With its agricultural wealth, excellent harbor, and industrious population, Barcelona has always managed to flourish through both good times and bad. When Madrid was still a dusty Castilian hamlet, the Ciudad Condal (as it's popularly known) was a powerful, diverse capital with a Mediterranean empire that extended as far as Athens. Influenced over the centuries by Romans, Visigoths, Franks, and even Castilians, it absorbed a little of each of their influences to become the fascinatingly complete city it is today.
Landmark Gothic buildings and world-class museums fill the historic center, and the whimsical creations of the modernisme movement and cutting-edge contemporary architecture line the wide boulevards of the newer city. An array of nightlife (Barcelona is a big party town) and shopping possibilities, plus nearby wineries, ensure that you'll be entertained 'round the clock. It makes for some serious sightseeing; you'll need plenty of time to take them all in and just as much to appreciate the city's unique, hidden charm.
The surrounding green and fertile countryside is equally enticing and the cove-indented Costa Brava coastline to the north boasts some of the loveliest scenery in all the Mediterranean. Inland, the towering Pyrénées mountain range that separates the province from France is a paradise for walkers and skiers. In all it's a stimulating and rewarding region to savor and appreciate to the full, and one of the most richly varied in the country.
