Coastal Catalonia - Cami de Ronda

Two weeks down the Catalan coast and then inland to the Ebro and the Priorat hills, and the only Caminos tour that runs one way rather than in a circle. Arranged as a fly-drive with the hire car included, and the best-documented itinerary in their whole range.

Three nights on the Costa Brava open it, where the Camí de Ronda is an old coastguards’ path along the clifftops linking cove after cove on foot. Girona is inland and Figueres has the Dalí museum, which the man designed himself and is buried in. Two nights in Barcelona follow.

Then the wine. Two nights in the Alt Penedès, cava country, where the Modernista co-operative wineries are so grand they are called the cathedrals of wine, and the castellers build human towers in the village squares. Tarragona comes next, Roman Tarraco, with an amphitheatre above the sea, and Reus beside it for Gaudí’s birthplace and a vermouth tradition.

The last week goes south. Three nights on the Ebro delta, flat rice country full of birds, with Tortosa upriver, the castle at Miravet above a bend in the water and a greenway along an old railway through the Els Ports mountains. Three nights in Priorat close it, slate terraces, the Carthusian ruins at Scala Dei and the cliff village of Siurana. Fourteen nights, per person for two sharing, bed and breakfast, car included; flights extra. One thing to check: their page lists tourist taxes and the one-way hire charge as both included and excluded, so get that in writing. It suits anyone who wants the coast and then something quieter and more serious behind it.