Art, Architecture & Cava

Epicurean Barcelona, Cava Country & Girona

Overview

A gourmet deep dive into the Mediterranean city

Dive into the food, wine and culture of the Catalan capital, Spain’s most creative city. See the essentials of the city’s history and architecture. Enjoy the best of Barcelona’s cuisine, from traditional tapas to creative young chefs to world-class modern fine dining. A day trip to the Penedes wine region (think Cava) and a day trip to beautiful Girona for lunch at 3-Michelin star El Celler de Can Roca will fill out your Catalan experience.

Barcelona → Penedes → Girona

☾ 5 Nights

BARCELONA

These days Barcelona might be the most famous city in Spain. The Ciudad Condal has an inimitable charm, like Paris crossed with a beach town. Spectacular architecture, world-class restaurants, and a strong Catalan character under the surface. Outside the capital, Cataluña shows its full strength. This is the most distinct part of Spain, with its own language, cuisine, wine, history, culture.

Barcelona’s rise has been sharp. A few decades ago, one of the most important cities of the Mediterranean was distinctly off the itinerary, with a reputation as a seedy port suitable only for the more adventurous Eurotrip types. How things have changed. A series of facelifts and massive public and private investment have made Barcelona one of the world’s top destinations. The former industrial port became a glossy waterfront district. Gleaming hotels and business headquarters popped up across the city. Ancient ruins and modernist buildings were restored and today draw visitors from all around the world. Barcelona today is a true Mediterranean capital and the pride of Cataluña.

Even at the airport you can feel the pull of the city. When you get into the center of town, you feel that you’ve arrived somewhere special. Barcelona has something for everyone and is ready to welcome all who make the trip there. The old town, split by the famous Las Ramblas, invites you to explore its narrow streets and hidden plazas. The old fisherman’s quarter, the Barceloneta, connects you to the beach and the coastal relaxation that have helped make Barcelona popular. The sophisticated Eixample impresses with its mixture of luxurious shops and comfortable tapas bars, all interspersed with incredible Modernist architecture. The neighborhoods of upper Barcelona hold the secrets of that true, old, Catalan culture that lies beneath the global cosmopolitan surface of the city. The mixture of the old and the new, the global and the local, is what makes this one of the world’s most special cities.

By day, the beauty of the city is on full display. The Gothic Quarter and the Born let you see the enchantment of Medieval Barcelona. Gaudí’s Modernist constructions, from the famous Sagrada Familia and Park Güell to less-known palaces, showcase the historic wealth and creativity that grew in the city. The Barceloneta invites you to enjoy a paella by the beach. Museums and attractions of all sorts are everywhere, more than you could ever visit. The city’s teeming markets beckon with their wealth of products from Cataluña’s rich countryside, from the famous Boquería to the neighborhood markets off the beaten track. Wherever you spend your day, you might want to use your last bit of daylight to take in the city, whether from the beachfront, the hill of Montjuic, or a rooftop bar with a glass of cold cava in your hand. The day may be ending, but the city is far from done.

By night, the city comes to life, or rather accelerates further. The tapas bars fill up, whether the hidden traditional spots in the old part or upper city or the hip scenes of the Eixample and the beachfront. Eating options are near infinite: Michelin star innovators with postmodern creations, classic restaurants with white tablecloths and local clientele, masters of cuisines from around the world, anything you can imagine. Wine bars overflow with clients looking to sample the wines of Cataluña, flashy rooftops and sunset bars with postmodern furniture play at Ibiza, holes in the wall serve strong drinks in dark rooms with red curtains, Catalans fill cafés and sip cava and vermouth and work up their appetites. Whatever you are looking for as the sun goes down or as it comes back up, Barcelona has it.

On the blog: A Trip to the Heart of Priorat and Penedes

Art, Architecture & Cava

Epicurean Barcelona, Cava Country & Girona

DAY 1

BARCELONA MARKETS & CUISINE

• Private Barcelona Food & Markets Tour

• Dinner at Pur

• Overnight Barcelona

Private Barcelona Food & Markets Tour

Start your private tour with a light Spanish breakfast at a historic café before diving into the food on offer at two Barcelona markets–the world famous Boqueria Market and a hidden one frequented by locals. Many of Barcelona’s markets date from the city’s Modernista period, and today they remain centers of community and gastronomic passion. The Boquería, nerve center of the old town, is a jewel that can’t be missed. After tasting local products here you’ll head to one of the city’s most authentic markets for a Catalan tapas lunch. From hearty country classics to simple succulent seafood, Barcelona’s market bars serve some of the best food in the city.

