Spain in Two Parts: Catalonia & Green Spain

As it ran

The itinerary

1. October 6

   Barcelona · Poblet · Sant Sadurní

   Meeting in our Barcelona digs, then south to the Monestir de Poblet — more castle than monastery — and Prades, the red town, so called for the peculiar stone of its houses. An afternoon in cava country with a Catalan lunch at Cal Blay Vinticiné in Sant Sadurní before returning to the big B.

2. October 7

   Priorat · Montblanc

   The cliff-top village of Vilella Baixa and Falset with its twelfth-century castle, stops at favourite Priorat cellars, and lunch at El Cal de Montblanc. Return to Barcelona; dinner at leisure.

3. October 8

   Tarragona

   One of Spain's most important Roman sites: the archaeological museum and the cathedral, with a Catalan-fusion lunch at Degusta. Evening free to walk Barcelona.

4. October 9–12

   Girona · Figueres · Cadaqués

   North to Girona, a chocolate box of Gothic churches, museums and galleries, and three days out from it: the Romanesque of Ripoll and Sant Joan de les Abadesses, Dalí at his most surreal in Figueres, the fishing village of Cadaqués, and Banyoles, medieval Santa Pau and the market town of Olot. A group lunch or dinner of local cooking, with wines, every day.

5. October 12

   Barcelona · Bilbao

   Catalonia ends. Transport back to Barcelona for those finishing here; those continuing fly to Bilbao for part two.

6. October 13–14

   Santander · Cangas de Onís · Picos de Europa

   Along the coast to Santander and Santillana del Mar, then two nights in serene Cangas de Onís. Into the Picos de Europa for some of the most majestic mountain scenery anywhere — cider and mountain cheeses, Covadonga, the gorges of Los Beyos and Posada de Valdeón. Bear, lynx and wolf still live in these hills.

7. October 15–16

   Oviedo · Galicia

   Through Oviedo and west into Galicia — another culture, another language, and the best seafood you will ever eat, with Albariño alongside it. The road follows the coast the whole way.

8. October 17–20

   Santiago de Compostela

   The city of St James, whose body legend says arrived by stone boat and was rediscovered by the hermit Pelayo in 820 under a guiding star — campus stellae, field of stars. Pilgrimage sites in the mornings, dashes to the coast for seafood and wine in the afternoons, and a farewell toast to St James.