Living abroad has changed my perspective on holidays. When you can see the beach from your (former) office window and the temperature rarely dips below 20 Celsius, the need to escape to warmer climes never really arises. Family and friends are seen either on busy trips back to London between weddings and life-admin or come to visit and get a glimpse of life in the desert.

For a change from visiting each other in our home cities, my boyfriend, parents and I packed our bags for a week in the Catalonian countryside. A way for us all to make new memories away from home. 

Our base, just a forty-minute drive from Barcelona’s airport was a beautifully restored farm house with a (slightly too cold to swim in) pool. The surrounding countryside was perfect to run and hike in. While Barcelona was the main attraction for visiting this area, the other cities in Catalonia are well worth visiting too. We hired a car and just Google-mapped for interesting looking places within an hour’s driving distance! 

Girona

A medieval city, Girona Old Town is beautiful – it’s so well-preserved and not a single chain shop or cafe caught my eye which is such a rarity. We visited on a Sunday so most stores were shut but all of the cafes and restaurants were open, including The River, a Bruce Springsteen themed eatery and bar where we stopped for lunch on the terrace. The narrow streets are perfect for a wander, walking up the old town steps towards the cathedral provided great views over the city and some stairs for a spot of yoga! The gelato shop in the square outside the cathedral had four flavours of vegan gelato, perfect for cooling down once we’d hit our daily step target exploring this beautiful city.

Barcelona

A visit to Barcelona was required as my dad and boyfriend had never been, and I’d been given a few recommendations for new spots since my last visit in 2016. We did a quick tour of Passeig De Gracia to look at the Gaudi architecture (La Pedrera and Case Batllo – the later screened off for a lick of paint), stopped by H&M for their in-store Flax and Kale cafe and then wandered down Las Ramblas, grabbing lunch at Bouquera Market. I obviously had the veggie Kimbap from a Korean stall run by a man from Busan. 

I bought timed entry tickets to Parc Guell and La Sangradafamilia around six weeks before our visit. I’d highly recommend doing this as the volume of tourists in Barcelona is insane, even in the low season! I found the Parc less enthralling on this visit, possibly as a lot of it was covered by scaffolding and their was too much videoing and too many selfie sticks to dodge. The Sangrada was better than I remembered, though, and the construction works have advanced so much since my first visit in 2010.

For dinner, we were given a recommendation for Teresa Carles, a vegetarian and vegan restaurant on Jovellanos. The food was amazing, one of the best meals I’ve had in a long time – many of the options are also gluten-free so I had my pick of the entire menu. I would happily eat here again and again. 

Lloret Del Mar

At first glance, this resort appears to be a 1970s holiday mecca for Brits serving up Sangria for breakfast and some slightly more dubious activities… but don’t judge the place at first glance. Take a left at the main beach and keep on walking, leaving the resort behind you in favour of a cliff-side path with breathtaking views out to sea. The beach and castle looks like it could have been in Game of Thrones and this was probably my favourite day of the trip seeing our initial slight disappoint turn to wonder. 

Sitges

Just south of Barcelona, Spain’s LGBT-friendly city is beautiful and bustling without the crowds of Barcelona. It’s an obvious comparison, but it felt like Spain’s version of Brighton and Hove but with a soft sandy beach and white buildings with terracotta-tiled roofs. Check out the Maricel Museum for incredible sea views or head to a beach bar for a G&T in a traditional balloon glass. Also another spot for a vegan gelato – the hazelnut flavour from Dino was dangerously good. I’ve saved a few Airbnbs in Sitges for a future trip as I loved the beach town vibes. 

PIN FOR LATER