Dinner at Pur

Nandu Jubany’s product temple Pur sits next to the Concepció Market, a fitting location for a restaurant dedicated to serving fine product at its most pure. Jubany’s first restaurant in the Catalan countryside holds a Michelin star, serving elaborate Catalan dishes with Catalan product. Walk into Pur and the intention is clear: the fish and seafood of the day is visible as you enter. Sit at the comfortable low bar or one of the booth-style tables and you’ll have a view of the open kitchen. On the menu, fish and seafood and meat, much of it grilled and all of it top-notch. Look out for specialties like grilled fresh sobrasada sausage  and fried sea cucumbers before diving into grilled shrimp, lobster and much more.

DAY 2

CAVA COUNTRY WINE TOUR: PENEDÈS

• Private transfer to the Penedès wine region

• AT Roca winery visit & tasting

• Cava Mestres winery visit & tasting

• Lunch at Ticus

• Private transfer back to Barcelona after lunch

• Dinner at Al Kostat

• Overnight Barcelona

AT Roca Winery Visit & Tasting

AT Roca is one of the newest and most exciting wineries in the Penedès. Founded by a longtime sparkling winemaker (and member of the Penedès’s branching Torelló family) and his family, AT Roca is a study in the detailed terroir of the Penedès. The vineyards surrounding the winery are split into numerous plots, planted mostly in Xarello, the region’s star grape. Viticulture is organic and winemaking is careful and subtle, trying to let each plot express itself. Sparkling wines come mostly from single vineyards, a rarity in a region dominated by blending. The white Finca Els Gorgs and rosé Pedregar are among the most fascinating sparkling wines in the area. The AT Roca still wines, Xarello whites, are packed with complexity. AT Roca is a key stop to dive into what makes great wines from the Penedès.

Cava Mestres Winery Visit & Tasting

Mestres is among the most traditional and consistently excellent sparkling producers in the Penedès. The Mestres family has been growing grapes for a stunning thirty generations, and were pioneers of the finest style of cava on the market today: brut nature, made from indigenous grapes from excellent vineyards, and aged for years on the lees before manual disgorgement and release. While many producers within the Cava appellation have opted to produce large volumes of inexpensive sparkling, Mestres has stuck to these features to become the most respected house still using the Cava name. Their single vineyard vintage cavas, made from their own old vineyards, are among the finest on the market.

Lunch at Ticus

In the heart of cava capital Sant Sadurní d’Anoia, Ticus prepares and reinterprets the best of the cuisine of the Penedès. The Martínez brothers prepare and serve elegant dishes that bring together traditional local recipes with new creations, all focused on using exclusively local ingredients from the surrounding countryside and nearby Mediterranean. While one of the brothers is in charge of the kitchen, the other manages the wine cellar, giving Ticus a superb wine list that includes small-production wines from the Penedès and other Catalan wine regions.

Dinner at Al Kostat

Jordi Vilà, Alkimia’s star chef, has opened Al Kostat in the same space as Alkimia, his one Michelin star restaurant. Even the kitchen is shared, but the concept here is very different. There’s no tasting menu, only a long and complete list of classic Catalan dishes and inspired creations of Vilà. You can try everything from tapas to mar i montanya (Catalan surf and turf) to grilled fish, seafood and game. Seasonal daily specials showcase the rich Catalan countryside and coast. Real food prepared by specialists is the concept, but with world-class service, wine and atmosphere. Al Kostat has been a well-kept secret of Barcelona’s food elite, but now the rest of the world can join in the fun.

