The essential Perpignan circuit takes half a day and covers the main medieval monuments in a compact area. Start at Le Castillet, the 14th-century red-brick tower at the north end of the old town that has been the city's emblem since the medieval period; inside is the Casa Pairal museum of Catalan folk culture. The pedestrianised streets running south lead through Place de la Loge — the main square of the old centre — to the Cathedral of Saint-Jean-Baptiste. The Palace of the Kings of Majorca is a 15-minute walk further south, enclosed within Vauban's later bastion walls; allow an hour inside. For the Dalí connection, the railway station is a short walk north of the Castillet; the interior is ordinary but the context — Dalí declared it the centre of the universe — is not.
Beyond the monuments, the old town repays a slower walk: the Loge de Mer, the medieval commercial exchange on Place de la Loge; the streets of the Saint-Jacques quarter, historically the Catalan and Spanish neighbourhood; and the covered market Les Halles on Place de la République, which is worth a visit for the food alone. Canet-Plage (10 km east by bus) is the city beach, useful for a half-day by the sea without going further. Collioure (27 km south) is the main day-trip destination on the Côte Vermeille.