Sant Cugat del Vallès is in Barcelona metropolitan area. Its most important and well-known monument is the monastery of Sant Cugat, an ancient Benedictine abbey built between the 9th and 14th centuries. Part of Collserola Natural Park is in the municipality.
Understand
[edit]
It extends to the northwestern slopes of the Collserola mountain range, to the beginning of the Prelitoral depression.
Tourist office
[edit]- 1 Sant Cugat Tourist office, Plaça d’Octavià, 10, ☏ +34 936 759 952, [email protected].
Get in
[edit]By plane
[edit]The nearest airport is Barcelona, 26 km away (about thirty minutes by car). Girona - Costa Brava Airport is 87 km away (less than an hour by motorway).
By train
[edit]The FGC has seven stations in the municipality on the Barcelona - Vallès line: La Floresta, Valldoreix, Sant Cugat Centre, Volpelleres, Sant Joan, Mira-sol and Hospital General.
- 1 Sant Cugat Centre Station, Plaça Lluís Millet, 8. S1 S2 lines,
- 2 La Floresta station, Passeig de la Floresta. S1 S2 lines,
- 3 Sant Joan station, Avinguda de l'Alcalde Barnils, 67. S2 lines,
The Sant Cugat del Vallès station is part of the R8 line of the Rodalies de Catalunya, which links the Martorell and Granollers-Centre stations, crossing the regions of Baix Llobregat, Vallès Occidental and Vallès Oriental. The R8 is the first line of the Rodalies system that does not pass through the city of Barcelona.
- 4 Sant Cugat del Vallès station, Ronda del Nord, 50. R8 line,
By bus
[edit]- A4 Sant Cugat del Vallès - Barcelona Fabra i Puig bus station
- A6 Sant Cugat del Vallès - Barcelona Plaza Lesseps
- B7 Cerdanyola - Sant Cugat del Vallès - Rubi
- B8 Terrassa - Rubi - Sant Cugat del Vallès
By car
[edit]The main access routes are the C-16 (Barcelona, Terrassa, Manresa) and AP-7 motorways (Lleida, Tarragona, Girona). It can also be reached by road from Cerdanyola, Rubí and Barcelona (via La Rabassada or Vallvidrera).
Get around
[edit]
Map of Sant Cugat del Vallès
By bus
[edit]- L1 Mira-sol - Nucli - Torrent de Ferrussons
- L2 Urban Nucli - Colomer - Turó de Can Mates
- L3 Les Planes - La Floresta - FGC Sant Cugat
- L4 La Floresta (Neighborhood Bus)
- L5 Les Planes (Neighborhood Bus)
- L7 Rbla. Celler - Volpelleres - Can Sant Joan - Shopping Center - *General Hospital
- L8 Urban Nucli - ESADE - Torrent de Ferrussons
- L9 Rambla Celler - Volpelleres - Shopping Center
- L11 Mira-sol - Turó de Can Mates
- TAD: Can Barata - FGC Volpelleres - CAP Turó de Can Mates
- TAD: Can Cortés - Can Borrull
- TAD: Can Trabal - Buscarons - Pg. del Caqui
- R9 Shuttle Rambla Celler - ZEM La Guinardera
- Park&Ride Shuttle Avinguda Roquetes - Center
By bike
[edit]Sant Cugat is convenient for getting around by bike thanks to its flat terrain in the center and more than 40 km of bike lanes. You can leave your bike in the parking lots on the public road or at the Bicibox secure parking stations.
Parking
[edit]Sant Cugat has four types of regulated surface parking areas in operation:
- the Blue Area, where you pay for parking for less than 2 hours using parking meters or one of the apps
- the Green Area, where on-resident users pay for parking in the same way as in the blue area
- the Red Area improve accessibility to public spaces with free access that need it, such as CAPs
- the Commercial Area ensures higher turnover in places with a very limited supply of spaces
- Promusa, Passeig Francesc Macià 16-20, ☏ +34 93 589 17 32. The company handling the regulated surface parking.
- 5 Aparcament dels Quatre Cantons, Plaça dels Quatre Cantons (access by Carrer de Francesc Moragas). Paid parking.
- 6 Aparcament Colom, Carrer de Cristòfor Colom. Paid parking.
