Guide to traveling to Catalonia, more than 100 interesting places to see

Catalonia It is a land that fascinates us and to which we have been lucky enough to go on many trips.

As you are going to see, there are few places in this autonomous community that we have yet to visit.

Located in the northeast corner of the Iberian Peninsula, Catalonia It can be said, without fear of being wrong, that it has everything.

At Mediterranean coast, beautiful beaches and coves, cliff areas and charming towns where such important artists as Dalí.

To the north, the Pyrenees, which makes this area a true scenic wonder.

Beautiful cities like Barcelona, full of modernism with authentic gems such as the Sagrada Familia; Tarragona, with its traces from the Roman era; the colorful houses of the medieval Girona; or the monumental and less known Lleida.

Among all this, a multitude of regions in which we have had real surprises when we met them, such as the Priorat and Pole.

And since we have published so much information about Catalonia, in this guide we are going to organize it so that you are clear about the most interesting places where you can travel, and also, other less known places, but that are worth a visit.

Routes through Catalonia (with our best experiences)

Catalonia It is an area of ​​Spain that is ideal to explore making a car route, just as we have done numerous times.

From our travel experience, I tell you more, we know so many interesting places in Catalonia Because we have always visited it on routes, which allows you to stop in places you wouldn't otherwise reach.

In most of the routes we have done, the starting point has been one of its cities where you can arrive by eTA or plane, and with a rental car, take a tour of the province.

If you are thinking of doing a route by car, you have the proposals of the Great Tour of Catalonia, six routes that allow you to make the trip to suit you and visit the most important sites in Catalonia.

We leave you an article where we talk more in depth about what the Grand Tour of Catalonia, I'm sure you'll be interested.

• These are the Routes of the Grand Tour of Catalonia

What to see and visit in Catalonia, by province

To make it easier to find the destinations, we have separated everything there is to see in Catalonia by province; This way, if you want to take a trip to one of them, it will be easier for you to find the information.

In addition, each section gives access to the articles we have on the blog about the different interesting places that you can visit.

Barcelona capital

Barcelona It is, without a doubt, the most important city in Catalonia, and together with Barcelona, the two most visited cities in Spain and more economically relevant.

Barcelona city has a peculiarity that makes all of us who have visited it come away amazed, and I am referring, of course, to the influence of Modernism in the city, especially with the figure of the genius Antonio Gaudi.

There are buildings in Barcelona that are unlike anything you can see in the world, like the impressive Sagrada Familia.

But the city itself has that point of being an architectural museum with emblematic buildings such as the Casa Batllo, Casa Milá better known as The stone, el Palau de la Música or Park Güell.

If you are interested in the topic of modernist buildings in Barcelona, which ones to visit and which ones are the most beautiful, I leave you with a specific topic.

• Modernism in Barcelona
• How to visit the Sagrada Familia

Of course, a key to your visit to the Catalan capital must be its Gothic Quarter, specifically, the axis that from the Catalonia Square leads you through Las Ramblas to the city's port.

In this area of ​​the city you will find such interesting places in that environment the Gothic cathedral, the Market of the Boquería and Cathedral of the Sea.

Barcelona province

If visiting the city of Barcelona is amazing, its province is no less so.

And a mistake that many tourists make when visiting the city is not spending time on visits that are just a few kilometers away.

In this case, perhaps the most well-known and impressive is the Monastery of Montserrat, at the top of the mountain, with incredible views in an extremely beautiful mountain resort. One of the most beautiful and mysterious monasteries in the entire country.

I leave you an article about the Monastery of Montserrat so that if you don't know it, you will be amazed by how spectacular it is.

• How to visit the Montserrat Monastery
•  Train tour to Montserrat

But that's not all, you have more examples of modernism throughout the province, such as the Colonia Güell which is the place that served as a test bed for Gaudí to design the Sagrada Familia, which makes this place truly crazy.

And I don't want to forget another modernist building, the Masia Freixas in Terrassa.

But if I like something about Barcelona province is the variety of sites that can be visited, such as the great monuments of the Monastery of San Cugat del Vallés, Seu de Manresa or Castle of Cardona.

In addition to beautiful towns like Rupee, the star of the province being one of the most beautiful towns in Catalonia and landscapes with which we hallucinate such as the Tavertet cliffs

Here you have a list of 12 very interesting places to see in the province of Barcelona.

• 12 Places to see around Barcelona

Lleida city

Lleida It is one of the least known areas of Catalonia, except for the Pyrenees area, which is, along with Sierra Nevada en Granada , the best for skiing in Spain.

I have to admit that the city ​​of Lleida It really surprised us the first time we visited it, as it houses very interesting monuments such as the Your, the King's castle or gardeny templar castle.

A complex of buildings that extends on top of the hill where the city is located, with the Segre river At his feet.

Province of Lleida

But if I like something about Lleida es your province.

I leave you here a video that we made some time ago after our trip through the province of Lleida, where you can see the places that I am going to talk to you about below.

