Vilafranca del Penedés is the center of Catalan Cava (sparking wine) production. They also make some very nice reds too.

It’s about an hour by train south-west of Barcelona.

Sitges’s compact old town and surrounding streets are filled with shops, restaurants and bars.

Vilanova i la Geltrú is an 8k hike along the coast from Sitges.

We spent 6 days walking in the mountains inland from Tarragona through the Catalan wine regions of Conca de Barberà and Montsant to the Priorat region. Grapes have been grown here since the 12th century.

There are still many flamingos, almost close enough to touch, in the Delta. Over 300 species of birds can be found here at different times of the year. We spent 6 days walking in the Delta and up to Tortosa.

It’s Easter and its raining in Valencia. AEMET (Spain’s Met Office) has a strong wind and heavy rain warning for the whole Easter weekend. Glad we’re not walking.

About 15 km inland from Tarragona, Reus is the birthplace of Antoni Gaudí (1852-1926), the famous one-of-a-kind Catalan architect. It’s the home of Spanish vermouth, that bitter-sweet aromatic fortified wine we enjoy so much.

We really wanted to see Miravet with its 12th century Templar Castle high above the Ebro but it looked “too hard”. Then we found we could get a bus from Reus to Móra d’Ebre and walk from there along the GR99 Sendero del Ebro. It was only 10 km, a bit over 2 hours.

We had previously walked into Zaragoza on the Camino Catalan so after Batea we took the bus. It’s our third visit to Zaragoza and we continue to be overwhelmed by the beauty of this ancient city.

The Camino Castellano-Aragones, forgotten for centuries has been re-established by Soriana Association of Friends of the Camino de Santiago. It runs 239 km from Gallur to eventually join the Camino Frances. We will only do 3 days of it.

The Province of Soria in Castilla y León has one of the lowest population densities in Europe meaning the towns are far apart – too far to walk; for example 58 kms from Agreda to Soria. Perhaps because of this isolation, there are some really lovely old villages and we took a bus to a few.

We joined the Senda del Duero between El Burgo de Osma and San Esteban de Gormaz. Now we continue walking along the GR14 Senda del Duero.

We continue on the Senda del Duero – from Peñafiel to Tordesillas visiting some enchanting small Castilian towns with a lot of history along the way.

“Verdejo is not most people’s first wine, nor is it their second wine. It’s not a wine that your friends discover on international travels, because nobody goes to Rueda, Spain. So, if you’ve tasted Verdejo already, your part of a very small group of enthusiasts!”

A very pleasant few days walking along the banks of the Minho in Portugal from Valenca to the Atlantic Ocean.

There are three “Portuguese Caminos”. Firstly the main Caminho Português goes north from Porto through central Portugal and the two “coastal routes”. The Caminho Português da Costa winds inland at times. We chose to walk south to Porto on the less popular Senda Litoral which generally sticks to the coast.

After walking over 700 km in the last two months we had a few days off in the World Heritage city of Porto. We stayed in an apartment just below the Cathedral and above the Ribeira riverside area. With a view of the Luis 1 Bridge, the Duoro River and the Port Houses opposite it was a very pleasant place to spend the time.

We’d read about the Sardine Festival in Lisbon on June 12 each year so we timed our arrival accordingly. The narrow cobbled streets of the historic neighbourhoods are filled with music, dance, grilled sardines, pork sandwiches, wine and beer from dusk till dawn.

The Fishermen’s Trail (Trilho dos Pescadores) runs along the coast of the Alentejo in South West Portugal from Porto Covo to Odeceixe, 75 km over 4 days. It follows the trails used by locals to get to the beaches and fishing spots and is part of the 450 km Rota Vicentina.