Getaway to Vallès Occidental: Sant Cugat in-depth

Traditional, home-style cuisine based on locally sourced produce and with a special emphasis on wood-grilled meat dishes, though with other recommendable options like rice dishes, Galician-style octopus and snails. Also, a notable wine list.

Despite their rather tight opening hours – only Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays, with exceptions sometimes made on other days for groups – they're generous with the size of their dishes here, and with the views on offer of the Sant Llorenç del Munt i l’Obac Natural Park. Set in what was once the cottage of a shepherdess (hence the name), at this restaurant, hearty cooked breakfasts and mountain cuisine lunches are the main attractions.

This restaurant in Terrassa has been operating for a quarter of a century now, but time doesn’t seem to have taken its toll on the attractive decor, nor on its dishes, which, while based on market cuisine, have creative, signature cuisine touches. The tasting menu changes every month, and at the time of writing features plankton risotto with squid and roasted veal with shitake mushrooms. The menu is varied and extensive.

This restaurant in Hotel Sant Cugat, with its casual ambience (guess the dominant colour – 'vermell' means red), serves well-presented dishes with a certain minimalist and daring character. We recommend the cod and vegetable cannelloni with cream of 'botifarra' sausage, the risottos and the pork ribs. If you opt for the gastronomic tasting menu, you have the chance to taste a variety of Chef Germán Espinosa’s creations.

Cosy, tastefully decorated, ideal for a quiet dinner and with excellent service. The food is excellent here too, and if you like steak tartare, we can’t think of any other place that prepares it in so many different ways. They also offer private dining rooms and a carefully selected wine list.

As one of its slogans says, this hotel is far from the noise but close to everything else. It's surrounded by the Natural Park of Sant Llorenç del Munt i l’Obac and therefore by rich and luxuriant nature, but it's also close to the town of Terrassa and the main roads of the region. The hote is avant-garde, modern and designed for business professionals with its 26 multipurpose meeting rooms, though you’ll also feel welcome if you stay here as a tourist in one of its 186 rooms. This four-star establishment also has a complete spa complex.

If you prefer to stay in an apartment during your visit to Vallès Occidental, you may opt for the Aparthotel del Golf, which is located in a quiet spot and has fully equipped apartments with one, two or three bedrooms. It also offers a swimming pool, a garden and parking. There's free WiFi, and you can add a breakfast option, and they have bicycle hires available as well.

L’Arrahona is a three-star establishment located in a quiet part of Sabadell. It boasts 49 rooms and 39 apartments, a bar, a restaurant, a terrace-garden, covered parking and even a shopping centre. All of the rooms face outside and have all the necessary commodities, while the apartments have everything you need to ensure a pleasant stay.

Having just celebrated its tenth anniversary in 2016, this hotel set in an old country house is ideal if you’re thinking of spending a few days in Sant Cugat del Vallès, since it's located in a quiet area of the town. Its gardens, terraces and lounges are elegant and perfectly complement its thirty-odd spacious rooms. You should also try its restaurant, whose extensive menu features dishes with fresh, top-quality ingredients.

Located on the outskirts of Sant Cugat del Vallès, this three-star establishment stands in a green valley and has a leafy garden that's ideal for resting and relaxing. Highlights among its services include an outdoor swimming pool, free parking, a restaurant, WiFi, a gym and a games room. It has around a hundred rooms, some of which are elegant, and spacious suites with terraces.

Opened in 2012, in the middle of the economic crisis, and in a square called, appropriately, Plaça del Gas, the headquarters of the Fundació Gas Natural Fenosa is set in an old power station with gas engines called La Energía. On display you’ll find the history of the company and the industry, the historical records of the company, and temporary exhibitions and activities for everyone. The first year it attracted 22,000 visitors. Climb up to the lookout for the views.

The Catalan modernist–style Aymerich, Amat i Jover factory has been home to the Museum of Science and Technology of Catalonia for the last two decades. It features around a dozen permanent and various temporary exhibitions that reflect the scientific advances that have changed our lives and document Catalonia’s industrial heritage. The museum collection is also spread out across 25 territorial museums, and the Generalitat government is planning to integrate all of them in the new National History Museum.

With an intense, diverse and top-quality programme, this theatre in Sant Cugat has become a benchmark among Barcelona’s satellite towns over its two decades of existence. Designed by two Ramons – architects Artigues and Sanabria – the theatre-auditorium is a multipurpose space with capacity for 800 spectators. Every year some 100,000 enjoy theatre, music, opera, dance, family shows, magic and operetta here, as well as films, lectures, workshops and much more.

The building is hardly recent – it’s a Benedictine monastery dating from the 9th century – but the contents are new: the Monastery Museum is the emblematic central exhibiting space of the Museum of Sant Cugat, which was created in 2003, the other being the Contemporary Tapestry Museum in Casa Aymat. Apart from the cloister and the church, the museum harbours an installation on the abbey itself, on Romanesque monasteries and medieval monks, as well as temporary exhibitions on art and local issues, and workshops. Guided and dramatised tours are also offered.