Costa Dorada

Spending cheap holidays to Costa Dorada is definitely a great idea. You will never go wrong in choosing this place as your travel destination. The beautiful scenery and awe-inspiring places that you can witness when you go here will surely bring you unparalleled relaxation and comfort. This is perfect place for people who want to relax and unwind in a laid-back place. You can find out more about this fantastic place by reading the following paragraphs below. Along the shores of Barcelona & Tarragona provinces, Spain's "golden coast" the Costa Dorada stretches down to the Ebro Delta. It's big camping and package holiday country. French, Italians, and Scandinavians fill the campsites and Germans and Brits the hotels. There are no places of outstanding interest, but Sitges is one of the pleasantest seaside resorts, and an easy day trip from Barcelona, and Tarragona further south has some interesting Roman ruins.

SITGES

One of the first stops south, Sitges has been popular with Barcelonians ever since it briefly became an artists' colony in the 19th century. Today it's an international, trendy and very gay resort. There are big hotel blocks outside the centre but the narrow streets overhung with flowers retain the prettiness of the old town. This is at its best on Corpus Christi day when all the streets are carpeted with flowers. The tourist office is at Passeig Villafranca.

Beaches

Sitges has some good beaches, although they get fairly packed in summer. Less crowded is the nudist beach about two kilometres outside the centre. Follow the shore round to the right, then cross the hill or go through the train tunnel and turn left. The famous Playa del Muerto "beach of death" is two kilometres away at Villanova.

Plces to Visit Several museums remind visitors of Sitges' artistic past. The Museu Cau Ferrat on Carrer del Fonollar (behind the church) has works by Utrillo and El Greco. Next door, the Museu Maricel del Mar has some good medieval paintings and sculpture. The Museu Romantic on Carrer Sant Gaudenci contains a collection of antique artefacts; including some 300 year old dolls.

PLACES TO STAY

Cheap to moderate

Celimar. Paseo de la Ribera 18. Tel. 894 07 65 Pareffades, Carter PareHades, 11, has large rooms and is near the beach.

Lido, Carter Bonaire, 26, Tel. 894 48 48 has clean rooms with telephone and is near the beach.

Internacional, San Francisco, 52. Tel. 894 26 90. Mariingel HR*, Parelladas, 78. Tel. 894 08 01.

SAN SALVADOR

One very pleasant surprise along the coast is San Salvador. It's a holiday town but very Spanish and still very charming. The beach is excellent with soft sand and it also has a pretty promenade.

The real treat, however, is the Casals Museum. This is in the former family home of the cellist and composer Pablo Casals; (Pau Cassals in the Catalan spelling), whose fervent Catalanism. and opposition to Franco prevented him from living in Spain after the Civil War. He died in 1973 in Puerto Rico but in 1979 his remains were brought back and buried in the cemetery of his nearby birthplace El Vendrells.

The Pau Cassals foundation converted the San Salvador house into the Casals Museum and the memorabilia it contains are quite touching as well as Casals' first cello there are paintings, books, sheet music, photos and a lock of the German composer Felix Mendelssohn's hair. There's also a fascinating collection of personal letters from people as diverse as the playwright Arthur Miller, the Queen of Romania and the secretary of the Montreal Pipe Smokers' Club. Open during the summer all week 11.00 14.00 and 17.00 20.00; winter Tuesday Sunday. Entrance 150 pesetas.

TARRAGONA

Tarragona radiates its own sense of history. It is perfectly feasible to see Tarragona in a day but we spent a week here and could have quite happily spent more. The Romans were pretty keen on Tarragona too. Tarraco was founded in 218 Bc and in 45 BC Julius Caesar made it the capital of a huge province, Hispania Citerior, and renamed it Colonia Julia Triumphalis Tarraco. It became one of the most elegant cities in Roman Spain and by the 2nd century AD had over 30,000 inhabitants, Augustus and Hadrian both spent time here.

The evidence of Roman Tarragona remains impressive. Outside the city an aqueduct (El Pont del Diable "Devil's bridge") is almost on a par with its more famous Segovian counterpart, and in the centre of town remains include those of two forums, a magnificent amphitheatre, a circus, a necropolis and a Roman wall supported by huge, and even more ancient, Iberian blocks. Walking round the old town you also come across remains, such as bits of pillar complete with Latin inscriptions, incorporated haphazardly into medieval houses.

The city has long Christian traditions. St Paul is alleged to have preached here and in Visigothic times it was an important bishopric. The cathedral is beautiful (an excellent example of the transitional style Romanesque to Gothic) and to add to its attractions Tarragona has a great beach and a selection of good restaurants.

Tarragona is divided into two parts the old medieval town, which is in the upper part (on a hill overlooking the sea), and the modern town, lower down. They are divided by the Rambla Nova (where you will find the tourist office at number 46), which begins at the Balcon del Mediterraneo overlooking the sea and the beach, a great place to sit out at a cafe during the evening. Two blocks west of the Rambla Nova runs the Rambla Vella, parallel with it.

Archaeology Museum

Next to the Praetorium, the Archaeology Museum is packed with Roman artefacts porcelain, amphorae, phallic charms and amulets. Downstairs friezes, columns and statues are so well set out our feel you're in a real Roman Villa.

