Spain * France: Catalunya & Barcelona : including Pyrenees-Orientales

Shortlisted for the most extensive coverage of Catalunya and Barcelona of any travel guidebook

This comprehensive guide covers the whole of Catalunya's fiercely independent region on both the French and Spanish sides, a place proud of its strong identity and packed with fascination and contrast. From the Pyrenees mountains and sparkling Mediterranean coves to crisp cava and world-renowned cuisine, Catalunya offers something for every traveler. Although Barcelona with its iconic Gaudí architecture may be the best-known destination, the rest of the region generates the distinctive identity of which local residents are so proud. Although officially a semi-autonomous comunidad, Catalunya feels like a separate country—as arguably befits its history as a medieval kingdom that once ruled parts of southernmost France, the Balearics, and even the Italian island of Sardinia.

Written by long-time travel authors Dana Facaros and Michael Pauls, alongside Mary-Ann Gallagher (who has lived in Barcelona since the mid-2000s), this guidebook furnishes detailed background and practical information across eight easy-to-follow chapters. You'll find in-depth guides to Barcelona and the provincial capitals of Girona, Tarragona, and Lleida, alongside sections covering the Costa Brava with its charming fishing villages and isolated beaches, the Pyrenees including Andorra, and French Catalunya including Perpignan. Written with a light, deft touch that conveys genuine passion for Catalan culture and people, this guide provides manifold reasons to get off the beaten path and explore areas offering outstanding natural beauty, great food, history, and culture.

In this region of contrasting landscapes, you can ski in the Pyrenees in the morning, then sunbathe on a Mediterranean beach in the afternoon. Discover Catalunya's strangest festivals, from pet blessings and silent choirs to dancing eggs and human castles. Bring history to life by visiting Iberian villages, Roman walls, haunting Romanesque frescoes, and medieval hamlets where time seems to have stopped. Explore blissfully uncrowded nature reserves and mountain ranges, smuggler paths on rugged coasts, and valleys scented with almond and cherry blossom. And savour the best Catalan cuisine, considered one of the world's finest, from traditional country towns to avant-garde culinary fireworks in globally renowned restaurants.

40 colour photos, 23 maps