Introducing Catalonia
From metropolitan Barcelona spreads a land of such diversity that, although its furthest-flung corner is no more than 200km away, you could spend weeks dissecting it and still feel you’d barely begun. The Costa Brava, blighted by dreary pockets of mass tourism, still boasts much of the wild beauty that first drew visitors here. Just inland are the medieval city of Girona and Figueres, home of the ‘theatre-museum’ of that city’s zany son, Salvador Dalí.
Running across the north, the Pyrenees rise to mighty 3000m peaks from a series of green and often remote valleys, dotted with villages that retain a palpable rural and even medieval air. These mountains provide some excellent walking and skiing. Enchanting Romanesque churches are scattered across the valleys of the north.
Excitement runs thinner in the far west and south, but there’s enough to keep you exploring for days, from the wetlands of the Ebro delta to the historic cities of Tarragona and Lleida. Strike out and you’ll discover grand medieval monasteries, lush vineyards and hilltop villages.
Throughout Catalonia (Catalunya in Catalan, Cataluña in Castilian Spanish) the sense of difference from the rest of Spain is intense, not only in the use of Catalan (although everyone speaks Castilian too) but in the festivals, cuisine and reminders of the region’s unique history.
Activities in Catalonia
Barcelona
Hedonistic, Gothic Mediterranean city with its own language and character.
Tours in Catalonia
Girona
A tight huddle of ancient arcaded houses, grand churches, climbing cobbled streets and medieval baths, and Catalonia’s most extensive and best-preserved Call (medieval Jewish quarter), all enclosed by defensive walls and the lazy Río Onyar,...
Catalonia destination guides
Tossa de Mar
Curving around a boat-speckled bay and guarded by a headland crowned with impressive defensive medieval walls and towers, Tossa de Mar is a picturesque village of crooked, narrow streets onto which tourism has tacked a larger, modern extension.
Hotels in Catalonia
Budget Hotels & Hostels in Catalonia
Guesthouses and B&Bs in Catalonia
Apartments in Catalonia
Central Catalonia
Away from the beaches and mountains is a host of little-visited gems splashed across the Catalan hinterland.
Entertainment in Catalonia
Val d'Aran
It wasn’t all that long ago that the verdant Val d’Aran, Catalonia’s northernmost outpost, was one of the remotest parts of Spain and its only connection to the outside world was via a small pass leading into France.
Shopping in Catalonia