I suppose the only thing going for this airport is that it's small. We landed with Jet2 holidays em…read moreroute to our hotel at the Port Aventura theme Park. I previously reviewed that hotel but my Yelp review and photos have vanished. I'd forgotten its one of those places where the plane parks up hundreds of yards from the terminal building so it's a bit of a walk pulling cases just to get to the terminal itself. Despite being a small place it took quite a while to get through passport control so free movement doesn't really exist for Europeans within Europe. It was also quite a wait for the luggage to appear Inside the arrival part the terminal looks pretty clean, bright, modern and all rather pleasing. Now a different reality bites on the way out as once through a reasonably polite, efficient, security set up at departures you effectively go into a dank, grey, pretty crummy waiting area that bears no resemblance to the arrivals area. Here you can look forward to poor & uncomfortable seating and if this isn't bad enough one can queue up to indulge in fairly poor overpriced food & drinks. Thankfully our flights out were on time as I like to spend the least amount of time here as possible.

Reus Airport is located in the north east of spain, around 60 miles south west of barcelona. The…read moreairport has flights from ryanair, and is one of its bases operating flights to all over europe inclusing birmingham ad london stansted airports. Reus airport is much busier in the summer months where charter carriers including thomas cook and thomason flock over the airport operating flights to al over the uk and ireland. In the summer months the airport has to cater for holiday makers in large numbers and can become overcrowded at times. Blue air have began services to arad and bucharest with airbus aircraft equipment. Overall its a great little airportserving the south of barcelona.

Cambrils is one of the main stops on the coastal railway line south of Tarragona, after Salou, on…read morethe way to Tortosa and Valencia. The building is single storey and in the typical Spanish colonial style, and for such a large resort is a bit on the small side. Services are limited to a ticket office, toilets (the key is in the ticket office), taxi rank and a waiting room with some drinks vending machines. There's an electronic ticket machine as well, for when the ticket office is closed. The station claims to be accessible, which is a bit of a surprise, given the low platforms, resulting in a hefty climb up into the trains. On the railway side of the building, all trains arrive and depart from the main platform, although there are two other, rather overgrown platforms too. There's also a rather burnt-out, derelict looking goods shed, which gives the station a rather neglected feel (though would make a good hideout for a Spaghetti Western - it looks the part, even if the rest of the surroundings don't). Services run roughly hourly north and south, served almost entirely by variants of the Media Distencia service of RENFE (there are a few long-distance trains for which reservations are required). Northbound services all go to Tarragona (20 minutes), and most continue on to Barcelona, which takes just under two hours. Southbound, trains go to Tortosa, and a handful carry on to Valencia.

This is a very small and sleepy little station serving the little town of L'Arboç, 12km south west…read moreof Vilafranca del Penedès. It's served by a roughly hourly service of trains on Line 4 of the Barcelona suburban network to and from Sant Vicenç de Calders, ten minutes away. Sant Vicenç provides connections to Tarragona and Lleida as well as the coastal line to Sitges. The station itself is pretty basic: there are four platforms, but only two are used, and access across the tracks is via a wooden foot-crossing - watch out for trains! The modern concrete station building has a small café which is open for most of the day; it also doubles up as the ticket office, and has a waiting area with seats. The station approach has limited car-parking, and taxis can be ordered from the café. There are toilets on the platform side of the building, but they are not always open. A new entertainment for waiting passengers is the high speed line from Barcelona to Madrid, which was opened in February 2008, and is situated just a few yards to the north. Trains whizz past at 186mph, which is impressive even to the most ardent non-enthusiast!

