Rain in Catalonia? 20 great things to do when the weather turns bad

A wet day does not mean staying in the hotel. Some of Catalonia's best museums, monasteries, mines, wineries and heritage sites work particularly well precisely when the weather rules out the beach or the mountains.

The useful distinction is not museum or not, but how much of the visit is genuinely under cover. A monastery with a magnificent cloister is not a rainy-day plan in the same way a museum is, so every entry below says which.

A practical note on distances: Terrassa, Mataró, Vilafranca and the Penedès wineries are comfortable day trips from Barcelona. Lleida, Tarragona, Figueres, Reus, Olot and Cardona make more sense if you are already travelling in that part of the country.

Museums that hold a whole day

MNACTEC in Terrassa occupies a modernist factory and explains Catalan industrialisation with the machinery in front of you. Rare in that the building and the content say the same thing.

The Dalí Theatre-Museum in Figueres is a complete experience and needs no good weather at all. Book ahead.

Girona's Cinema Museum, Vic's Museum of Medieval Art, the Museu de Lleida and Tarragona's National Archaeological Museum cover four very different chapters of the country's history, each comfortable in half a day.

Espai Cràter in Olot explains the volcanism of the Garrotxa — which is exactly what you cannot go walking through in the rain.

Modernisme under cover

The Palau de la Música Catalana is visited by timed ticket and is one of the most intense architectural experiences in Barcelona.

The Sant Pau modernist complex has pavilions you can go inside, though moving between them is open-air — factor that in if it is really coming down.

In Reus, Casa Navàs is an exceptionally preserved modernist interior and the Gaudí Centre explains the architect in his home city. In Mataró, the Nau Gaudí — covered in our lesser-known Gaudí guide.

Underground: mines and caves

Cardona's Salt Mountain is the most spectacular wet-weather plan in the country: a salt mine beneath a medieval castle.

The Espluga de Francolí caves and the Benifallet caves complete the underground option.

Monasteries: magnificent, not fully covered

Poblet and Santes Creus visit perfectly well in poor weather, but include open cloisters and outdoor stretches. These are drizzle plans, not storm plans.

Drinking and warming up

A Penedès winery visit is close to the perfect rainy-day plan: indoors, booked in advance, and something warming at the end.

If you go, arriving by train solves the obvious problem.

The thermal heritage of Caldes de Montbui and La Garriga is the other option: hot water and architecture, in towns whose identity is built on it.

Deciding on the morning

Check the Meteocat warning before choosing. If heavy-rain alerts are in force, rule out caves and long journeys and stay with urban museums.

Warnings and forecast: meteo.cat. Train times: rodalies.gencat.cat.

And when the rain clears, autumn colour and mushroom conditions both improve straight afterwards.

Official records for many of these sites: patrimoni.gencat.cat.

Keep reading

• 8 lesser-known Gaudí sites
• 15 places in Catalonia most visitors miss
• Beyond Montserrat: 10 Barcelona day trips
• 12 day trips from Barcelona by train
• 10 medieval villages in Catalonia