with lots of watch and defence towers, small forts, churches and houses that in the 12th century assured the land conquered to the enemy. One of the most impressive is the Torre de Vallferosa, in the limit between the regions of El Solsonès, Segarra and l’Anoia. Also remarkable are the small village of Sant Climenç, some feudal noble houses, the Museu del Carlisme, and the Geographical Centre of Catalonia, settled in the municipality of Pinós. In this area also predominate some megalithic buildings such as dolmens and different kinds of funerary monuments.
 

Out from the Solsonès region, but at only 10 kilometres from the camping, there is the majestic village of Cardona, with the greatest castle built in Catalonia during the middle ages. Cardona is also famous for its salt mines, whose incredible subterraneous landscape, unique in Europe, is open to the visitors. The charm of Cardona is also manifested in every corner, street and square of the village. A part from other folkloristic activities, its main streets, once a year, are filled with the youths of the village running in front of some liberated small bulls.

Not far away from Cardona, arises the abbey of Sant Benet de Bages, one of the most precious jewels of the monastic buildings of the Principate of Catalonia. The road leading to this extraordinaire monument is full of churches, castles and small forts. Special interest deserve the old part of the village of Súria, and the Balsareny and Coaner castles and church. Near this road (at 20 minutes from the camping) stand the villages of Valls i de Palà de Torroella, which were textile colonies founded at the end of the 19th century in order to take advantage of the force of the Cardener’s water. These colonies were built following the model of those crowding the margins of the Llobregat river, at the neighbour country of El Berguedà, a nice region full of natural and cultural places ready to welcome its visitor. In a section of this river, there is a fluvial park offering lots of cultural, natural and leisure activities.

But a part from these places of monumental and historical interest, the very surroundings of the camping hide thousands of paths and ways to follow in bicycle, horse, or by foot, for the sole pleasure of walking among the trees, the streams, and the autochthon vegetation. Nearby the camping passes the 7th GR (long distance trail), which follows 300 m of the road of the camping before arriving to the river at the neighbour house of the Molí Vell de Xixons.