The railway came late to Vilanova: the first line south from Barcelona adopted an inland route to…read moreTarragona because of the difficulty of building a line along the rocky coast. After a lot of local campaigning, a line was eventually built in 1881. This soon became the main line as it provided a shorter, more direct route. A major engine depot and railway works was provided at Vilanova, together with the splendid large station, which survives almost unaltered to-day. Built in the Spanish colonial style, with a long cast-iron portico on the railway side, it contains a bar (with the station's toilets), ticket office and a small newsagent. The square in front of the station named after one of the main sponsors of the railway, Eduard Maristany - has a taxi rank and is also the main bus station for local and district bus services. There are also ticket machines for the suburban services bear in mind the Spanish oddity that the ticket office may not accept payment by credit card (the machines will). Fares are low by British standards: a single to Barcelona costs EUR2.50, and a single for the two-hour plus journey to Lleida costs around EUR8. The main service off-peak consists of four trains an hour on the C2 suburban line (Rodalies or Cercanias in Catalan/Spanish - with a white and red livery) to and from Barcelona, via Sitges. This provides a half-hourly stopping service originating at Vilanova (usually from platforms 10-13) which alternates with a half-hourly semi-fast service originating at Sant Vicenç de Calders, further south. Trains take around 45 minutes into Barcelona. This is augmented on week-days to provide 8 trains an hour in the morning peak. Stopping services call at El Prat de Llobregat station, where you can change to line C10 for the 5-minute ride to Barcelona Airport. In addition, some medium distance (Media Distencia - orange and white livery) trains call at Vilanova, providing a direct service to places such as Torredembarra, Tarragona, Reus, Lleida and Tortosa. Tickets and passes for the suburban trains are not valid on Medium Distance trains, nor do the ticket machines sell tickets for these journeys.

This is a major railway junction 40 miles to the south-west of Barcelona and 20 miles from…read moreTarragona. Named after a small hill-top village to the north, it's now surrounded by the pleasant but suburban and rather characterless seaside town of Coma Ruga. The station was originally opened on the first route from Barcelona to Tarragona via an inland route through Vilafranca in 1865. In 1881, the coastal route via Sitges and Vilanova opened, making Sant Vicenç an important junction. An inland route was also opened from here to Lleida via La Plana-Picamoixons, by-passing Tarragona, which until the opening of the high speed line also carried expresses to Madrid. Today, the station is still an important one, and always busy with people changing trains. It's the terminus of Lines 2 and 4 of the Barcelona suburban railway network, Line 2 providing a half-hourly off-peak service via the coast (including Sitges and Vilanova) and Line 4 providing an hourly service via the inland line via Vilafranca del Penedès (and the Cava wine-producing region). It's also served by all the Media Distencia services from Barcelona to Tarragona, Lleida, Tortosa and Reus and other places to the south, and a small selection of the fast Barcelona-Valencia coastal services. Although it has 11 platforms, the station buildings are rather modest: just two platforms have awnings, and a modern brick-built structure contains a ticket office, newsagents and a small café. There are very few facilities outside the station - there are no bars and the nearest shops are 10 minutes' walk away. There is however a decent sized car park in front of the station. Trains to Barcelona via Vilafranca (line C4) depart from the three terminating platforms just in front of the station buildings. All other services are accessed via the subway, most stopping at platforms 1-4. Like many Spanish stations, the platform numbering system is not sequential, which can be confusing for visitors. A new digital display system has just been installed, which should make things easier for travellers.

I am not sure why this station has such bad reviews but my experience was awesome…read more The price was very reasonable, the bathrooms were clean and the train departed/arrived on time.

We were assisted by the most amazing young lady today. Her English was great. (I speak no Spanish)…read moreHer knowledge of Vilanova-i-la-geltru is impecable. We highly recommend stopping by for her assistance.

Small but helpful tourist information office on the seafront in Vilanova i la Geltrú, adjacent to…read morethe small promenade park at Ribes Roges. There is parking nearby. The office provides all the services you would normally expect, in terms of maps, brochures, hotel information and booking, covering not only Vilanova, but the whole of the Garraf region (which also includes Sitges and the National Park inland). Staff are pleasant and speak English, Catalan, Spanish and French. The major downside is the complexity of its opening hours, which change according to season, are different on Saturdays and Sundays, and include (of course) a long siesta just when you want to find out about something! It is also closed on Mondays outside the main holiday months of July and August. There used to be a tourist information office in the Town Hall in the main town square, but this has recently closed.

Large and friendly tourist office, situated at the main entrance to the attractive Parc del…read morePescador. The staff speak English (as well as French, German and, of course, Catalan and Spanish). They provide the usual tourist services of information on things to do, free town maps, guides, accommodation and some information on travel (although this seems limited to timetables and telling you to contact the relevant company). There's a fairly substantial range of leaflets available to browse on things to do, as well as some free tourist newspapers. There are also toilets (clean and spacious) next to the cafe behind the office, just inside the park - always useful to know!