DAY 3

GAUDI & MODERNISM: SAGRADA FAMILIA & SANT PAU

• Private Barcelona Modernisme Tour: Sagrada Familia & Sant Pau

• Lunch at Paco Meralgo

• Private Catalan Wine Tasting

• Dinner at Nairod

• Overnight Barcelona

Private Barcelona Modernisme Tour: Sagrada Familia & Sant Pau

Your private guide will take you on a journey into the world of Modernism in Barcelona to see world-class architecture. Start by exploring the Hospital de Sant Pau, the largest Modernist structure in the world and a UNESCO World Heritage site. The complex was built as a hospital and continued to be used as such until 2009. From the fairy-tale façades to the breathtaking interiors, it’s a rare chance to see Modernism in such a functional context and to familiarize yourself with architect Domènech i Muntaner, one of Modernism’s foremost practitioners.

Then visit architect Antoni Gaudi’s Sagrada Familia church with a guide specialized in Catalan Modernist architecture. The towering church, expected to be finished in the next few years after over a century of work, is the crowning achievement of Gaudi and the Modernist movement as a whole. Tour the inside of what many consider to be Gaudi’s masterpiece and learn about its significance while being transported to another world.

Private Catalan Wine Tasting

Head to a wine shop in central Barcelona for your introduction to Catalan wines. Catalunya has 12 classified wine regions, from famous names like Priorat, Penedès and Cava (sparkling wine) to new stars like Terra Alta and Empordà. Join a local expert for a tasting that will show you the breadth and depth of this unique corner of Spain’s wines. Your host will select a range of wines to taste based on your preferences.

Dinner at Nairod

Nairod is a favorite of chefs in Barcelona, and for good reason. Chef David Rustarazo cooks some of the best food in Barcelona without pretension. The short menu changes frequently with the seasons and the whims of the chef. In game season there’s game, there’s always great fish and seafood and meat and vegetables that frame them perfectly. David and his team seem to never tire of cooking, spending hours and days preparing dishes. Deep flavors, patience and personality are what draw diners to Nairod day after day.

DAY 4

GIRONA MICHELIN STARS

• Private transfer from Barcelona to Girona

• Private Girona walking tour

• Lunch at El Celler de Can Roca (3 Michelin stars)

• Private transfer back to Barcelona after lunch

• Overnight Barcelona

Private Girona Walking Tour

Meet your Girona guide for a private guided walking tour through the winding streets of the historic Jewish quarter, one of the best-preserved in Europe. Visit the medieval Arab baths, the Jewish Culture Museum, and the city’s majestic Gothic cathedral.

Lunch at El Celler de Can Roca (3 Michelin stars)

El Celler de Can Roca, Catalonia’s long-standing great restaurant lies in an unassuming neighborhood of Girona, Catalonia’s northern city. Walk through the restaurant’s gate and you’re in another world, a traditional Catalan house surrounded by greenery. This is one of the world’s gastronomic temples. Repeatedly voted the best restaurant in the world, the only 3 Michelin star restaurant in the wild northern reaches of Spain’s Mediterranean, El Celler de Can Roca owes its excellence and longevity to a unique family story.

The 3 Roca brothers have made this restaurant what it is today. The older two, Joan and Josep, started El Celler next door to their family’s traditional eatery more than 35 years ago and it wasn’t long before their younger brother Jordi joined in. It’s rare to combine family so closely with modern cuisine, but the Rocas found roles for themselves. Joan is in charge of the kitchen, a role which he exercises with respect for tradition, visionary creativity and technical innovation. Josep is one of Spain’s most inspired sommeliers, stocking a wine cellar of tens of thousands of bottles and managing impeccable service. Jordi has become a precise and unorthodox pastry chef, creating stunning sweet dishes for El Celler’s menus. Each brother would be a notable figure on his own, but together they have not only risen to the highest levels of fine dining but managed the perhaps more difficult feat of staying at the top.

The key to El Celler’s longevity may be the influence of the Roca brothers’ mother, whose classic Catalan cooking seems to have embedded itself deep in their minds. Restraint and respect for the past are always present on the tasting menus served here, keeping the advanced technology and psychedelic presentations from leaving orbit. Local ingredients ground the menu, with many grown at the restaurant’s own organic farm. Precision brings out the essence of things, especially Joan’s innovative low-temperature cooking techniques on which he wrote a book. Fundamentally however, the cuisine of El Celler can’t be summarized because it’s creative and novel and excellent by definition, with great minds working to keep everything here fresh.

