Getaway to L'Hospitalet de l'Infant i La Vall de Llors

Your first stop is Vandellòs, along the main C-44 road, where an old mill has been converted into the Olive Oil Study Centre. You can choose from a guided tour or explore on your own with headphones, and learn all about the oil production process, from harvesting the fruit in the fields, through the grinding and pressing, to the decanting and extraction of the final liquid gold. The modern museum and facilities, and the guidance of the miller/guide, give a wonderful picture of an age-old and unfamiliar process, and the experience is rounded off with a chance to sample the oil for yourself.

This getaway is recommended for autumn and winter, but a walk along the seafront is lovely at any time of year in this part of the world. This route especially takes in some amazing views, and ends at the naturist beach Platja del Torn, which is famous round the world for its beautiful dunes and plant life, and is part of La Rojala, a Natural Area of Interest. If you climb up to the Rojala viewpoint you'll find the promised panorama, which gives a sensational view of the coast and Torn Island presiding over the beach. Here it’s easy to let your imagination flow and think of how it must have been in centuries past when pirates landed on the sands to rob travellers on the Via Augusta.

After lunch, you're off to explore the historic centre of L'Hospitalet de l'Infant. Historians say that in 1344 a hospital was built here on the orders of Prince Pedro of Aragón and Anjou, the son of King Jaime II the Just and Blanca of Anjou. The hospital took in travellers in need on the road from Valencia to Barcelona, ​​and today you can still see the tower and remains of the walls. The Sala Infant Pere has been rebuilt to house exhibitions, and at 10pm each night there's an audiovisual show about the site projected onto the façade of the building that takes the audience on an exciting journey from prehistory to modernity.

Your visit is almost over, but you can’t leave L'Hospitalet de l'Infant i La Vall de Llors without visiting La Figuerola, a pitch and putt golf course just outside Vandellòs. The location has something for everyone: a magnificent course for those in the know, as well as classes for beginners, and if you’re not tempted by clubs, balls and sandpits, you can sample the hotel cuisine or relax in its spa, with heated swimming pools, Turkish baths, massages and gym equipment. Everything here is ready to make your last day of activity or relaxation a memory to carry you all the way back home.