Reus is a prosperous town in southern Catalonia, about 15 km inland from the beach resorts of the Costa Daurada. It is best known as the birthplace of Antoni Gaudí, and the town has made the most of this connection with the Gaudí Centre museum and a Modernista Route through buildings designed by Gaudí's contemporaries. The concentration of Art Nouveau architecture in the old centre is genuinely impressive — not Barcelona, but far more than you would expect from a town this size. The crown jewel is Casa Navàs, a Domènech i Montaner building with its original furniture, ceramics, and mosaics intact. On the northern edge of town, the Institut Pere Mata is an extraordinary Modernista psychiatric hospital campus by the same architect.
The Plaça del Mercadal is the heart of the old town, ringed by arcaded buildings and busy with cafe terraces. Reus has been a trading town since the Middle Ages, and the Thursday and Saturday markets are still major events. The town is also the commercial centre of the Priorat and Tarragona wine regions, and you can find excellent local wines in the shops around the old quarter.
Reus shares an airport with nearby Tarragona, used mainly by budget airlines, and has good rail connections to Barcelona (about 90 minutes) and Tarragona (10 minutes). It makes a practical base for visiting the Roman ruins at Tarragona, the monasteries of the Cistercian Route, or the Priorat wine country without paying resort prices.