Free Walking Tour Tarragona: Roman Tarraco to the Rambla

Your Tarragona Walking Tour Through Five Landmarks

1. 1

   Roman Walls of Tarragona

   

   You start where Roman Tarragona itself started. In 218 BC the Scipio brothers landed at Empúries and moved on to Tarraco, which became the main Roman military base in Spain during the Second Punic War. The first defence was a simple wooden palisade; the stone walls you see came soon after and are among the earliest major works the Romans built here.

   Look closely at the base. It is made of huge, roughly shaped megalithic blocks, and in them you can spot small doorways, posterns just wide enough for one soldier on foot. On top sits a double face of cut ashlar, often with a cushioned, bulging finish, and the gap between the two faces was filled with mud brick and small stones.

   The walls went up in two phases. The first was 4 metres wide and 6 metres high, reinforced by square towers; three are known: the Minerva Tower (also called Sant Magí), the Cabiscol Tower (or Seminari) and the Archbishop's Tower, rebuilt in the 14th century. Only a few years later the plan changed: the walls grew to 6 metres wide and 12 metres high, probably linked to the campaigns of the consul Cato against the local tribes at the start of the 2nd century BC.

   What makes the walls special is that they never stopped being used. Over about 22 centuries they were repaired, rebuilt and absorbed into medieval, early modern and modern houses, so Roman stone and later buildings now form one piece. The ticketed walk along them is worth it if you like seeing that history up close.

   From here it is a short 470 m, about 6 min, up to the cathedral at the highest point of the old town.

   Local name

   Muralles romanes de Tarragona

   Hours

   Tue–Sat 09:00–20:45, Sun/holidays 09:00–14:30, Mon closed (Summer season 1.4.-26.10.)

   Price

   5 EUR individual, Combined ticket 15 EUR

   Website

   tarragona.cat ↗

   Location

   Roman Walls of Tarragona on Google Maps ↗

2. 2

   Tarragona Cathedral

   

   The Cathedral of Saint Thecla stands on the highest part of Tarragona, and the site was sacred long before it: first a Roman temple of the imperial cult stood here, then the main mosque, and after the Christian reconquest the cathedral. Work began in the 12th century and continued through the 13th and 14th until its consecration in 1331.

   That long building time is what you see. The cathedral is one of the key examples in Catalonia of the shift from Romanesque to Gothic: round-arched Romanesque windows with archivolts sit next to pointed Gothic ones with stained glass. In the apse, three windows in the lower part and seven pointed ones above let in the light.

   Inside, the nave rises 26 metres at the dome and the main axis runs 101 metres. Look at the column capitals with their Moorish motifs, and at the floor of the presbytery and apse, a Romanesque pavement of coloured stone and marble laid out in geometric patterns. The octagonal tower over the crossing dates from the mid 13th century, and the oak choir stalls were carved in the 15th century by Francisco Gomar from Zaragoza.

   Go in if you have an hour to spare. The cloister, begun in the 13th century, is the highlight, with richly sculpted capitals, and the building has been a Historic Artistic Monument since 1905.

   Next comes the longest leg, 740 m and about 10 min down to the amphitheatre. You pass the National Archaeological Museum of Tarragona and Plaça del Rei on the way.

   Hours

   Jan 1-Mar 1: Mon 10:30–17:00, Tue–Fri 09:30–17:00, Sat 09:30–18:00, Sun 14:00–18:00 | Mar 2-Jun 28: Mon 10:30–19:00, Tue–Sat 09:30–19:00, Sun 14:00–19:00 | Jun 29-Aug 30: Mon 10:30–20:00, Tue–Sat 09:30–20:00, Sun 14:00–20:00 | Aug 31-Nov 1: Mon 10:30–19:00, Tue–Sat 09:30–19:00, Sun 14:00–19:00 | Nov 2-Dec 31: Mon 10:30–17:00, Tue–Fri 09:30–17:00, Sat 09:30–18:00, Sun 14:00–18:00; closed Jan 1, Jan 6, Apr 3, Apr 6, Jun 22, Sep 23, Dec 25, Dec 26; last entry 30 min before closing

   Price

   12.50 EUR (full price), 8.50 EUR (reduced: 65+, under 18, large families, teachers, groups 20+), 5.50 EUR (7-12 years), under 7 free

   Website

   catedraldetarragona.com ↗

   Location

   Tarragona Cathedral on Google Maps ↗

3. 3

   Roman Amphitheatre

   

   The amphitheatre sits by the sea, next to today's Miracle beach, outside the old Roman walls and close to one of the gates into the city. Its elliptical plan measures up to 130 by 102 metres, with the arena in the centre where the shows took place. It is fairly well restored and part of the archaeological ensemble of Tarraco, a World Heritage Site since 2000.

   It was built under the Flavian emperors in the second half of the 1st century AD. Having an amphitheatre at all was a statement: Tarraco was one of the few cities in Hispania with a circus, a theatre and an amphitheatre, a privilege of the most important cities of the Empire. Here crowds watched gladiators fight each other or wild animals, animals fight animals, and now and then even staged naval battles.

   The arena also carries a darker story. On 21 January 259 the Christian bishop Fructuosus and his deacons Augurius and Eulogius were executed here. In the 6th century a Visigothic basilica was built in their memory, and in the 12th century the Romanesque church of Santa Maria del Miracle was laid over it. In 221, under Emperor Elagabalus, the building itself was remodelled.

