let's take a day trip
I have spent the last year and a half exploring the incredible world around my village of L'Albi, and these are the gems I highly recommend.
Cross-posted from our retreat home’s website, thecraft.es.
I live in a tiny little village with two restaurants (three in the summer if you count the pool patio bar) and just 700 y pico people. You would think that there would be nothing to do, but to be honest there are plenty of festivals and events right here in town, many of them just out the living room windows from our retreat home—and so many incredible options just a short drive away. At one point I just decided to create a master list of my top recommendations, a quicker way to answer that “what should we do when we come?” question.
I thought I’d share them here, too, because who doesn’t like an insider view of what to do when you’re outside of Barcelona in Catalunya, Spain. In each one, you’ll see the location, followed by my recommended itinerary. then I’ll tell you a little more about why it made the cut.
On the original post on thecraft.es, I’ve also shared more about what to do right at l’Artesania, a suggested rhythm for scheduling your days, and what to expect for costs when traveling in my region.
Planning your days at and around l’Artesania, our retreat home in L’Albi, Lleida, Catalunya, Spain:
Day trips: experiences, adventures, and architecture options just around the corner are vast.
Montblanc: coffee/tapas in the square > wander > visit cathedral 1 euro > stop at Mercadona for groceries (20 min drive from L’Albi)
Twenty minutes from L’Albi is a well-known medieval town called Montblanc. It’s still got a complete stone wall up around the original town borders, and an incredible medieval festival around the week of Dia de Sant Jordi, where you’ll find knights on horses riding around town randomly, and an old medieval beer garden everywhere you look. It’s crowded, but worth the crowds.Poblet Monastery (20 min)
There are three significant monasteries near L’Albi: Poblet, Santes Creus, and Vallbona. I would suggest starting with Poblet. It’s absolutely stunning and still a working monastery, which means it is the most kept up, and less having portions that feel like ruins.Lleida: La Seu, menú at Casa Marti for a slow, traditional lunch, shopping on Carrer Major (30 min)
There are three big towns close by that are absolutely worth the visit: Reus, Tarragona, and Lleida. Let’s start with Lleida, half an hour away. Lleida’s main tourist attraction, in an otherwise kind of gray city, is La Seu. A huge cathedral on the top of the hill of Lleida, it was built in 1200 and Franco took it over as a prison at one point. More recently restored, the outdoor area, the cloister, is one of my favorite spots around. Next to it, open fewer hours, is the king’s castle. Outside of the cathedral and castle on the hill, Lleida is a good place to get bigger stores, as well as a full shopping street with everything from your standard Zara and H&M chains to local little gems. Lleida also has the closest AVE (fast train) to go into Barcelona for the day.Tarragona: Roman ruins > wandering and shopping in Part Alta > cathedral > lunch at Braseria la Catedral > beach outside town (45 min)
Tarragona was a Roman port, Tarraco, back in the—well—start of AD. Tarragona, along with Roman ruins like a race track and amphitheatre, has possibly my favorite cathedral I’ve seen yet in Catalunya. The cathedral is at the top of the old quarter, a great place to wander and home to the best tourist gifts shop, La Botiga del Bon Gust, that has more varied and quality options than your typical Barcelona tshirts-and-fake-pottery shop. For lunch, if you’re tired of pork and love a pile of meat, I highly recommend a halal wood fire grill just behind the cathedral, Braseria la Catedral. Tarragona is also on the coast, so it’s a good place to combine historical tours with some beach time.Reus: Casa Navas > wander and shop > Patateria Laurie > Colmado Baró > a proper vermouth hour then tapas lunch outdoors at Casa Coder (35 min)
The small city with the most Modernista architecture per capita, even more than Barcelona. The birthplace of Spanish vermouth. Home to an incredible range of quality foods from around the world. Like Barcelona without its downsides of pickpockets and overtourism. It’s hard to narrow down my recommendations in Reus but I will say that it’s a great place to get to know more about vermouth culture and pick up your own bottle of the good stuff at Colmado Baro. It’s also close to Salou, an uber-popular beach town along the coast, so a morning in Reus with the afternoon on the beach is also a good combo.
Montserrat: Aeri up > tour cathedral, light a candle, lunch > funicular to the top > hike/take in the views > Aeri down > Bar el Rincon tapas (1 hr 15 min)
Bit more of a drive than my other suggestions, but Montserrat is a famous mountaintop monastery with the Black Madonna. Not just for touring the cathedral there, it’s a great place for hiking, and of course a great excuse to ride a funicular and an aerial cable car in one day. Be sure to end your day with a stop at the little outdoor bar “Bar el Rincon” on the other side of the train tracks surrounded by trees.Prades and Siurana: Prades wander > menú lunch at La Font > drive up to Siurana (30 min/1 hr)
We are in the foothills of the Prades mountains here in L’Albi, so in half an hour you can be up in the red rock town of Prades, with one of my favorite restaurants around, La Font. Up another half hour and you’re in Siurana, town of 40 residents, at the top of the mountain. One of the prettiest towns and breathtaking views in all of Spain. Worth the windy roads to get there, for sure. Don’t forget to walk up to the Mirador (cliffs for that view) past the church and marvel at the lack of safety rails.Santuari de Monsterrat and Montferri (40 min)
A beautiful drive down the road from home base is a tiny church built brick by brick by the townspeople in Montferri that will stop you in your tracks if you happen upon it driving by. This sanctuary is sweet and surprising. In Montferri, across the road, is my favorite winery: Cava Vives Ambrós. There’s also a microbrewery there, a rarity in Spain.
Small town life: If you just want to experience village life, there are many captivating villages and towns right around us-and all just 15 minutes or less by car to get there. A stop for a coffee and a wander around town in each of these options is a great way to start a day.
Vinaixa: El Nou Bar el Sol is not known for its ambiance but the friendly staff and great food quickly make up for it.
Cerviá: Lo Nou Casal has incredible menú lunches, and in the summer on Saturday nights they close off the street, and put up tables all outside under strings of lights, and it is like a movie scene.
Tarrés: this town is adorable. And the weekend buffet at El Sindicat so far outshines what you picture as a buffet. It’s a Spanish culinary experience. The cured meat and cheese boards alone…
L’Espluga de Francoli: This is more a town than a village, by which I mean you have lots of options for shopping and restaurants (compared to my village with two). It is home to my favorite bakery (Cots Artesans), weekly farmers market (on Fridays in the plaza by the cathedral), and Sunday-only pollo y conejo a l’ast (rotisserie chicken and rabbit) to die for at Polleria Antónia.
Vimbodi: on your wander, stop by Ca la Cova for their “hot and honey” sobrassada (which I explain as a “spreadable chorizo”) and many other great charcuterie options.
La Pobla de Cervoles: Don’t miss the free outdoor sculpture park just outside town at Vinya dels Artistes, by the Mas Blanch y Jove winery.
See the full post and learn more about booking a stay at l’Artesania here.
What a resource! The level of detail here is exactly what I look for when planning trips—local spots that guidebooks miss. I visited Tarragona once and completley missed the cathderal, so bookmarking Braseria la Catedral for next time. The funicular ride to Montserrat sounds like it combines adventure with history perfectly. Lived in Barcelona briefly but never explored this direction much, kinda regreting it now.