Vilafranca del Penedès
The capital of L´Alt Penedès, Vilafranca is a town of 30,000 inhabitants, renowned for its wines and for its Casteller team, which forms human towers during the town’s fiestas. Vilafranca has a lovely medieval centre with a 15th century gothic church, the Basílica de Santa Maria, whose tall bell tower can be climbed to give great views over the town. Opposite the church there is an interesting monument to the Casteller team. Vilafranca is a market town and the morning market takes place just behind the church on the Plaça de la Vila, where there is also a gothic town hall, Casa de la Vila. The main shopping areas of Vilafranca are the streets around Plaça de la Vila, with a mixture of traditional wine stores and modern shops and also the Carrer dels Ferrers, a wide pedestrian avenue lined with shops. The history of local wine-making can be seen at the town’s wine museum, el Museu del Vi.
On Saturday mornings, a huge market takes place on the Rambla Sant Francesc where you can find anything from live chickens to paella pans. People come from all over the region to sell their produce at the market.
The fiesta mayor takes place at the end of August and is one of the most extravagant and colourful in Catalonia. The people of Vilafranca are extremely proud of their Casteller team. Everyone gathers together in the Plaça de la Vila to form the human towers, the members of the team dressed in colourful shirts and pants. The end result is quite spectacular, a few hundred people press together to form the base and the tower can be up to 10 people high and 30 feet tall small children forming the top tier of the castle.
Vilafranca is well connected to Barcelona 30km away via the A-7 motorway or the N-340 highway and there is a train station in the town.

Around Vilafranca
The countryside around Vilafranca is dotted with small towns and villages and farmhouses, most of which are involved in wine production. A couple of kilometres north east of Vilafranca is Sant Cugat Sesgarrigues. With a population of 750, there are some wine cellars in the village, which is located just off the A-7 motorway. Northwest of Vilafranca, the village of Pacs Del Penedès is home of the largest wine-maker of the Penedès region, Torres. It was Miguel Torres who brought modern wine-making techniques to the region and the Torres company offers free tours to the cellars and fermation tanks. East of Pacs is the village of Les Cabanyes with 500 inhabitants and the small town of La Granada is a couple of kilometres to the east of this village with 1300 inhabitants. The Festa Major is held in La Granada in the second week of July. Surrounded by vineyards in the centre of the Alt Penedès, Santa Fe Del Penedès is just north of La Granada next to the A-7 motorway. It is a small village of 230 people and the important Cavas Marti Serda are located here.

Sant Sadurni d’Anoia
As with Vilafranca, grapes are of utmost importance to the town of Sant Sadurni whose cava industry produces over 90 percent of Spanish cava. There are around 50 producers of the sparkling wine in this town of 10,000 people. The town is surrounded by vineyards which can be seen as you cross the river to enter the town. Sadurni’s success today can be attributed to the fact that 70 percent of the residents are involved in cava production. Many of the wine cellars offer tours of their factories and cellars with the chance to sample some of their produce. The town itself, built on land irrigated by the Noya river, is a quiet Spanish town with wide streets and low buildings.
Sant Sadurni’s Fira Gran festival is held on the second Sunday in September and in October, the Setmana del Cava takes place, a major festival of Cava that is worth a visit. During the festival, a representation of the Philoxera parasite, the blight of the French and Spanish vineyards, is paraded through the streets. Throughout the year, traditional dances and displays are performed in the town, the “Sardana” - a traditional Catalan dance and “Castellets” – the forming of human towers.
Sant Sadurni is 10km from Vilafranca on the main A-7 motorway and 20km from Barcelona. There is a train station in the town.

Just west of Olèrdola and south of Vilafranca on the N-340 main road, with a population of 4000, is the town of Santa Margarida I Els Monjos. A street market is held here on a Sunday. Further south, on the border of Alt Penedès, Castellvi de la Marca is a small town of 1500 people located in wine growing countryside. There is a therapeutic farm at Castellvi that specialises in treating children with social and mental problems through “horse therapy”. Castellvi is a fairly isolated town, situated away from the main roads.

North Alt Penedès
Dotted amongst the vineyards, there are a number of villages in the north of the region. Vilobi Del Penedès is 7km north of Vilafranca on country roads and has a population of 850. Sant Martí Sarroca is west of Vilobi, 8km northwest of Vilafranca away from the main roads. It is a small town with a population of 2500. Near the border of the region, Santa Martí has an old castle with a museum and the beautiful Romanesque church of Santa Maria. This church has been declared a historical monument of national artistic interest. A few kilometres west of Sant Martí, the village of Torrelles de Foix has an abundance of fresh water springs and there are 35 drinking fountains in the village. The countryside around the village of 1600 people is quite beautiful and there is a 20 metre waterfall nearby. Near Torrelles is the peaceful village of Pontons with a population of 300, surrounded by wooded countryside.

To the north west of the Alt Penedès is the village of Font Rubi with its ancient castle and dramatic surroundings of cliffs. Font Rubi has a population of 1100 and is 15km from Vilafranca on country roads. Beyond Font Rubi is the village of Mediona with 1200 inhabitants. The village has a ruined castle, an old Benedictine priory and one of the most interesting Festa Majors in the area, which takes place at the end of July.

Castellet I La Gornal
Situated near the Parc del Foix, this municipality is set in beautiful surroundings in the south of Alt Penedès. The Foix dam is near the town of 1200 people. Opened in 1928, the dam has created a large area of water, surrounded by forests and countryside. There is an interesting castle in the town, which is 10km from Vilafranca.

In the northwest of the region are the towns of Subirats (2300 inhabitants) Sant Llorenc d’Hortons (2000 inhabitants) and Gelida (4000 inhabitants). Gelida is the site of an important ruined castle. It used to be popular as a summer resort with rich Barceloneans, evidence of which is the numerous Modernist cottages in the town.

Sant Quinti De Mediona
Situated in the valley of the Mediona river, Sant Quinti has abundant sources of water and there are over 40 drinking fountains in the town. Sant Quinti is in the north of the Alt Penedès, 25km from Vilafranca and 45 minutes from Barcelona.

South of Sant Quinti, the town of Torrelavit (population 1200) is located in wine growing country. A winery that dates back to the 11th century has its vineyards here and produces a Cava favoured amongst wine critics. There is an important Art Nouveau mansion in Torrelavit.

Sant Pere De Riudebitlles is east of Torrelavit in the northern part of Alt Penedès with a population of 2000. With a riverside location, the town is surrounded by orchards and fruit trees. The river was used to move the wheels of paper mills since the 16th century. Unused paper mills can be seen in the town. There is also a church here with a Romanesque façade.
South of Sant Pere are the villages of El Pla Del Penedès and Puigdalber. Puigdalber is 9km from Vilafranca.