The Region
Most people arrive for Sitges. They end up discovering something they didn’t expect: a whole landscape hiding just behind it.
Olivella sits in the Garraf Natural Park, ten minutes into the hills above Sitges. From here you have the sea, the city, the vineyards — and the rare pleasure of coming home to silence every evening.
Garraf Natural Park
This is the park on our doorstep. Limestone hills, Mediterranean scrubland, the smell of thyme in summer. People come up here to hike, mountain bike, or simply drive through with no particular plan. We sometimes spot wild horses and donkeys on the trails — protected by the Fundació Miranda, they roam freely through the park. It always surprises people.
The village of Olivella has a small hilltop centre with an old church and the food truck Sendero — the unofficial meeting point for everyone who just came off the trails. Best coffee in the hills.
Sitges
Fifteen minutes by car and you’re in one of the most beautiful towns on the Catalan coast. Wide sandy beaches, whitewashed houses, a year-round international crowd and a film festival every October that turns the whole town into a cinema.
What we love: the old town in the morning before the day heats up, seafood on the harbour, and the fact that it never feels like a tourist trap — even in July. Grab a table anywhere on the Passeig Marítim and order whatever’s fresh.
Penedès & Cava Country
Drive twenty minutes inland and you’re in a different world: rolling vineyards, stone farmhouses, bodegas the size of cathedrals. This is the heart of Spain’s cava country — Codorníu, Freixenet, and dozens of smaller family producers worth an afternoon.
Finca Viladellops is five minutes from the apartment and one of our favourites for a natural wine. Vilafranca del Penedès has a good wine museum and a Saturday market that locals actually go to.
Barcelona
Forty minutes by car or train from Sant Pere de Ribes–Cubelles station. Close enough for a day or an evening, far enough that the city doesn’t follow you home. Gaudí, the Gothic Quarter, the Mercat de Santa Caterina — take your pick. We’d say: go on a weekday, leave by seven, and eat dinner back up in the hills.
Where to eat nearby
Les Piques — The local institution. Go for calçots in winter, steak on a hot stone any time of year, or just a long lunch with good Catalan wine. Reservations recommended at weekends.
La Braseria de Can Suria — A shaded terrace, good grilled meat, the kind of place where the afternoon stretches into evening without anyone noticing. In the Can Suria neighbourhood, ten minutes up the hill.
Vilanova i la Geltrú — Twenty minutes south along the coast. Less visited than Sitges, real fish market, wide beaches. Good for a low-key half-day.
Further afield
Tarragona — Roman amphitheatre directly above the sea. UNESCO heritage, worth a half-day trip. About 50 minutes south, with a Penedès wine stop on the way back.
Castelldefels — Wide flat beach fifteen minutes over the hills. The best kite surfing near Barcelona between September and May.
Getting here
- Barcelona Airport (BCN): 35 minutes by car
- Barcelona city centre: 40 minutes by car, or train from Sant Pere de Ribes–Cubelles
- Sitges: 15 minutes by car
- A car is recommended — the area is easy to navigate and parking is never a problem