Peralada and Figueres: Dalí, a winery and a mill.

The Alt Empordà can be summed up in one Sunday: Dalí and wine. You start in Figueres, at the museum the painter turned into his own work, continue ten minutes to the Perelada winery, on the outskirts of Peralada, to see how DO Empordà wine is made and taste three, and sit down to lunch in an 18th-century mill in the middle of the countryside. All under cover, all by reservation and with almost no driving between stops. From Girona it is 45 minutes; from Barcelona, an hour and three quarters.

The Day, Hour by Hour

9:40 · Departure. From Girona, take the AP-7 to Figueres, about 45 minutes; from Barcelona, an hour and three quarters on the same motorway. In Figueres, park in one of the car parks in the centre, a few minutes' walk from the museum.

10:30 · The Teatre-Museu Dalí. Dalí built it on the ruins of Figueres's old municipal theatre, the one from his childhood, and is buried in its crypt. It is a museum conceived as a single work: the dome, the courtyard with the Cadillac, the Mae West room. Next door, on the same ticket, the jewellery room. It opens Tuesday to Sunday, and in July and August every day; from October to December, from 10:30 to 18:00. Admission costs from €18.50 and is free up to age 8. Buy it online with a time slot: on Sundays there is a queue. The average visit lasts an hour and three quarters.

12:40 · Perelada winery. Ten minutes by car to Paratge la Granja, on the outskirts of Peralada. Perelada has made wine here for more than six centuries; its new winery is the work of RCR Arquitectes, Pritzker Prize winners in 2017, and was the first in Europe with LEED Gold certification. The visit shows the architecture, the winemaking and the ageing, and ends with a tasting of three wines. It lasts an hour and a half, in groups of fifteen at most, and from Friday to Sunday costs €29; €12 for ages 12 to 17, free for under-12s. Book on its website and choose the midday session. If you have the morning to spare, the three-hour version starts at the Castle Museum, in the village, with the library, the glass and the wine museum in the former Carme convent: €38.

14:15 · Lunch at Mas Molí. An old 18th-century mill on the road from Figueres to Peralada, five minutes from the winery, with parking on the estate. It has two settings: the stone mill and a pavilion in the garden, and its own organic vegetable garden. On Sundays it opens only at midday, from 13:00 to 16:00; closed on Mondays. Book on 972 67 74 45 or by email.

16:15 · Return. In Girona around five; in Barcelona, at a quarter past six.

What to Order

At Mas Molí the chef is Marc Joli, with more than twenty-five years in the trade. It is Mediterranean produce-led cooking: rice dishes, fish baked or cooked on its back, salt cod, Empordà surf and turf, meat stews and snails, plus whatever the season dictates. The cellar has more than a hundred references, with DO Empordà in the lead: after the tasting, order one of the wines you liked. If you prefer not to move the car, the winery itself has the Wine Bar Celler 1923, with traditional dishes paired with its wines.

Who Drives

At the tasting you can spit, and whoever is driving should. Ask for grape juice or water at the table. The distances are short, but there is a motorway on the way back.

With Children and Dogs

The Dalí Museum surprises children from about ten; younger ones tire between dark rooms and queues. The winery visit is long and technical for them. With small children, swap the winery for the Peralada castle park, a garden from 1877 with a colony of storks, which can only be visited with a guide: call the Castle Museum beforehand. Dogs are not allowed in the museum or the winery; for a plan with a dog, the Requesens circuit, in the Albera, half an hour away.