Worth getting out of bed for...

Viewpoint

The St Sebastià lighthouse towers on a blustery cliff with invigorating sea views near the excavations of the sixth-century Iberian settlement. Take a leisurely hike from Canadell or go by train (summer only) from Calella.

Arts and culture

Palafrugell earns double culture points – as Josep Pla’s birthplace and the heart of the Catalan cork industry (don’t mention the screwtops…). Visit the Museu del Suro (cork museum) and Pla’s former home turned museum to learn about both. The Dalí Triangle of attractions is more accessible and less surreal than you might imagine. Intersperse your arty pilgrimage with stop-offs at the many mediaeval villages that litter the landscape: Ullastret, Peratallada and Monells each a collage of cobbled alleys, tottering towers and stone archways.

Something for nothing

Plan a visit to the Gothic alley-veined town of Pals to coincide with market day on Tuesday, when the bustle of señoras manhandling cheeses and chorizo on the cobbled street mirrors the mediaeval merchantry of yesteryear.

Shopping

La Bisbal is a potter’s paradise: head to Vila Clara Ceramics www.vila-clara.com), a family-run 50-year business at 27 Sis d’Octubre (+34 972 640185). On the same street at 59, the imaginatively titled Anticua is great for antiques. Less ancient, more retro homewares can be found at the local branch of Ultima Parada at 27 Marques de Cruilles (+34 610 380769).

Daytripper

Girona offers a sophisticated urban fix – a historic jumble of mediaeval buildings, quaint alleyways, pale stone and saffron-coloured buildings hunkering on the banks of the silvery still Onyar river. Shop (on Carrer Santa Clara), crane your neck at the baroque ceiling of the vast 14th-century cathedral (www.catedraldegirona.org +34 972 215814) and stop at a pavement café to demolish custard doughnuts called xuixo.

Best beach

Pine-topped craggy cliffs flank a crescent of film set-perfect sand at Aigua Blava, where yachts bob at an eye-pleasing distance from swimmers cooling off in the jade-green sea.

Perfect picnic

Fill your hamper with chorizo, olives and goat’s cheese at Can Temporada (+34 972 640796), a deli on Calle de la Riera in La Bisbal, pick up a still-hot loaf from a bakery, then drive to the beach at Sa Riera or Sa Tuna…

Walks

The rugged coastline can be explored by hiking its shore paths – carved out more than a century ago by French border-avoiding smugglers arriving by boat. For natural wonders teamed with a sea dip, do a circular 8km walk from Begur north via the lookout point at La Creu, on to the marine reserve of Ses Negres and back via one of the pretty coves around Aiguafreda.

Children

Take mini-Smiths go-carting in L’Estartit (although the lobster-tanned karaoke crowd is densely packed here – you have been warned; +34 972 757215). In the far north of the region, Figueres is home to the Museu del Juguete – a toy museum with 4,000 dolls, teddies and games; find it at 1 Sant Pere (+34 972 504585). Cool them off with a flume or two at Aquabrava Water Park in Cadaques (strictly for the aqua-brave; +34 972 254344 www.aquabrava.com).

Activities

The Museum of Fishing www.museudelapesca.org, harbourside in southerly Palamós, organises trips along the coast in its 1915 sailing boat in high season (+34 972 600424). Take a beginner’s Bonsai class at the far-from-its-roots Museum of Bonsai, on the Girona–Palamós road just outside La Bisbal (+34 972 630630). Play golf (www.golfincostabrava.org) on one of the region’s nine courses.

And

Those Catalan priests knew a thing or two about location – inland, for the best views in a village, head straight to its church – in most cases, traditionally built on the highest spot.