Villatent at Camping La Masia

Out in Blanes (a few minutes' walk to five minutes' drive) you'll be entertained with bars, restaurants and seafront tourist shops, as well as a miniature golf course, go-karting, a botanical garden and boat rental services. Out of town but also close to base are attractions such as Marineland Catalunya (10 minutes), a waterpark, and Castell de Mas Carbó (20 minutes), a semi-ruined castle in an impressive hilltop location. For big cities with a lot of attractive older architecture, head to Girona (45 minutes), where there's Roman heritage, a well-preserved Jewish quarter and gorgeous views over the Pyrenean foothills from the town's medieval walls. Barcelona (an hour), the capital of Catalonia, can also compete on the ancient architecture front – it has a cathedral first consecrated back in 1339 – but most people flocking here come for modern sights like Parc Güell and La Sagrada Familia. For something on a much smaller scale, drive out to the Natural Park of the Volcanic Garrotxa Zone (an hour) for mountain hikes and to tour Pyrenean villages. Vic (an hour and 10 minutes) is also worth a look– it has many impressive sites that could rival with Girona or Barcelona but is generally much less popular with tourists.