November 2006 - Tarragona

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This was a long weekend to Tarragona in the Catalonia region of Spain. We had previously visited Barcelona but wanted somewhere smaller to look around this time, but within easy reach of Reus airport as the flights there had the most convenient flight times for us. Tarragona had been recomended to us by friends who had stayed a few days there. We flew with Ryanair from Liverpool and we had prebooked 3 nights at the Hotel Urbis with booking.com. On the way out we got the bus from Reus airport to Reus town centre (3E each), had a stroll around the centre of Reus for an hour and then caught the train to Tarragona (1.50E each). On the return we took a taxi from the hotel direct to the airport (c20E).

The Urbis turned out to be a very good choice, we had a comfortable room and very good breakfast buffet (particularly if you like sweet pastries and doughnuts in the morning). It was in an excellent situation in the centre of the town, the bus staion, railway station and Old Town were all within 10 minutes walk. Because of the time of the year we also got a good rate - c£23 each per night bed and breakfast. Apart from transfers to and from the hotel we walked everywhere.

Tarragona is a great place for just strolling around and taking in the surroundings. There is a very interesting old Town with remains of the Roman occupation. It is the extensive nature of these Roman remains that have led to Tarragona being awarded World Heritage status. Also at the top of the old town is the large cathedral. We didn't go into many of the museums but we did spend time on the old walls and in the cathedral. Outside the old town is the Eixample which contains most of the shopping and business areas, even here there are Roman remains. As well as all this there is a nice beach as well, although access to this isn't easy because of the railway line. One of the days we walked out from the city centre to the Ponte del Diable - "Devil's Bridge" a Roman Aqueduct which was one of the main water supplies into the ancient town. The aqueduct is situated 2 to 3 miles to the north of the city and we walked out via the cemetry and Sant Pere/Sant Pau and returned following the Francoli River. Whilst we were in Tarragona we had enjoyable meals in the Paulo del Baro restaurant and the Buffet El Tiberi - Catalonian Buffet.