Lleida is an excellent base for day trips into the surrounding countryside, which is more varied and rewarding than the flat plain visible from the city might suggest.
The Pyrenean foothills (Pallars region) — Drive north from Lleida into the pre-Pyrenees and the landscape transforms within an hour: river gorges, forested ridges, and isolated medieval villages clinging to hillsides. The Vall de Boí, about two and a half hours north, contains a cluster of Romanesque churches that are a UNESCO World Heritage Site — small, perfectly proportioned, decorated with some of the finest Romanesque frescoes in Europe (the originals are now in the National Art Museum of Catalonia in Barcelona, but high-quality reproductions are in place).
Balaguer — A small city on the Segre about 25 kilometres north of Lleida, with a well-preserved medieval old quarter, a Romanesque collegiate church, and a castle ruin above the river. Easy half-day trip by car or bus.
Tàrrega — A market town in the Urgell plain about 35 kilometres east, known for its street theatre festival in September (one of the largest in Europe) and for the orchard country surrounding it. The drive through the flat agricultural landscape gives a clear sense of why this region produces such prodigious quantities of fruit.
The Segre river greenway — For a gentler day out, the greenway along the Segre stretches far enough to make a half-day cycling excursion worthwhile. Bicycle hire is available in Lleida.