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Catalonia’s most famous wine region is the cava -producing area of the Penedès. The cava brands of Cordoníu and Freixenet have become household names worldwide. Many of the area’s wineries and bodegas are open to the public. One of the most spectacular is the Cordoníu bodega, housed in a Modernista building designed by Puig i Cadafalch, with a phenomenal 26 km (16 miles) of cellars on five floors.

A rich reminder of the neighbour-hoods’ medieval past is this Gothic hospital complex (1401), which is today home to educational and cultural organizations. Within, you can wander a pleasant garden surrounded by Gothic pillars.

The first thing locals will say when you ask about the Barri Xinès is that it no longer exists; the second is that the name has no real connection with the Chinese (Xinès ). Both statements are true. This barrio, unfolding south from Carrer Sant Pau towards Drassanes, was once one of Europe’s most infamous neighbourhoods, inhabited by the poor and working-class and rife with prostitutes, pimps, strippers and drug dealers. Today, due to enthusiastic clean-up efforts, mere vestiges remain of the barrio’s previous life (though some alleys still hint at illicit activity). As for the name, the area has nothing to do with the Chinese, but was named in the barrio’s early-1900s heyday as a general reference to its large immigrant population. Today you can browse in cheap thrift shops and small grocery stores by day and bar-hop your way through the area by night.

Fancy a splash in the Mediterranean? Trot down to the end of La Rambla, wander along the palm tree-lined Moll de la Fusta, down restaurant-packed Passeig Joan de Borbó, et voilà , the sea beckons. Over four km (2.5 miles) of blue flag beaches stretch north from Barceloneta to Port Olímpic and beyond. Facilities are top-notch, including showers, deck chairs, beach volleyball courts and lifeguards. Convenience, however, means crowds, so finding a spot among the masses of oiled bodies can be a challenge, particularly in the summer.

The elegant hilltop town of Begur, with its ruined 14th-century castle, looks down on the nature reserve of Aiguamolla and some of the prettiest coves on the Costa Brava. The town’s population quadruples in summer as visitors make this their base for exploring nearby beaches and small, isolated coves. Many of the area’s beaches stage jazz concerts throughout the summer. This is perhaps the best stretch of coastline in Catalonia.

See Barcelona’s port activity from a different perspective, either from the air or the sea. The telefèric cable cars offer sweeping, bird’seye views of Barcelona and its coast, while the old-fashioned Les Golondrines boats and the Orsom Catamaran sweep you around the port area.

Barcelona’s golondrines (Tours & Tips) make regular trips out of the port, providing a fun excursion for older children. Younger kids, however, will probably prefer paddling around in a rowing boat on the lake at the Parc de la Ciutadella (Parc de la Ciutadella).

In the first half of the 19th century, El Raval’s main street was a notorious strip of cabarets, brothels and other nocturnal dens. Today it still bustles with transactions, but of a different sort. Frayed-at-the-edge local eateries, ethnic grocery stores, and discount clothing and shoe shops dot the street. And nightspots, such as the atmospheric London Bar (Bars & Clubs), which have conserved their age-old identity and fixtures, lure partying visitors.