- 7 Aparcament Pl. Can Quitèria, Pl. Can Quitèria. paid.
- 8 Park & Ride Avinguda de les Roquetes. Park & ride. 500-car capacity, free bus to downtown. Free.
See
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- 1 Monastery of Sant Cugat, Pl. Octavià. A former Benedictine abbey in the Catalan town of Sant Cugat del Vallès. It traces its origins to the early Christian period, with its foundation anchored in the legend of Saint Cucufate (Sant Cugat), an African missionary martyred during the Roman persecutions in the early 4th century. Over his grave, a basilica arose in the 5th century, becoming a site of pilgrimage and religious activity under the Visigoths and later evolving into a fortified settlement during the Frankish expansion. In the 9th century, Benedictine monasticism flourished here, promoted by Frankish rulers to consolidate territorial organization and feudal order. Through the medieval era, Sant Cugat grew in power and wealth thanks to noble patronage, ecclesiastical privileges, and its role in regional defense and repopulation. Notably, Al-Mansur’s looting in 985 marked a turning point, after which Abbot Odó led reconstruction and expansion. The monastery’s architectural pinnacle is its Romanesque cloister, started in the late 12th century, celebrated for its sculptural program and historical significance. Monastic life ended in 1835 amid secular reforms, and today, Sant Cugat is conserved as a cultural monument. €6 for the audio guide.
- 2 Sant Cugat Museum (Casa Aymat). A sub-office of the museum, Casa Aymat was built in 1926 as Tomàs Aymat’s rug and tapestry factory, later on becoming the head office of the Catalan Tapestry School. It houses the Contemporary Tapestry Museum and displays the traditional beginnings and Noucentista tendencies of Tomàs Aymat through to the era of the Catalan Tapestry School, with Josep Grau-Garriga as the most noteworthy alumnus. The exhibition includes boards and tapestries by Subirachs, Ràfols-Casamada, Guinovart and Hernàndez Pijuan, among others.
- 3 Modernist Wine Cellar, Carrer de Sant Medir, 24. This is all that remains of the cooperative wine press, begun in 1921 to the design of Cesar Martinell, an architect who specialised in agricultural building at that time, inspired both by Gaudi's art nouveau design and the rationalism of the beginning of the 20th century. The wine industry declined after the 1950s and the last pressing was completed in 1988. The surrounding buildings were demolished, including, in 1994, the hall for vats, to allow for the expansion of urban building. In the remaining hall, exhibitions are shown and can be visited on certain days, particularly weekends
- 4 Can Vernet bridge. It is part of a 3-km Gothic aqueduct, most likely built in the 14th century to carry water from the "mine of the Monks" to the monastery of Sant Cugat and the lower part of the town. The bridge over the torrent of Can Cornellera is formed by three semicircular arches and carried the water in a channel covered with slabs to a cistern in the abbey palace. With the confiscation of the monastery in 1835 it became municipal property. The water from the mine provided an essential service to the population until 1922.
- 5 Mercat de Sant Pere, Pl. Pere Sant. The Sant Pere Market, formerly called Pere San, is a modernist building. It was designed by Ferran Cels in 1911 in the Plaça Major, now called Plaça de Sant Pere. With clear influences from Puig i Cadafalch, the building presents architectural and functional elements typical of modernism, such as exposed brickwork, trapezoidal windows, pilasters and the use of iron.
- 6 Sant Adjutori Ermitage (Ermita de Sant Adjutori). It is a hermitage of circular floor and semispherical vault, that was part of a rest residence of the abbots of Sant Cugat. The first date is from 962, the hermitage was part of the monastery's properties. And it had great importance for many years as a large population center had formed in the valley during the high Middle Ages. The cult was maintained until the 19th century and due to the confiscation of 1835 the chapel was abandoned.
- 7 Sant Medir Ermitage (Ermita de Sant Medir). It already existed in 1046 but is documented since 1120. The tradition and worship began in the 11th century. In 1024, there is evidence of the purchase of a vineyard and some woods located in the Sant Medir valley and the establishment of a monastery in 1046. Old documents call it Sant Emeteri, but it was Catalanized as "Medir". In the Middle Ages, it formed a parish with Sant Adjutori and Sant Vicenç. The monastery of Sant Cugat had civil jurisdiction there until the 14th century, which became the municipal organization of Sant Cugat. The monks took care of it until 1446. The popularization of the legend of Sant Medir of Barcelona turned the hermitage into a destination for pilgrims. In 1802, the first gathering of Sant Medir was held there and from 1846, pilgrims from the Barcelona town of Gràcia joined. Since then, it has been the destination of the pilgrimage for the feast of Sant Medir every March 3.
