The Rough Guide to Barcelona 8 (Rough Guide Travel Guides)

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9am–1pm & 4–7pm, Sat 10am–1pm; T 938 181 254, Wwww.turismevilafranca
.com). Behind here, in Plaça Jaume I, opposite the much-restored Gothic church
of Santa Maria, the Museu de Vilafranca (Tues–Sat 10am–2pm & 4–7pm, Sun
10am–2pm; €3) is housed in a twelfth-century palace and worth visiting largely for
its section on the region’s wine industry.The experience culminates with a visit to
the museum’s tavern for a tasting.
The vineyards of Vilafranca are all out of town, though the largest and best
known, Torres (Mon–Fri 9am–5pm, Sat 9am–6pm, Sun & hols 9am–1pm;
tours €5; T 938 177 487, W , is only a three-kilometre taxi ride
to the northwest, on the Sant Martí de Sarroca road. Also owned by Torres is
boutique winemaker Jean Leon (Mon–Sat 9.30am–5.30pm, Sun & hols
9.30am–1pm; tours €6; T 938 995 512, W ) at Torrelavit,
closer to Sant Sadurní, whose American-modernist-inspired visitor centre is set
in particularly bucolic surroundings.
The most agreeable place in town to wine-taste is Inzolia, c/de la Palma 21
(Mon 5–10pm, Tues–Sat 10am–2pm & 5–10pm; T 938 181 938, Wwww
), just off c/de Sant Joan, where a range of cavas and wines are sold
by the glass, and there’s a good wine shop attached.There are plenty of restau-
rants – the tourist office has a list – with the moderately priced L’Hereu,
c/Casal 1 (T 938 902 217) particularly recommended, serving generous
portions of country-style food with local wines. The restaurant is across the
rambla from c/de Sant Joan, through the passageway.
The Festa Major (W ), at the end of August and the first
couple of days in September, brings the place to a standstill: dances and parades
clog the streets, while the festival is most widely known for its display of castellers
– teams of people competing to build human towers.
Tarragona
Majestically sited on a rocky hill, 100km southwest of Barcelona and sited sheer
above the sea, TARRAGONA is an ancient place: settled originally by Iberians
and then Carthaginians, it was later used as the base for the Roman conquest
of the peninsula, which began in 218 BC with Scipio’s march south against
Hannibal. The fortified city became an imperial resort and, under Augustus,
“Tarraco” was the most elegant and cultured city of Roman Spain, boasting at
its peak a quarter of a million inhabitants. The modern city provides a fine
setting for some splendid Roman remains, and there’s an attractive medieval
part, too, while the rocky coastline below conceals a couple of reasonable
beaches. It’s worth noting that almost all Tarragona’s sights and museums are
closed on Mondays, though the old town and the exterior of some of the
Roman remains can still be seen should you decide to visit then.
The City
The heart of the upper town is the sweeping Rambla Nova, lined with cafés
and restaurants, while the parallel Rambla Vella marks the start of the old
either side of the ramblas are scattered a profusion of relics fromTarra-
gona’s Roman past, including various temples, and parts of the forum, theatre,
circus and amphitheatre.The old encircling Roman walls still stand too, largely
dating from the third and second century BC though erected on even older
OUT OF THE CITY
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Tarragona