Barcelona & beyond: Catalonia coast to the Spanish Pyrenees

Start your holiday in style with included airport lounge access before your flight from the UK to Barcelona. On arrival, head to your city centre hotel, set within an elegant 19th-century building in the modernist Eixample district. With its vintage aesthetic, sophisticated ambience, rooftop pool and gorgeous, plant-filled inner patio, this is the perfect base from which to take in the myriad delights of Barcelona. You’ll find plenty of fabulous places to eat and drink within easy walking distance, but you may well fancy dining in later on, as the on-site Batuar restaurant offers an enticing menu based on local ingredients of the highest quality – complimented, of course, by an extensive selection of expertly mixed cocktails at the bar. 

You have the whole day free to explore Barcelona at leisure. From its extraordinary array of architectural gems and its magnificent food markets to its gorgeous parks and sandy beaches, there’s far more to see and do here than you could possibly fit into a single day – so it’s best to be selective and focus on a few areas of particular interest. Taking a short stroll to the Plaça de Catalunya is a good place to start, as from this central square, you can head off in any direction to numerous points of interest, either on foot or by public transport. You could, for instance, wander down La Rambla, veering off to peruse the bustling, aromatic stalls of La Boqueria before slowly meandering through the Gothic Quarter, where you’ll find numerous ornate churches, leafy squares and buzzing tapas bars. It’s always worth visiting a few Gaudi masterpieces, such as the Sagrada Familia, Casa Batlló and, if time allows, Park Güell. Or, you might be tempted to take the funicular and the cable car to the top of Montjuïc mountain for magnificent views overlooking the city. 

This morning, collect your hire car and drive north for around an hour-and-a-half to your next stop; a luxurious hotel set within a converted 18th-century farmhouse in the rural Empordà region, which extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the Pyrenees. Featuring an outdoor pool surrounded by luscious gardens, a superb spa, tennis and padel tennis courts and an exquisite restaurant showcasing the finest regional ingredients, this is a delightful introduction to the Catalan countryside. As you’ll be based here for a couple of nights, you’ll have time to relax and enjoy the hotel’s first-class amenities, as well as to explore the wider area. The glorious beaches of the Costa Brava, such as Platja de Pals and Platja de l'Estartit, are within striking distance, or you may opt to venture inland to explore Girona, a city renowned for its beautifully preserved medieval architecture and colourful riverside buildings. 

The next section of your Catalan adventure sees you leave the Costa Brava behind as you ascend into the Pyrenees, passing through some rather spectacular mountain scenery en route to La Seu d’Urgell, close to the border with Andorra. Here, you’ll be staying in a Parador (a type of Spanish hotel set within a converted historic building) built around a Renaissance-era cloister and featuring a heated indoor pool. It’s situated right next to the town’s resplendent, 12th-century Catedral Santa Maria d'Urgell, the last remaining Romanesque cathedral in Catalonia. While the town has plenty of charm, it’s only by venturing into the surrounding mountains that you’ll be able to fully appreciate the region’s natural beauty. Parc Natural del Cadí-Moixeró, to the east, and Alt Pirineu Natural Park, to the northwest, both offer an abundance of fabulous Alpine hiking trails and are easily accessible as a day trip from La Seu d’Urgell. 

Looping back towards the south, you’ll traverse a diverse landscape of steep-sided mountain cliffs, wooded hills and fertile plains as you follow the course of the Segre river to Lleida, one of the oldest cities in Catalonia. You’ll be spending the next two nights in another equally atmospheric Parador, this time housed within a former 17th-century convent with a beautiful three-storey cloister at its core. The restaurant, L’Aplec, is a particular standout, specialising in authentic Catalan cuisine, such as artisan sausages, local cheeses, snails and fresh cod, served in the elegant surroundings of a former church. You’ll then have the following day to explore Lleida in more depth, visiting historic sights such as La Seu Vella, a Gothic-Romanesque hilltop cathedral built between the 13th and 15th centuries. Just outside the centre, La Mitjana Park is a perfect spot for a leisurely stroll through peaceful forests and along riverside trails. Lleida is also fringed by some of Catlaonia’s finest vineyards, dotted throughout the DOP-designated (Denominación de Origen Protegida) Costers del Segre region, so if you fancy wine tasting, this is an ideal place to do so. 

As you drive back to Barcelona, you might decide to make a stop or two along the way, such as at the Montserrat Monastery and Natural Park or Penedès, the home of Cava. Another option is to head for Tarragona, a port city filled with Roman ruins, before taking the coastal road back to Barcelona. You’ll then drop off your hire car and head to the airport to catch your flight home.