So, first of all we’ll explain how we made the selection. What criteria we used, what tipped things in favour of some spots and not others. Very simple: we didn’t just base our choice on what we can see... but also on what the things we see transmit. Hungarian photographer Andre Kertesz explained it better than anybody: “Seeing is not enough, you have to feel what you’re photographing”. So, it’s about feeling. Here’s our selection, which we’ve divided into two categories:

Route 1: Hidden architectural gems in Sitges

The seven places we’re proposing are tangible heritage, something we can touch (and feel, of course), things that point skywards and cling to the ground, that give us identity and personality, things to do with what we are and what we will be: Sitges

• Racó de la Calma and Baluarte de Santa Caterina

The list starts with an iconic spot, jutting out into the sea but perched in the old town centre, a duality that makes it unique in colours and sensations. Tip: the best time to photograph this iconic space is just after midday, when the light and shade embrace naturally.

•  Casc Antic

From the Racó de la Calma you can lose yourself in the labyrinth of streets in Sitges old quarter. The Mediterranean light, natural stone, whitewashed walls and modernista embellishments in blue give this space a colour palette to fall in love with when taking a photo... and seeing the result. Even though the heat is intense in summer, midday offers us the best combination of light.

• Parroquia de Sant Bartomeu i Sant Tecla

‘La Punta’ is the most distinctive and iconic element of our skyline. An imposing church, perched on a headland from where it watches and guides us. If you ask us for the best perspective, we’d suggest going to the breakwater of the Club Naùtic Sitges, turning around and...wowww.

• La Sirena de Sitges

At the foot of the Parroquia de Sant Bartomeu, the mermaid sculpted by Pere Jou following a public subscription initiative offers the best combination of foreground and background to be found in Sitges. The mermaid’s hand, with its palm offering a greeting, also allows for photographers to play with interactions...you’ll see how the bronze of the hand has ended up polished.

•  Las Casas de ‘Los Americanos’

Few routes are as visually enamouring as the route of Las Casas de ‘Los Americanos’, properties built by traders from Sitges who returned from the Spanish colonies in the Americas wealthier and more sensitive regarding art. The result was 66 houses by the bourgeois of the 18th century, located around the seafront and the town centre, alternating between modernista, noucentista, colonial and eclectic styles. Asking us to recommend one or another is rather like choosing between mum and dad...

•  Port de Sitges - Aiguadolç

Easily reached on foot from Sitges town centre and the seafront, the Port de Sitges -Aiguadolç has a very special charm to it. We underline ‘very’ as it combines two elements that photographers adore: atmosphere (and plenty of it), the sea always in the background and a seaside town of houses with whitewashed walls. As many points of view as feelings generated...

•  Les Casetes del Garraf

Next it’s off to the outskirts of the town to discover a distinctive and iconic Sitges image: 33 little green and white houses, simple in style and made of wood, all lined up by the sand of the Platja del Garraf, declared a Cultural Asset of Local Interest and the scene of various films and adverts.

Route 2: Hidden landscape gems in Sitges

As the saying goes, “nature finds a way”. In Sitges, rather than opening up its own path, nature is in every step. A step forward, the sea. A step back, the mountains. And at the sides, a unique seafront with plenty of photographic stops.

•  Mirador de la Llevantina

Naturally, what is probably the best viewing point in Sitges had to be here too, with a panoramic yet almost frontal view of our coast, with is curves and the church in the middle. In this case, like almost any other good viewing point, sunrise and sunset offer a premium version of this scene for your camera (or for your mobile of course).

• Ermita de la Trinitat

Without moving from the Mirador de la Llevantina, if only to get our bearings and go another day, we can access the GR-92, a path that takes us to the Ermita de la Trinitat, a little sanctuary in the middle of the Parc del Garraf, a unique spot much loved by the people of Sitges. The path itself is amazing with the views it offers of the Garraf coastline. Then there’s the hermitage, where the reflection of the midday sun acts as a natural spotlight on the façade.

•  Platja de Sant Sebastià

The most local, familiar and appreciated beach for the people of Sitges. A delight for photographers too, with the tip of the beach jutting out if we look towards the old town centre and offering the option of playing with foreground and background, with the Dona Mediterránea sculpture before us. A simple fact to check and document: at the Platja de Sant Sebastià, at the junction with Carrer Rafael Llopart, you can see a replica of the handrail in the Concha de Donostia bay, two cities united by a love of the sea and films.

• Pink Triangle and the rainbow bench in Paseo Marítimo

What we were saying about feeling more than seeing…the Pink Triangle in the middle of the seafront has been there since 2006 and symbolises our fight against homophobia. The inverted triangle is located on the promenade parallel to the seafront. It was the first monument against homophobia in Spain. A photo to feel that freedom is non-negotiable.

•  Platja de la Barra

You’ve got 17 kilometres of coastline and beaches in Sitges. But the location and the way it curves in front of the front of the town, with its tip rounding off the edge of the image to the right, the Platja de la Barra is one of the most pleasant beaches for time to come to a standstill.

•  Jardins de Terramar

Taking the Platja de la Barra as a reference point, a walk of just over ten minutes inland brings us to the Jardins de Terramar, a botanical delight, a modernista indulgence with its pond and a stage where the midday rays of the sun conjure up a thousand tones of green.

•  La Riera de Ribes

Another place with a special energy, particularly at dusk (or after dark). The water takes on reddish tones and confers shade and a glow on the sixty plus species of migratory birds that stop off here along the way. Important: This space is particularly sensitive at an environmental level, so it’s important to stick to the indications you find and take all the photos you want to from the seafront... but without going down to the riverbed.

So that’s the selection, as arbitrary as it probably is unfair on other places in Sitges which also warrant the photographic instant. But you know the best thing about this proposal? Between one place and another on this list you’ll come across other landscapes and constructions just as interesting or even more so. In the end, it’s your gaze that detects it and that makes you feel that things deserve a pic. The only thing we ask of you, if you don’t mind, apart from enjoying it of course, is to share it with the hashtag @SitgesAnytime. If you feel it, so do we...