Get ready to explore (or re-explore!) enchanting spots that are steeped in history, nature, culture and authenticity. They are just a stone’s throw from Barcelona and have so much to offer. Here are 10 ideas to fill you with energy and make you want to hit the road!

Do you fancy seeing more than 50 hot-air balloons in flight over Anoia? Well, don’t miss the European Balloon Festival! Enjoy competitions, exhibitions, concerts and hot-air balloon flights. This is the most important hot air balloon meet in Southern Europe.

Over a thousand years after Abbot Oliba’s appointment as Bishop of Vic, there are various mediaeval routes and places in the city through which to explore his legacy. While special occasions and anniversaries are celebrated every day, millennial anniversaries are few and far between. The Oliba celebration shows the importance of this renovator of the Church and great promoter of Romanesque art and architecture in Catalonia. The legacy of the visionary bishop, who laid the foundations for a Catalan spiritualism based on peace, is alive and well in the city of Vic, with its beautiful historical and mediaeval centre.