Day trips for two
When you want a day outside the city, the surrounding coast and countryside deliver a disproportionate amount of romance per kilometre travelled.
Sitges
A whitewashed town between the hills and the sea, forty minutes by train, with a church on the headland, two beaches and a well-earned carnival reputation.
The Penedès wine country
Cava cellars an hour south offering tours and tastings, several of them in modernista buildings. Book a driver, or take the train to Sant Sadurní d'Anoia.
The Costa Brava
Train or rental car to the cliff paths and coves around Calella de Palafrugell and Begur, which are about as close to a postcard as Catalonia gets.