In my case I am passionate about mountain scenery and in the province there are truly impressive areas such as Valle de Aran.

We are talking about a beautiful valley located on the French side of the Pyrenees, full of pretty towns and at the top there is the ski resort of Baqueira Beret.

In addition, Boi Valley, adjacent to the Aran Valley, there are some architectural gems, such as Sant Climent de Taüll, the main one of the Romanesque church complex that are, neither more nor less, than Heritage.

Here I leave you the items we have from the area.

• Valle de Aran
• Sant Climent de Taüll
• Tips for skiing in Baqueira Beret

But in the province of Lleida there are other much less known places, including beautiful towns.

Among the ones we liked the most are Ager, Guimera and, of course, the medieval fortress of Montfalcó Murallat. They are all stone towns very cared for and restored that make visiting it like a trip to the past.

And if you like castles and monasteries, in the province of Lleida there are two that we loved when we visited them, the Montsonís castle, belonging to a knight of the order of maltese and the Vallbona Monastery.

And if it was not enough. in Lleida you can see one of the most impressive blooms in Spain, since this province is one of the major producers of some fruits such as peaches.

If you want to know all the places worth seeing in the province of Lleida, we have a very interesting article.

• Best places to see in Lleida and its province
• Flowering of fruit trees in Aitona

Girona city

Girona It is a very authentic place within Catalonia, which has perhaps the greatest variety of both landscapes and towns.

The city is so spectacular that it has been one of the most used settings in the “Game of Thrones” series, which is understandable because its streets have an absolutely medieval and epic atmosphere.

Province of Girona and the Costa Brava

But as I mentioned, the variety of landscapes is incredible.

Girona borders France in the Pyrenees and next to the sea, which generates really beautiful landscapes.

And the best example is Costa Brava, where are some of the most beautiful villages in Catalonia and from Spain.

Here you can see all the interesting places that can be seen in the Costa Brava of Girona.

• 30 places to see on the Costa Brava

If you like pretty towns, in the province of Girona is where, in our opinion, you can find the most in all of Catalonia.

Particularly on the coast of Girona, I love the municipalities of Cadaqués, Tossa de Mar, Calella de Palafrugell and the cliffs of Roses.

La Costa Brava It is a place with so much magic, that this is where the genius of painting decided to live. Salvador Dalí, whose house Port bound You can visit it to see the crazy things that went through his head.

Of course, you can also see the artist's genius in his museum in Figueras, about which we also attach information.

• Dalí Museum in Figueras
• Dali House-Museum in Portlligat

But the coastal towns are not the only beautiful ones in Girona, and if you don't believe me, you only need to visit municipalities like Besalú and its medieval bridge, in peratalla, Pals and the central square of young men , which served as the setting for the film  “8 Catalan surnames”.

And the interior of the Costa Brava also borders a region that we love in Girona, such as garrotxa.

An ancient volcanic area with places as interesting as the Croscat Volcano or  Santa Margarita Volcano, a tremendous forest landscape like the Jorda beech forest and towns as beautiful as Saint Paul.

I leave you here an article so you can see this volcanic zone so beautiful and little known about Girona.

• What to see in La Garrotxa

Tarragona city

Tarragona It is one of the cities with the oldest and most important history in Spain, since the Romans turned it into one of their largest settlements in our country.

The city oozes history and when you walk through the walled area you keep coming across Roman remains.

But not only the most famous ones that are outdoors, such as the circus, but even on the ground floor of commercial premises you can see remains of ancient Roman buildings.

Here I leave you an article with tips for visiting the city of Tarragona.

• What to see and visit in Roman Tarragona in 1 or 2 days

Province of Tarragona

And if we talk about the Tarragona province, there are two areas that drive us crazy.

On the coast, the area of Delta of the Ebro, one of the most impressive landscapes in Spain without a doubt, which although it is beginning to disappear due to the peculiarities of the climate, is a true fantasy.

You can see it here.

• The best things to see and do in the Ebro Delta

Y in the interior of Tarragona, a region that we have been amazed by and that is an area of ​​Catalonia that is more famous outside of Spain than in our own country, is the Priorat.

The reason… its wines.

Since I visited, every time I travel around the world I pay attention to the wine lists of the restaurants, and if there are spanish wines, they are always or Rioja or of Priorat.

And curiously, in Spain they do not have that fame as powerful as in the rest of the world.

Once we visited the region, we have to admit that we have become lovers of these wines that have very strong peculiarities due to the climatic characteristics and soil that exist in Priorat.

For this reason, one of the recommended visits in the region is to visit one of the famous wine cathedrals.

Furthermore, the Priorat It has some absolutely incredible towns, such as Vilella Baixa (the New York of the Priorat) and, above all, siurana, on top of a hill with tremendous cliffs and one of the great places for climbing fans in the world.

Here is an article for you to see What is the Priorat region like?.

• The best things to see and do in Priorat