Heading to Barcelona next month. Trying to decide whether or not to visit the Costa Brava region and explore some wines from the Emporda area near France, or if i should go south to the Priorat area and explore wines there. I am hoping for some more recent feedback or ideas for a day of wine tasting at may be two or three at the most properties. I searched here but didn’t find much more recent than 2012. It is one thing to search across the Internet, but I trust and have enjoyed first hand accounts from fellow Berserkers! When I went to Alsace you guys really killed it with your recommendations. Thanks!
Penedes is an easy day trip out of Barcelona, especially Sant Sadurni d’Anoia where some of the best sparkling wine is made. I liked visits to Recaredo, Gramona, Raventos, Juve & Camps.
ive been to costa brava maybe 5x in the last 10 years though our trips were more about nature, cycling and beach than wine. i find the wine in that area pretty basic though you have an interesting producer here and there. personally, i don’t care for the big wines of priorat and imagine that the temps will be hotter in that area as its a little more south and a little more further from the sea than costa brava.
check out hostal sa rascassa in begur if you are keen on that area. we love staying there (may be full at that time of the year) but dinner outdoors is special. normal restaurant in girona is also a regular spot for us now.
We will be in Barcelona for three full days, we are not city people so we will probably venture out to see the countryside for at least two days. Sitges looks very nice, that may be one of our stops. Thanks!
When we drove down to Tarragona and Sitges, we stopped at Familia Torres winery for a quick tour-and-tasting, just to experience a winery in the region. It’s only a slight detour but an easy drive along the way.
It depends on how much of the surrounding region you want to visit. There’s nowhere in most all of Spain that’s uniformly at the level of the Priorat wines and, despite a previous comment alluding to their ‘largeness’, this isn’t the case in most producers anymore.
The problem is that you go to Priorat for Priorat as outside the region, you’d maybe want to visit Tarragona as, despite living in Priorat, I’m not a fan of the Costa Daurada. Costa Brava is overall much prettier and while wines of Empordà at the level of Priorat aren’t as easy to find, it still has a lot to offer outside of the wines.
Spent a couple of days staying and tasting in Penedes area couple of years ago and it was great. Really liked Pares Balta and Sabate I Coca.
Also did an e-bike tour with a couple of winery stops, which was a highlight of our trip, and all of the other people on the trip had taken the train down from Barcelona.
Need Barcelona and Costa Brava suggestions for my 22 year old and her friends who are going after college graduation in June. They are flying in and out of Barcelona…no real plans yet. But they might do a few days in Costa Brava. Any other suggestions that are easy to get to from Barcelona? Valencia? Need reasonable restaurants (wine and Michelin not important) and fun things to do.
Girona is very easy to get to and worth a night’s stay, but could also be a fine day trip.
Sitges is very close to Barcelona and is a nice day trip for beach activity.
My daughter spent the last two summers in Barcelona and spent a lot of time out at night. She liked the clubs Opium and Pacha (both on the beach) and Razzmatazz (massive, many floors) the best.
begur…on the beach…doubt theyll have availability but we love hostal sa rascassa for a chill relaxing stay.
for a more modern and bigger hotel, hotel aiguablava works well.
youll need a car in the area but driving to girona and cadaques and maybe the french border to perpignan…relaxing at the beaches and coves all over the area is paradise.
grand hotel central in barcelona is one of our favorite hotels to stay at. perfect location.
Costa Bravo has many awesome spots. Tossa de Mar is a great one, lots of restaurants, great beach with easy access by public bus. Alternatively we used this private tours company from Barcelona which curates custom tours. Mostly specializes on Wine tours but can curate any trip out of Barcelona.
Girona is also a very cute town to visit.
Just returned from Barcelona. We had 2 nights on arrival and then 4 nights after touring the northeast. It was hot and humid. Temps peaked around 5 pm. 35-36C with 80% humidity. Needless to say, we ducked into bars every few hours. Had terrific wine/beer and tapas all over, but our favorite areas outside the Gothic quarter were Eixample and Gracia. We loved Mon Vinic. More a wine bar, but with a fantastic list (lots of Italian wines and some natural) and excellent olives, cheese and charcuterie. Verdis Quo was a cool vinyl/wine bar. Sin Mala near the Sagrada Família was also good. Closer to Gothic and Born, we loved Contracurrent, Borna Brew, Bar La Pla, Nardi and El Xampanyet. We had several great lunches and dinners. In no particular order: Glug, Ultramarinos Marin, Gresca, Franca were all very good with Gresca and Ultramarinos tops for us. Food and wine is such a deal in Spain, we sometimes made double takes when la cuenta arrived. A few pics.
