Map
20 plans, by travel time
45 min to 1 h
8 plans
Photos on an empty Punta, museums and xató
Photo session from $425+Cau Ferrat and Palau de Maricel+Xató and rice dishes €€€+Seafront walk
By train from Barcelona: a photo session through the old town and along the shore while nobody is around, the Americano mansions, Cau Ferrat, a guided visit to the Palau de Maricel and xató opposite the Punta.
Sitges: seafront promenade and rice
Seafront promenade 1 h+Rice €€€
The seafront promenade from end to end, the old town of the Punta and the Cau Ferrat, and a rice dish facing the sea. By train from Barcelona, without thinking about parking.
Codorníu: cellars by train and lunch in the tower
Heritage Tour 1 h 15 · €25+Cava Centre 1 h+Market cooking at the winery €€€
Puig i Cadafalch's Modernista cellars toured by underground train, the village cava centre and lunch in the estate's tower. 45 minutes from Barcelona, by train too.
Penedès: cava and a table among the vines
Visit and tasting 1 h 30+Winery restaurant among the vines
A morning in Sant Sadurní d'Anoia to understand cava, a winery visit with a tasting and a long lunch with the vines in front of you. Best by train: that way nobody drives.
Penedès: a walk through the vines and an aperitif at the winery
Camí del Vi 3.5 km+Aperitif at the winery €€
The Camí del Vi in Vilafranca, flat between the vines, then wine and tapas at aperitif time on the terrace of a family-run winery in Sant Sadurní. Home by mid-afternoon.
Siurana: cliff, ledge and reservoir
Village and Camí de la Trona 3 h 30+Catalan cooking in the village €€+Kayak 1 h · €16
Catalonia's last Andalusi stronghold on a cliff, a ledge cut into the rock, lunch inside the village and an hour's kayaking beneath the crag. An hour from Tarragona.
Priorat: autumn vineyards by 4x4
Vineyards by 4x4 and tasting+Siurana crag+Catalan cooking €€
A guided off-road route among vines that turn yellow and red in autumn, with a cheese and wine tasting at a Garnacha estate, and Siurana at midday. An hour from Tarragona.
Devinssi, Buil & Giné and Cal Llop
Two wineries · from €55+Seasonal menu above the winery €€€+A night in Gratallops
You head out to the vineyard with Devinssi, taste five wines and walk the Buil & Giné estate, have lunch at its restaurant, finish at a Priorat-only wine bar and sleep in Gratallops. Not on Wednesdays.
1 h to 1 h 30
8 plans
Garraf: coves and rice by the sea
Coastal path 1 h 30+Rice by the sea €€
A tiny village at the foot of the cliffs, the beach of the huts, a path above the sea and a rice dish to finish. Half an hour from Barcelona by train.
Prades: red town and Roca Foradada
Town and Roca Foradada 2 h+Hermitage in the cave+Inn set menu €€
A hermitage tucked into a cave, an old town of red stone with its globe-shaped fountain, an inn lunch and a short walk to a natural arch. An hour from Tarragona and from Lleida.
Peñíscola: film route, castle and boat
Free film route+Castle €5+Boat to Irta €20+Rice €€
The tourist-office film route through the Game of Thrones and El Cid stops, the castle of Papa Luna, rice in the old town and an hour and a half by boat along the Irta coast.
Montserrat: horse, table and rack railway
Horse riding from €30 an hour+Catalan cooking €€+Rack railway €15
A horse ride in western style at the foot of Montserrat, Catalan lunch in Marganell and an afternoon at the sanctuary, going up on the rack railway from Monistrol Vila.
Peñíscola: castle, boat and rice
Papa Luna's Castle €5+Little boat 30 min · €10+Seafarer's rice €€€
The Templar castle first thing, the old town and the Bufador, half an hour on a little boat around the rock and rice at Casa Jaime, an hour from Castellón.
Caldes de Montbui: Roman baths and a thermal soak
Thermalia and Roman baths · €5.30+Set menu €35 to €50 €€€+Thermal bath 1 h · €8
The fountain that spouts water at 74 °C, the Roman baths with a guided visit, Catalan food at Robert de Nola and an hour of thermal bathing for €8. Half an hour from Barcelona.
Montserrat: cable car and Sant Jeroni
Aeri return €15+Sant Jeroni 2 h 30+Buffet with views €€
The 1930 cable car up to the monastery, the Sant Joan funicular and a two-and-a-half-hour circuit to the roof of Montserrat, with a buffet and the basilica afterwards. Half an hour from Manresa.
Montserrat: flat path and mató
Walk to Sant Miquel+Traditional cooking €€
Go up by rack railway, walk early to the Sant Miquel viewpoint, hear the Escolania and buy mató with honey at the farmers' market.
1 h 30 to 2 h
4 plans
Valderrobres and the Parrizal
Castle and church 1 h+Grill and garden €€+Parrizal 7.6 km
Valderrobres castle and church with a guide, the bridge over the Matarraña, a grilled lunch at El Salt and the Parrizal walkways to the Estrechos. 1 h 49 from Zaragoza.
Vic: square, cured meats and inn
Old town 1 h 30+Square cooking €€
A morning on foot through Vic's Plaça Major and old town, the medieval museum, lunch of Osona cooking and the cathedral painted by Sert before heading back.
Berga: viewpoints and a mountain table
Easy walk 1 h+Mountain inn €€
A morning of effortless viewpoints beside the Queralt sanctuary, a long lunch of Berguedà cooking and coffee in the old town. You are home before dinner.
Berguedà by motorbike: Coll de la Creueta and a mountain table
Mountain pass 100 km+Mountain inn €
A hundred kilometres of bends between Berga and a pass at almost 1,900 metres, with stops at La Pobla de Lillet and Castellar de n'Hug, and an inn lunch on the way back.
Driving time without traffic from central Tarragona to the town or the car park for the plan, calculated with an OpenStreetMap road router, with no stops.
Questions
Frequently asked questions
What is there within an hour of Tarragona?
Sitges, the Penedès cava country, with Codorníu and Castelo de Pedregosa, and Siurana, the village on a crag in the Priorat.
Which plan is best with children?
Prades, for the short walk to the Roca Foradada and the red-stone old town; kayaking on the Siurana reservoir; and the Codorníu cava cellars by train.
What if it is hot?
Prades is at 950 metres, the nearest cool mountain range to Tarragona. Siurana is best first thing, with the reservoir in the afternoon.
Can we go without a car?
To Sitges and the Penedès, by train. Siurana and Prades need a car.
Do we need to book for lunch?
Yes. In Siurana there are very few tables and in Prades the inn is small.