Tell me about Catalonia....

[5foot5]

This summer the family 5foot aim to do the same sort of holiday we have had for the last few years - a week on a self-guided hotel to hotel walk followed by a week in a cottage/villa.

Our destination this year is Catalonia and we have selected a splendid sounding walk that starts up in the Pyrenees and wends its way gradually south east to reach the coast at Cadaques.

Following this we intend to hire a car and rent somewhere for the second week. This is where I am interested to hear what others know about this region. We have never been before; in fact we have hardly been to mainland Spain before apart from the odd occasion when we have drifted over from the French side on previous holidays in the Pyrenees.

Can anyone recommend a good base - possibly on the coast but not necessarily. We don't really go in for resorts but it would be nice to visit interesting towns/cities - possibly Girona and/or Barcelona. Also sites of historic interest.

Are there any nice, unspoilt bits of coastline anyone would recommend?

Any must-see attractions?

Thank you.

I went to Barcelona last summer, and it is now one of my favourite cities in the world, The travel cards are amazing, the buses and metro are a million times better than the UK, travelling around is so easy, and you can spend a fortnight there and not see and do everything you want to. The beaches are lovely too. You can pick which beach you want to go to, some a more suited to adults only, some to families with small children, some quieter and some rowdier.

The only downside, as travel sites tell you, is to watch out for pickpockets. You are advised to not dress to flash, not walk around looking like a tourist with a map and camera, and not have your phones and wallets in easy grabbing places. I was a bit nervous about this at first and we had one cheeky guy try to "help" us at a cash point, but I just shouted loudly at him to fuck off and he ran. Very very low violent crime rate, just cheeky pickpockets.

I cannot recommend Barcelona enough. We are going back this year