Coastal Catalonia
This exciting new tour explores the coast of Catalonia from the northern
Costa Brava down to Tarragona. We start in
Cadaqués (three nights), a lovely fishing port set round a stunning
bay. From here we can explore all the sites associated with the extraordinary
Salvador Dalí: his boyhood home (the landscapes of which haunt
his work), the palace he built for Gala and, of course, the stunning
Dalí Museum in Figueras. Our visits also include the spectacular
Monastery of San Pere de Rodes and the Greco-Roman site of Ampuries.
From Cadaqués we travel south. Our destination is the coastal
city of Tarragona where we stay in the Hotel Plaça de la Font,
the family hotel par excellence. As well as one of the capitals of the
Roman world, Tarragona was a vital medieval centre and we visit some
of the most important monasteries in Western Europe.
DAY 1: Flying in to Barcelona we make our way north to the coastal town
of Cadaqués. This is a most picturesque
Mediterranean town set around a stunning bay, all the more alluring
perhaps in the off-season.
DAYS 2 & 3: Cadaqués was the home of Salvador Dali for many
years and it is inevitable that we spend much of our time here exploring
the sites associated with one of the world’s most inventive and
successful artists. We shall visit various museums including of course
the major and wildly eccentric Museu Dali at Figueras.
This part of Catalonia also witnessed the first arrival of Greeks and
Romans by sea and their presence is magnificently
commemorated at the major archaeological site at Ampuries. We also travel
north to the splendid medieval monastery at
San Pere de Rodes.
DAYS 4, 5, 6 & 7: From Cadaqués we travel south practically
the length of Catalonia. En route we pause to visit the widest cathedral
nave in Europe in Girona and then take the coast road down past Barcelona
through Sitges and on to Tarragona, once one of the great cities of
the ancient world and today, a gentle and appealing small city blending
the ancient, the medieval and the contemporary in attractive equilibrium.
In Tarragona there is something for everyone: some outstanding Roman
monuments including the spectacular sea-side
arena and the National Museum of Roman Art; the biggest cathedral in
Catalonia; lovely 18th and 19th-century architecture and a lively, accessible
modern city. We travel out from Tarragona to the magnificent Cistercian
monasteries of Poblet and Santes Creus, lunching on rustic Catalan fare
at the legendary Hostal del Senglar.
DAY 8: We drive to Barcelona to take our return flight
THIS TOUR DEPARTS: 1st February 2010
OUR HOTELS: the S’Aguarda in
Cadaqués, on the road out to Port Lligat and enjoying excellent
views; the Plaça
de la Font in Tarragona.
NUMBER IN PARTY: 12-16
THE PRICE OF THIS TOUR: £1380
(single supplement £130)