Special note must be made of the wine at El Celler. Josep is a visionary in the world of wine, making use of special bottles and wines in highly original pairings. Though a consummate professional, he overflows with ideas, from his notable appreciation of rare sherry and other fortified wines to special dinners where he pairs wines (and Can Roca dishes) with live flamenco music or opera.

All in all, El Celler de Can Roca is Spanish food at its best: shockingly creative, technically excellent and grounded in enough tradition to hold it all together.

DAY 5

BARCELONA CREATIVITY: DESIGN & MODERN CUISINE

• Private Barcelona design tour

• Lunch at Gresca

• Dinner at Cinc Sentits

• Overnight Barcelona

Private Barcelona Design Tour

Dive into the world of Barcelona’s designers and makers on this private tour that will take you inside the shops and ateliers of some of the city’s most talented creators. Your guide is a journalist and expert on the up-and-coming trends in the city. This exploration can be tailored to your interests, whether those are fashion, handmade goods, industrial design or any of the other wealth of specialties that thrive in Barcelona.

Lunch at Gresca

One of Barcelona’s first and most successful exemplars of the “Bistronomía” movement of casual fine dining, Gresca remains one of the city’s temples to good eating and drinking. The bar and the tables offer a view of the open kitchen, where the best seasonal products turn into creative, delicious dishes. Chef Rafa Peña combines Catalan products and recipes with influences from abroad and his own creativity. Wine is also key at Gresca. The wine list is extensive, with rare bottlings from small producers in Spain and France a notable strength. Whether it’s Catalan sparkling, Jura, Priorat or Riesling, you’ll find something new and amazing to try here. Gresca is the perfect place to eat and drink incredibly well in an informal environment in Barcelona.

Dinner at Cinc Sentits

Chef Jordi Artal’s Cinc Sentits is a benchmark for modern Catalan cuisine in Barcelona. After growing up in Canada and working in Silicon Valley, Artal moved to Barcelona and opened Cinc Sentits with little more than the flavors of his mother’s cooking and talent to work with. Today, in a spacious restaurant in the Eixample district, he creates tasting menus that showcase the flavors and recipes of Cataluña with vision and without regard for trends. Each dish showcases an ingredient and takes it to its maximum expression. In the pairing department, carefully chosen drinks including Artal’s own artisan vermouth, Catalan wines and other small-production bottlings enhance the dishes.

DAY 6

DEPARTURE

Private transfer to the Barcelona airport or train station.

HOTEL

Barcelona - 5 nights

Alma Barcelona Hotel - A 5-star bolthole in the heart of the Eixample district, the Alma’s rooms, restaurant, and secret terrace are perfect to unwind after a day exploring the city. The modern, light-filled rooms are relaxing and filled with every luxury. The restaurant downstairs serves excellent food, while the terrace, protected from the bustle of the city, is one of the best places in the city to have a drink. The staff offer superlative service, able to handle anything you might need.

INCLUDED

• 5 nights hotel, double occupancy

• breakfast daily in the hotel

• expert private guides

• private premium wine tasting

• restaurant reservations and recommendations

• full trip planning

• in-country trip assistance and on-the-ground support

• Epicurean Ways expertise

NOT INCLUDED

• flights to/from Spain and flights within Spain

• tips to guides and drivers (optional but appreciated)

• travel insurance (recommended) Note that TravelSafe travel insurance can be arranged through Epicurean Ways

• extra charges in hotels (minibar, room service, etc)

A note on restaurant selections and hotels

All tours, experiences and hotels are subject to availability and will be confirmed upon booking the trip.

We include restaurant concierge service as part of your trip. Note that our restaurant suggestions are just that–suggestions. Places we love, places to go back to time after time. We recommend these places after years of experience eating in Spain and Portugal together with frequent research and input from our local partners. We aspire to guide your choices with information on the styles of cuisine and restaurants; the choice on where to eat is yours based on your preferences and desires.

We have included hotel options ranging from 5-star luxury properties to small boutique hotels. Let us know your preferences and we will tailor the hotel choices for you.

TRIP PRICES

Note that we can customize this trip for you. Add days in your arrival or departure city or in other locations or make changes to the experiences, winery visits, restaurants, or hotels included in the trip. Whatever it is, we’re here to work with you. Once you’re happy with the trip plan and have some idea of your dates we will calculate and send you the price.