Results enjoy

If you're thinking of heading to Barcelona for a break in September, there are five key dates on the calendar when the city opens its doors and celebrates its festivals in style. The Catalan capital dresses up for the occasion to pay tribute to the Mare de Déu de la Mercè, patron saint of Barcelona since 1687.

A master of colour, Toulouse-Lautrec, once said that autumn is winter's spring. This season is a source of inspiration and beauty that Barcelona and its surrounding area reveal in all its splendour.

If you're someone who enjoys savouring every trip to the full, this is unquestionably your time of year to visit Barcelona. Every year, with the first autumn rains, Catalonia undergoes a cultural and culinary transformation focusing on a food that is an intrinsic part of its identity: mushrooms.

The autumn, oh so lovely. Transformation abounds…everywhere you look in the Val d'Aran there is change. Summer has come to a close and the mountains of this majestic central Pyrenees destination have quickly become a living museum for those fortunate enough to ponder them. Their hues of green, yellow, orange, red and rusty brown compare to the finest of paintings.

It was so cool! I've never gone so faced without an engine. My instructor guided me, and my adrenalin, all the way to the top of the mountain and down again.

Transporting timber as a raft. The time-honoured tradition of the rafters, or "raiers", was, for many years, a river-based activity in the Pyrenees that is still commemorated today with a special festival. It will leave you amazed!

The summer solstice festival, known as the "baixada de falles", brings together fire, tradition, music and a party atmosphere. Find out everything about this magical celebration… and experience it with the locals!

The Catalan Pyrenees are just two to four hours away from the cosmopolitan city of Barcelona. Their snow-clad picture-postcard landscape is a haven for lovers of snowboarding, Alpine and Nordic skiing, night skiing, snowshoeing, dog sleds, horse-drawn sleighs, snowmobiles, or, in a nutshell, snow addicts!

There's one day every year when travellers and visitors to Barcelona feel like they're on another planet. This is a day when Barcelona is suffused with a different atmosphere and it seems that everybody heads to the streets. So if you're planning on coming to Barcelona and your visit coincides with 23rd April, you're in luck! You'll experience the city on what is arguably the Barcelonians' most cherished day.

If you start to hear fire crackers going off and see bonfires blazing on the night of 23rd June, don't worry; you're about to discover the most magical night of the year.

In summer, in June and September, Barcelona's former villages host their neighbourhood festivals. They are the perfect excuse to visit the city and lose yourself in its districts that are dressed up to the nines. The Sants Festival keeps alive the spirit of a major festival that used to be held in honour of Saint Bartholomew, the patron saint of the former village of Sants.

Barcelona is the city of contrasts. It is not big in comparison with different capital city, but very dynamic and international, calm but also very active. It has everything: beautiful architecture, cultural events, sea and finally I saw mountains with snow near Barcelona and decided that this is the best city in the world!