   The ticket is worth it if you want to stand in the arena and see how these layers of Roman, Visigothic and medieval building sit on top of each other.

   From here you walk 280 m, about 5 min, up to the circus.

   Local name

   Amfiteatre de Tarragona

   Hours

   1 Apr–26 Oct: Tue–Sat 09:00–20:45, Sun and holidays 09:00–14:30; winter: Tue–Fri 09:00–18:30, Sat 09:30–18:30, Sun and holidays 09:30–14:30; Mon closed

   Price

   5 EUR individual, Combined ticket 15 EUR

   Website

   tarragona.cat ↗

   Location

   Roman Amphitheatre on Google Maps ↗

4. 4

   Roman Circus of Tarraco

   

   Here, in the upper town, horses and chariots raced in front of up to 20,000 spectators. The circus was built under Emperor Domitian in the late 1st century AD and stayed in use until the 5th century.

   It was part of a much larger plan. After Vespasian granted Latin rights to the Spanish provinces around 73 AD, Tarraco received a monumental complex on three terraces that showed the power of the state: the provincial forum on the top of the hill, the circus on the terrace below it, and the Via Augusta passing along its southern side. Because it had to fit this slope and the space available, the circus has a size and shape found nowhere else.

   What you see today is only a small part. The original track covered a large slice of the old town, roughly the area between Rambla Vella and the streets of Ferrers and Enrajolat. Near the wall and the Praetorium you can still see part of the head of the circus, huge barrel vaults that once carried the seating, and a large monumental gate into the grounds.

   Go inside for the vaults: walking through them gives you a real sense of the scale. If time is short, the outside view along Rambla Vella already shows how the circus runs parallel to the street.

   The last leg is 540 m, about 7 min, to Rambla Nova.

   Local name

   Circ romà de Tarragona

   Hours

   Tue–Sat 09:00–20:45, Sun/holidays 09:00–14:30, Mon closed (Summer season 1.4.-26.10.)

   Price

   5 EUR individual, Combined ticket 15 EUR

   Website

   tarragona.cat ↗

   Location

   Roman Circus of Tarraco on Google Maps ↗

5. 5

   Rambla Nova

   

   You finish on Tarragona's main promenade and the centre of city life, with terraces, restaurants, elegant shops and the offices of public and private institutions. The architecture along it comes mostly from the second half of the 19th and the 20th century.

   Rambla Nova was opened from 1854, after a design competition won by the architect Crivillé, on land freed by tearing down the Wall of Sant Joan. That 16th century fortification had separated the old upper town from the growing port district. Building the boulevard took costly work to cut down and fill the ground. The original stretch is 45 metres wide and about 400 metres long; later extensions pushed the straight axis to around 1,800 metres.

   It is not technically a rambla, which means a dry riverbed: the name was borrowed from Barcelona's Ramblas, which served as the model, with a tree lined pedestrian strip in the middle and traffic lanes on either side.

   Walk it slowly and look for the monuments that have become city icons: Roger de Lauria, the monument to the sardana dance, the Centenary Fountain, Tarragona to the heroes of 1811 and the Monument to the Castellers, the human tower builders. At one end the Balcony of the Mediterranean opens a wide view over the coast and the sea, a fitting close to the walk. Everything here is free.

   Hours

   Open 24/7

   Price

   Free

   Location

   Rambla Nova on Google Maps ↗

Shorter Ways Through Tarragona

Not every day has room for four ticketed sites. These versions keep the walk and adjust the time inside.

Roman Tarraco only

Stops: 1, 3, 4

For history lovers who want the Roman layers: walls, amphitheatre and circus. You still walk past the cathedral on the way, so the walking time stays at 21 min. All three sites charge admission, and a combined ticket is sold, so ask about it at the first ticket desk. Plan around two and a half hours.

Outside only

Stops: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

For a first look or a tight schedule: walk the full route and see every stop from the outside, 28 min of walking, about an hour with time to look around. No admission at all.

Upper town short

Stops: 1, 2

For those with little time who want the oldest stones and the cathedral: 6 min of walking between them. Both charge admission; with one interior allow roughly an hour and a half.

How Long Does This Tarragona Tour Take with the Roman Sites?

The pure walking time is 28 min over 2.0 km, and the legs are short: the longest is the 10 min from the cathedral down to the amphitheatre. What fills the day is the time inside.

If you go into all four paid sites, plan around four hours: about 45 minutes on the walls, an hour in the cathedral and its cloister, 40 minutes each at the amphitheatre and the circus, and a relaxed 20 minutes on Rambla Nova. The Roman-only version takes about two and a half hours, the outside-only walk about one.

Before You Start Your Tarragona Walk

• Start and finish: The recommended start is the Roman Walls of Tarragona and the walk ends on Rambla Nova. You can join at any stop; the GPS navigation in your browser can take you from the last stop back to the start.
• Time of day: Four of the five stops have opening hours, so set out early enough to fit the interiors you want. Check the times before you go, especially on Sundays and holidays, when hours are shorter.
• Tickets: The walls, the cathedral, the amphitheatre and the circus charge admission; Rambla Nova is free. For the three Roman sites a combined ticket is sold alongside the single tickets.

Common Questions About Tarragona