El Vendrell Turistic 

If El Vendrell has a dedicated tourist information website while its counterpart in the Alt Penedès, Vilafranca, does not, that has more to do with the popularity of its beaches than with its inherent attractiveness to visitors. However, you will also find information here about its culture, especially its music - as the birthplace of the great cellist Pau Casals, it hosts an important annual international music festival with his name, and has a number of other events of interest throughout the year.
Added on: 15-Dec-2007 | hits: 27
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Consell Comarcal del Baix Penedès 

The website of the county council of the Baix Penedès region, also included in the interest of completeness.
Added on: 15-Dec-2007 | hits: 29
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Consell Comarcal de l'Alt Penedès 

The Catalan-only website of the county council of the Alt Penedès, included for completeness more than anything else.
Added on: 15-Dec-2007 | hits: 32
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Alt Penedès 

The Penedès wine region is actually two, Alt and Baixa, High and Low. Separately or together, they are eminently ivistworthy, and if you have to choose, the inland Alt Penedès has a more moderate climate than the plains of the coastal Baix Penedès, is more important in terms of wine-making, more picturesque and all round a better bet for visitors, unless you want to get in some serious beach time. The link above goes to the fine website of the tourism consortium for the Alt Penedès, presenting its possibilities: rural tourism, hiking, enotourism and, unexpectedly, visiting its many examples of Modernisme, the Spanish architectural version of Art Nouveau.
Added on: 15-Dec-2007 | hits: 33
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El Vendrell 

El Vendrell is schizophrenically divided between its identities as the capital of the Baix Penedès wine-making region and as a beach resort. It is also the birthplace of the great cellist Pau Casals, as testified by the existence of the Villa Casals - Casals Museum, the Casals Auditorium and the Casa Nativa Pau Casals, the house in which he was born. The link goes to the municipal website.
Added on: 15-Dec-2007 | hits: 37
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Garraf 

Garraf is a county of the province of Barcelona, south-west of the city of Barcelona, included on these pages because it falls within the Penedès wine region, although its capital, Vilanova i la Geltrú, and other towns in the county such as Sitges have little to do with wine making. The link above goes to the county council's web site, only available in Catalan.
Added on: 15-Dec-2007 | hits: 45
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Villafranca del Penedès 

Villafranca is the capital of the Alt Penedès. a handsome, prosperous town, with a number of interesting mediaeval buildings and some splendid restaurants. The link goes to its municipal website, with limited information in English - there is supposed to be a tourism subsite but I have not been able to find it.
Added on: 15-Dec-2007 | hits: 58
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Pau Casals 

Pablo Casals is the Castilian form of the cellist's original, Catalan name, Pau Casals, and the name he used for most of his recording and performing career. In other words, he didn't give a fig for nationalisms, and was, on the contrary, always associated with internationalism, music as a force for peace and understanding between peoples. The fact that this website of the Casals Museum in El Vendrell and of the Fundaciò Pau Casals is only available in Catalan smacks to me of Catalan nationalist hijacking. So it is a little ironic that it is headed by this quote by Casals: "La música, aquest meravellós llenguatge universal, hauria de ser font de comunicació entre tots els homes," with which it is impossible to disagree, but I would be surprised if he even said it in Catalan originally.
Added on: 15-Dec-2007 | hits: 77
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Turisme de Garraf 

Odd that this county tourism information web site is only available in Catalan - Sitges is hardly a domestic-only tourism destination, for example. Apart from that, its follows the standard Beaches / Nature / Wine /Gastronomy / Lodgings / Eateries formula, and there is nothing wrong with that.
Added on: 15-Dec-2007 | hits: 81
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Vilanova i la Geltrú 

Vilanova i la Geltrú is the capital of the Garraf county of Barcelona which also falls within the D.O. Penedès, though Vilanova itself does not have much to do with wine-making. It is a major fishing port and industrial town, and ever more important as a tourist centre. The link goes to its municipal website, with a little tourist information under "Meet the City," (love that sort of language slip - "City, this is Visitor, Visitor, say hello to City").
Added on: 15-Dec-2007 | hits: 82
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Patromoni de Garraf 

It's always gratifying to come across a tourist information site which deviates from the standard what-to-see, where-to-eat, where-to-stay formula. This website - its name means "Heritage of Garraf," and it is available in English - tells you instead about the county's "Romanticism Spirit," suggests some "Garraf Routes" (including "Romantic Promenades," Nature Routes," "Sitges," and a number of different routes in the wine-making town of Sant Pere de Ribes. Garraf is presented as "Museum Territory" and directory-type information is not lacking. Nice.
Added on: 15-Dec-2007 | hits: 85
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D.O. Penedés 

The Penedés is a historical region of Catalonia, divided between the provinces of Barcelona and Tarragona. It is also a wine-making region of considerable interest, best known as the main production centre for cava, the Spanish champagne-method sparkling wine. Cava is sold under its own D.O., however (and its production is not limited to the Penedès region), so it belongs elsewhere on Spain and Portugal for Visitors. The D.O. Penedès produces strongish red, rosé and, most traditionally, white wines, with a marked character which is not to everyone's liking but is worth taking the trouble to learn to enjoy.
Added on: 23-Oct-2007 | hits: 116
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