Terrassa

Barcelona's delights will take a long time to exhaust, but if you ever want to get away from the glitter and see a different side of the Catalan character, this hard-working industrial city of 200,000 is just a half-hour away by train.

Terrassa has some history—a million years of it. Finds of human habitation in the Vallparadis, the steep ravine that cuts through the city, are among the very oldest in Europe. The town grew up under the Romans, and thrived during the Dark Ages century, leaving it a set of Visigothic churches unique in Spain. The town really blossomed in the 19th century (from the train you'll notice the broad, grim belt of factories that surround it), and from that it retains some unusual industrial relics, as well as a collection of Modernista architecture second only to Barcelona's.

City centre: around Plaça Vella