- 8 Font Groga natural spring (Font Groga). It is located at the head of the Salamandra stream, below the Rabassada road. It was very popular at the beginning of the 20th century due to its proximity to the Old Casino de la Rabassada. The guests of the casino hotel would go there for a short walk. The name comes from the ferruginous content of the water that flows from it. Situated on a large esplanade, the construction is a wall with a symmetrical structure and a semicircular line. A bench runs along the entire wall. In the central part is the front of the fountain from which a small stream flows.
- 9 Marilyn Monroe Museum (Terrisseria Arpí-Cal Gerrer), Pl. Octavià, 1 - C. Santiago Rusiñol, 60, [email protected]. It houses the only museum in Europe dedicated to Marilyn Monroe. You can explore her life through her personal objects and recreations of her films and discover the most comprehensive library on the actress. € 7.
- Museum of Comics and Illustration of Sant Cugat, Plaça Pep Ventura, 1, [email protected]. Tu-Sa 16:00-20:00, Sa Su 10:00-14:00. This is the first national museum dedicated to commemorating and disseminating the world of comics and illustration in the broadest historical scope of both media. €8.
Do
[edit]- 1 Sant Cugat Golf Club, Carrer de Villà, 79, ☏ +34 936 743 908. Visitors green fee from €100 to €175.
- 2 Can Caldés Equestrian Club, Avinguda de les Corts Catalanes, s/n, ☏ +34 935 531 183.
- 3 Collserola Natural Park. It is a vast green oasis that provides a serene escape. Covering over 8,000 hectares, it is one of the largest metropolitan parks in the world. Visitors can explore lush forests, picturesque valleys, and diverse flora and fauna. With numerous well-marked trails, it's a paradise for hikers, cyclists, and nature enthusiasts. The park also offers breathtaking panoramic views of Barcelona and the surrounding coastline.
Events
[edit]- Aplec de Sant Medir. The Aplec de Sant Medir is celebrated every March 3. In Sant Cugat del Vallès this celebration is dedicated to the co-patron of the town, and it is traditional for villagers to walk to the hermitage. Attendees usually make an offering of a candle to the image of the saint. It is also traditional to distribute beans among the people attending in memory of those cultivated by the saint and which legend claims bring good luck. A large popular lunch is celebrated, the traditional dance of sardanes and giants, and a Human towers (Castellers) performance.
Buy
[edit]The city centre is an important retail hub, full of shops and culinary delights. Walk along carrer Major, plaça de Sant Pere and rambla del Celler. Explore Valldoreix, Santa Maria and Santiago Rusiñol streets, avinguda Cerdanyola and Doctor Galtés, Quatre Cantons and Octavià squares. Around these spots you will find a web of streets full of shops.
- 1 Sant Cugat shopping mall (C.C Sant Cugat), Avinguda de la Via Augusta 2,14 (parking access by BP-1503 or Avinguda de la Via Augusta), ☏ +34 935898346.
- 2 Mercantic, Avinguda de Rius i Taulet. Tu-F 110:00-19:00, Sa Su 10:00-15:00. Weekly market. Every weekend the range of traders expands and it is the time to discover the traditional concert-aperitif on Saturdays and Sundays in El Siglo, and also the food market, which provides an interesting culinary selection with food trucks.
Eat
[edit]Drink
[edit]Sleep
[edit]- 1 Hotel Holiday Inn Barcelona Sant Cugat, Carrer del Danubi, 24, ☏ +34 936 091 800.
- 2 Hotel AC Sant Cugat by Marriott, Plaça de Xavier Cugat, s/n, ☏ +34 935 894 141. from €100.
- 3 Hotel QGAT, Avinguda de la Via Augusta, 51, ☏ +34 935 441 922. from €90.
- 4 B&B Hotel Barcelona Sant Cugat, Camí Can Camps, 11,, ☏ +34 932 752 086.