By Eilidh Marshall

With our travel plans on hold, the ST.ART team have compiled our ultimate bucket list for the day when holidays are do-able again. Beginning with Head of Travel Eilidh Marshall’s reminiscence on Catalunya, this is The Wanderlist.

Landing in Barcelona airport in September 2018, I was suddenly hit by a very real wave of ohmygod dread. I’d started my year abroad with very little Spanish under my belt, and I couldn’t even understand the baggage claim signs! Coming back to my senses, I realised that the signs were in fact in the local language of Catalan: not a great indication of my common sense, but at least my Spanish skills weren’t quite as terrible as I’d thought.

Barcelona is one of the most popular cities in Spain, so much so that many people confuse it with the capital city Madrid. It’s not hard to understand why: Barcelona has beaches and sunshine to rival the Costa del Sol, combined with a thriving nightlife and a shedload of cultural sights. It’s also entirely instagrammable, with the mosaics of Parc Güell being recognisable to anyone.

Barcelona was a fun place to explore on my first few weekends off, but there are only so many times you can be wowed by the Sagrada Familia. As such, myself and my friends started begging tips (and sometimes lifts) from our colleagues, to see the “real” Catalunya outside of the big city. Our travels were sometimes complicated and often exhausting (looking at you, Spanish buses), but cheap wine and beautiful views always made them worth it.

SITGES

Sitges is a beach town about 35km south of Barcelona, and it’s a popular destination for domestic tourism. We visited in early October, just as winter coats were coming out in the UK, and felt very smug about being able to enjoy a dip in the blindingly blue, and warm, Mediterranean. (We could also have braved one of the three nudist beaches, but we were just a bit too British…)

In the 1960s Sitges was a hub of counterculture against Francoist suppression, and its reputation for culture continues today with a celebrated Pride festival, the annual Festival Internacional de Cinema, and the Sitges Carnival: no matter what time of year, there’s something going on that’s worth seeing. Sitges is also easily accessible by train, or the ever-popular Blablacar, from central Barca, making it a perfect daytrip destination.

GIRONA

Slightly further from Barcelona, the northern city of Girona was one of my favourite places in Catalunya. A caveat: public transport to Girona is mainly on the Hispano Igualadina bus service, which is usually complicated and always unreliable, so it’s best to hire a car if you can. Just make sure the car hire centre actually exists… trust me, I learnt the hard way.

Girona is a medieval city with a lot to see for history geeks like myself, especially the beautiful Jewish Quarter. Girona Cathedral is also particularly impressive, although religious pilgrims to it have recently been replaced by TV superfans: it was used as the setting for the Sept of Baelor in Game of Thrones.

Unlike Barcelona, Girona hasn’t quite caught on to tourist pricing, and so a night in a hotel there didn’t break the bank. It also has some great food – I recommend Café Federal for brunch or lunch, and any of the central bars for evening tapas – and a 2-euro drink in the central square definitely added to the holiday feeling.

MONTSERRAT

By far the most rewarding thing I did on my year abroad (apart from actually learning Spanish) was climbing Montserrat mountain. It’s not for the faint-hearted – the hike from the midpoint at Montserrat Monastery to the top of the mountain takes at least 3 hours, and you need to go early to avoid the midday heat – but it’s absolutely worth it. It also felt pretty good to do a weekend activity that might combat the weeks of vino and patatas bravas!

The Montserrat hike is pretty tourist-free, as most tour groups only have an hour to explore the Monastery and the beginning of the trail is well-hidden in the forest behind; this means that the summit isn’t too crowded, and you can take your time to appreciate the truly astounding views.

After nearly a year living there, I’ll readily admit that when it comes to Barcelona proper, I can take it or leave it. But exploring Catalunya I discovered culture-packed cities, natural wonders, and lasting friendships: definitely one for The Wanderlist.