Route 06 · Priorat · south-west of Barcelona
Priorat and Siurana
Slate vineyards, a village on a cliff and roads nobody else is on.
- Round trip
- 330 km
- Driving time
- 5 h
- Roads
- AP-7 · T-11 · N-420 · T-702 · T-740 · TV-7401
- High point
- Siurana at 737 m on its limestone cliff
- Best season
- September and October for the harvest; spring for green terraces
- Difficulty
- Moderate
Why it makes the list
- The T-702 through the heart of the Priorat wine region, terraces of Garnatxa on llicorella slate
- The TV-7401 climb to Siurana, the last Moorish stronghold in Catalonia
- Wineries in Gratallops, Porrera and Falset that receive visitors by appointment
The Priorat is an hour and a half south-west of Barcelona and produces some of the most powerful red wine in Spain from vines that grow on slate so steep they are worked by hand. The roads that serve those vineyards were built for tractors and are now among the quietest good driving roads in Catalonia.
Leave the AP-7 at Reus, take the N-420 to Falset and turn onto the T-702, which winds through Gratallops and Porrera between terraces of Garnatxa and Carinyena. Book a winery visit in advance; several of the best are small and do not take walk-ins.
From Cornudella de Montsant the TV-7401 climbs to Siurana, a medieval village of a few dozen houses on a limestone cliff above a reservoir, the last Moorish castle in Catalonia to fall. Park below the village and walk in. The view from the church terrace over the Montsant range is the photograph of the day.
Return via the T-740 over the Coll d'Alforja to Reus and the AP-7. In a Turbo S this is a Sport-mode day: the roads are narrow, the surface varies and the reward is rhythm rather than speed. Whoever drives does not taste; plan the winery visit accordingly.
Stops, in order
- 1. Falset
- 2. Gratallops
- 3. Porrera
- 4. Siurana
- 5. Cornudella de Montsant
