Tarragona

The World Heritage city of Tarragona, an hour away by car, is the capital of the Province and overflows with history and culture.

Tarragona is famous for its Human Castles, a marvel to witness and before you watch this youtube video from the Castellers de Vilafranca, I hasten to add that it appears no one ever gets seriously hurt!


Check the Fiestas page for dates including Tarragona’s Water Fiesta in August, a water soaked street party with Human Castles, and their International Fireworks Competition in July.

For sightseeing purposes the city can be split into three areas. The Old Town, dominated by the 12th Century Cathedral,  sits at the highest part of the city and is a beautifully historic and mainly traffic free area perfect for wandering its narrow winding streets.

The attractive and bustling New Town has the wide, tree lined Rambla Nova through its centre ending with El Balco del Mediterrani overlooking the sea and Roman amphitheatre.

And lastly, the marina and port areas,  accessable from El Balco del Mediterrani by steps, which is also the way to the train station. It's not a particularly attractive area but if you're after late clubs and bars you'll find them in the Marina and if you like seafood there are some good restaurants around the port.

Tarragona Tourism offers four different walking routes, the Medieval Route, the Roman Route, the First Christians Route and the Modernist Route. Of the links below, the first four are the pdf available for each of the aforementioned routes, and the last two are for other, more print friendly, itineraries:

Medieval Route
Roman Route
First Christians Route
Modernist Route
From the Romans to today
Tamarit Castle

The Tarragona Card may be of interest to those who intend to visit a lot of museums as it covers admission to all the city museums and gives you access to over 100 discount offers. It can be purchased at tourist offices and 2008 prices are:  24-hour €14, 48-hour €19 and 72-hour €24.  With the card you will get free city bus tickets and a guide.

You should note that on Mondays everything is closed except: Pallol Vault-Model of Roman Tarraco, Casa Castellarnau Museum, Casa Canals, Cathedral and Diocesan Museum and Francolí River Paleochristian Complex.