How do I get there?

EasyJet (www.easyjet.com) has excellent options to Barcelona — from Luton, Stansted, Gatwick, Bristol, East Midlands, Liverpool, Belfast and Newcastle; from £41. Or try British Airways (0870 850 9850, www.ba.com), Iberia (0870 609 0500, www.iberia.com), Jet2 (www.jet2.com) or Flyglobespan (0870 556 1522, www.flyglobespan.com). Aer Lingus (0818 365000, www.aerlingus.com) flies from Cork and Dublin; from €88.

But why should I go?

You need a bit of cheering up in the long winter months, and a cheeky weekend in Barcelona is just the thing. Think of all those wonderful little tapas bars with those exuberant bartenders forcing crisp cava on you even though it’s only 11am.

And those tiny little galleries and nooky little shops. And those buildings that madcap genius Gaudi got his mitts on. Tourists are relatively scarce in February. And by tourists I mean the L-plated, fake-breasted, stag-do tourists who make La Rambla a no-go area in the summer. It’ll be just you and the locals sharing those tapas. And beaches are much more romantic in the winter.

But where do I stay?

Hotel Constanza (Bruc 33; 00 34-93 270 1910, www.hotelconstanza.com) is stylish but friendly, and excellent value at £90 a double. But if you can stretch to £130 and up, Hotel Neri (Carrer Sant Sever 5; 93 304 0655, www.hotelneri.com) is a bargain: a beautifully converted 18th-century palace right in the Gothic quarter.

Hostal Oliva (Passeig de Gracia 32; 93 488 1789) is the best budget option. Rooms 10 and 11 are decent ensuite doubles (if you’re okay with the traffic hum) — good value at £41.

But where do I eat?

For one night, just go on a tapas crawl. Sagardi (Carrer Argenteria 62; 93 319 9993), in the Barri Gotic, and Ciudad Condal (Rambla de Catalunya 18; 93 318 1997) and Cerveceria Catalana (Carrer Mallorca 236; 93 216 0368) are all highly recommended.

For the other night, reserve a table at the famous seafood emporium Botafumeiro (Carrer Gran de Gracia 81; 93 218 4230), and order the shellfish platter for two — a bargain, honestly, at £70.

But what should I do?

Pepper your serendipitous ramblings with some mustn’t-misses. Gaudi, the city’s artist-saint, had free rein on several projects before he was run down by a tram in 1926. Most famous is the Sagrada Familia (Carrer Mallorca 401; 93 207 3031, www.sagradafamilia.org), unfinished but epic thanks to Gaudi’s spires. Go just before 10pm for the hallelujah illumination.

After that, Picasso will seem positively normal: check out the small collection at the Picasso Museum (Carrer Montcada 15-23; 93 319 6310; closed Monday; £3.50). The street it’s on has a variety of tempting bars and credit-card-risking craft shops.

After all that, consider treating yourself to a night at the (affordable) opera. The Gran Teatre del Liceu (93 485 9913, www.liceubarcelona.com) has been fully restored after the fire of 1994. The best tickets start at about £40.

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