Seville, Cordoba and Toledo are among the classic examples, but other beautiful towns suddenly come into view as one travels along the roads of Spain. Religious festivals and, bullfights form another great tourist attraction.

The influx of foreign tourists to Spain rose to over 50 millions in 2005. The majority were from France, Great Britain, the United States, Portugal, Germany, Belgium,Italy,India and Japan. It is in the summer months, particularly July and August, that the greatest influx occurs.

Spain’s landlocked capital spreads over a high windswept plateau like wine spilled on aged linen. To the north and west are mountains tall enough to carry snow on their peaks until spring, and rivers rise among them to curl around the city to the west and south.

REQUIRED DOCUMENTS

Americans, Canadian, and New Zealand citizens require only a valid passport for stays up to three months. Citizens of the EU require only an identify card. Australians must have a visa.

TIMING YOUR TRIP

A hoary goes that MADRILEFIOS SUFFER nine months of winter and three months of hell. The reality is less extreme. Humidity is usually low, and the hot weeks are form mid-June through August. The most agreeable conditions are during May and early June and the September into October. From November to April the weather is changeable but can be quite acceptable, with high temperatures in the 50s, blue skies, and warm sun. Snow and frost are rare in the city.

ARRIVING

Marble floors give Madrid Barajas international airport a grand air, but the best thing about it is its closeness to the city: 16 kilometers (10 miles), The nearby national terminal serves flights to and from such cities as Barcelona, Seville, and Malaga. Buses to Madrid are fast and cheap; taxis a little faster, and not nearly as cheap. Duty free shops at Barajas are soso. For anything except liquor and cigarettes, you'll do better in Madrid.Trains from France and points in the north east arrive at Chamfrains station. The south of Spain is served by the Chamasrtin and Arch stations and the Principe pio (also called Norte) station.All these stations are on the metro for easy across to anywhere in the city. Non Spanish speakers however will probably prefer to have a travel agency make reservation and obtain tickets.

Many first time visitors are surprised by Madrid’s energy and sophistication. Yet scratch the high-tech surface and the core of tradition runs deep and strong. Tapas, zaruela, flamenco and churros continue to be enduring passions among a populace that mange to enjoy the best the new order and an old world still recalled.

RESTAURANTS

There’s no shortage of hotels in Madrid, and it’s possible to eat fairly well for relatively low cost. In the old part of the city around the Puerto del sol and plaza Mayor the selection of cafeterias offering decent food is enormous. A title to the east, in the area bounded by Calle de las Huertas, Carr era de San Jeronimo, Calle de Leon, Calle de Echegaray, and Ventura de la Vega, are dozens lively bars and cafeterias. Head north to Calle de Hartzenbusch and Cardinals Cisneros and the surrounding few blocks for scads of inexpensive restaurant and bars serving everything from tortillas and tapas to Italian and German cuisine. In sprain, by the way, a cafeteria is an informal, inexpensive sit-down restaurant with table service. What Americans call a cafeteria is known as an autoservicio here.

During recent years a number of foreign restaurants have open in Madrid. Moroccan, French, German, Chinese, Greek, Japanese, and American foods are seen with ever-greater regularly. Spaniards are slow to accept other cuisines however, partly because their own or so varied and extensive. And, apart from a few of their tapas, they don’t like spicy-hot dishes. That puts a serious crimp in the efforts of chefs trying for authority in Szechjuan, human, Tex-Mex, Indian, and Mexican dishes who find they must tone down their recipes more than they had like. Of the various foreign cuisines, the one best reproduced is Italian. Pastas and pizzas are nearly as common in Madrid as in Chicago and New York and Spanish cooks have started to learn the meaning of al dente. This is why the relatively few foreign restaurants suggested below are primarily Italian.

SPECIAL EVENTS

Madrid’s Festival of San Isodro is celebrated during the middle weeks of May with concerts, neighborhood fairs, craft shows, and daily bullfights. Summer and fall have their seasonal festivals, Los Veranos de la Villa and Festival de Otono with myriad concerts and shows to suit all tastes. The international Jazz Festival in November attracts some of the world’s best players.

Religious festivals are celebrated with parades and pageantry, particularly the procession of the Three kings on January 5, Carnivals before Lent, and the solemn procession of the penitents during Holy Week.

Spain is one of the world's greatest producers of wines and they remain one of the world's great bargains, given their quality. They are usually stronger and fuller bodied than wines from other countries, because Spain enjoys more sun and heat than, say, its rival French producers in Bor deaux and Burgundy. Spain invented sherry Uerez), now imitated by other wine producing countries. It makes a good, palate clearing aperitif, and in Spain is usually served chilled. Again, though, be aware that sherry is high in alcoholic content.

Many Spanish cities trace their origin to the early peoples that dominated the Mediterranean basin. Many were founded in the roman period and others have characteristics derived from the period of Moorish. Some no less remarkable cities have resulted from the Recon quest that began in the north and lid the basis for the unification is commemorated in the typically Spanish gander of Madrid.

Industrial development during the last century caused certain cities to grow very quickly and to take on the typical appearance of great modern commercial and industrial centers (for instance, Bilbo and Barcelona). Other cities have derived new life and functions from newly developed means of communications.