Barcelonins needing an easy escape from the city seek out this protected pine-scented 80-sq-km park. It's a great place to hike, run and bike, and has a smattering of country chapels (some Romanesque), the ruined 14th-century Castellciuro castle in the west, various lookout points and, to the north, the grand 15th-century Can Coll farmhouse, now an environmental education centre. Pick up maps from park information centres such as the Carretera de l’Església 92 headquarters (near Baixador de Vallvidrera FGC station).
Opposite the information centre, you can learn about one of Barcelona's great 19th-century writers, Jacint Verdaguer, at the Vil·la Joana, where he spent his final days.