6 nights in Catalonia...advices needed !

I loved my time in Girona and think it's a great overnight spot because of all there is to see and do and the large, atmospheric historic district. I've forgotten the timing of your trip, but last July the Girona streets were lively in the evening, and there were many restaurants with outdoor tables to enjoy. With the dinner hour so late, I don't think I'd much want to be eating dinner in one city and then having to go back to my car and drive elsewhere, perhaps at midnight, but I'm not a nightlife sort of person.

I cannot comment about parking conditions.

I think you'll have a lovely time no matter what you decide to do. I'd say Besalu is too small for an overnight, but Cadaques might work if you want to be on the coast and you're not traveling too far off-season (when I think the coastal resorts might be sort of dead??).

I'm not sure the car is going to help you in getting to Tarragona or Girona. Have you considered pricing out a rental from Girona back to BCN?

Thanks acraven for that answer !

Like i've said at the begining of my post i'll be there in July.

You are right about late dinner, we are a bit affraid about the adaptation of the kids to that late hour dinner.!

We know we can go to Terragona or Girona by train but we have think about the car because we figure it would be easier to get from Girona to our daytrips with a car.

Sorry; I did look but I missed the "July". Yes, a car will speed things up once you start making side-trips to places like Besalu and Cadaques. But I wonder about training it until you ready to start branching out from Girona. I haven't checked rental rates, though; you might be saving a lot (vs. trains) by renting a car from Barcelona for the longer period rather than from Girona for fewer days.

Because it's July and you have children, stay on the Costa Brava so they can swim and play at the beach in addition to sightseeing. You can visit all the places you listed from, for example, Begur.

Since you're a group a car is probably a good idea.

I think Tarragona in July is actually more kid-friendly than Girona, considering that there's a beach right there in front of you, and a couple others just a few minutes drive away. Girona's tourism infrastructure is slightly more developed to service foreigners, which makes it slightly less appealing to me than Tarragona, but that reflects more on me than on those towns. The range of time periods that are reflected in Tarragona area sites is wider than Girona's -- you've got classical, biblical, late antiquity, Muslim, Renaissance, industrial, Napoleonic, nationalist, and on and on all represented, while Girona is a little more theme-parked in the Middle Ages as filtered through Romanticism.

I also think that if you can afford it you should go for the Husa Imperial Tarracco in Tarragona rather than the oft-mentioned hotel on the square recommended by other RS forum posts. At least treat yourselves to a meal in their restaurant overlooking the restored teatro. It's like a throwback to Delmonicos with a great view as a bonus. The city-side approach justifiably turns visitors off with its tacky casino, but if you come from the waterside you get a much better opening impression.

The kids will love walking the walls in both towns, and there are interesting small history exhibits built along the way. Check for multi-attraction tickets that can be used for the walls and for other sites worth digging around in. Ruins are always improved by a live guide or at least an illustrated booklet. Brings them alive.

Go north first, then spend your last night in Sitges, about 30 mins drive to El Prat airport, and also located to the south of Barcelona proper.

Day
1. Morning train to Girona (3N). Afternoon in Girona
2. Pick up hire car. Day to Figueres and Cadaques
3. Day to Llafranc and Begur
4. Morning to Besalu. Afternoon drive to Tarragona (2N)
5. Morning in Tarragona. Afternoon to Poblet Monastery
6. Morning drive to Sitges (1N)
7. Return car at Barcelona airport on departure

I'll take a good look at the car price vs train price between Girona and Barcelona. We also have to buy child cvar seat, I guee that it will be easier to find them in Barcelona than Girona.

Suki, staying on the coast is a good idea, but we (kids included) are nort so much beach type. Maybe a day but not 5 or 6.

Avirosemail: thanks for those recommendations, ill take a good look at all those places you have mentionned.

djp_syd: Thanks a lot ! Seems like a good itinerary but some points are questionnable for me :

1) Figueres and Cadaques the same day seems like a lot since we want to visit the Dali musueum. Maybe it feasible, i've never nbeen there !

2) Once again i'll have to check cost of train vs car between Bartcelona and Girona

3) SItges, beside the beach , is there really something to see there ?

This paragraph edited to correct name of museume visited: I enjoyed the Museu de Cau Ferrat in Sitges, but there are others. There's a nearby building you can see, but just during limited hours or only on certain days. I missed it and don't remember the details. A good guidebook could help here. I spent some time wandering from the train station down toward the water (where the Cau Ferrat is located) and found the town attractive but not, overall, as striking as Cadaques.

With limited time, I'd rather be sure I could see my top priorities to the north even if I had to miss Sitges, but it's difficult to predict how much time a person will want to spend in a museum. Certainly Besalu will not take a great deal of time other than the drive, though there are a couple of metal-work shops I would have liked to visit.

Just within the last few weeks someone posted a thread, clearly titled (scan the Spain forum and you'll find it), about seeing the Dali sights on the same day, and I think he/she was traveling from Barcelona rather than the closer Girona. I believe the poster didn't have time for the jewelry exhibit at the Theatre-Museum in Figueres, which was a shame. But perhaps traveling from Girona it could all be done in one day. I think there wouldn't be much time to see Cadaques itself, though, and I have no clue what there is to do in Figueres beside the Dali site. This may help: There's a small museum in Cadaques (Museu de Cadaques), and I deemed it imminently skippable unless the current exhibition is on a topic of special interest to you..

I'd suggest spending the first few nights up north, then go south since the airport is south of the city.

If you are renting a car anyway, it probably makes more sense to just have it and not try and mix in trains. Pick up and drop off at the airport.

Figueres didn't look to me like a town to stay in overnight, but seeing the Dali Museum should be interesting even for the kids. Girona makes a good base for a couple nights.

A drive into the Pyrenees is worth a day. Besalu is a charming town that the kids might enjoy (neat stone bridge over a river). But it makes for a few hour stop at most if you have kids that need more things to do.

Cadaques would be a very good overnight stop. It takes awhile to get there, is a really cool town and has a national park nearby that is worth exploring (Dali was very influenced by the rock formations there). And do see Dali's house in Port Illgat (advanced reservations required). The kids will enjoy it. But this could also all be done as its own daytrip from Girona.

Tarragona is a good overnight spot as there is a fair amount to do in town. The kids will like the Colosseum and the archeological museum is small enough that they won't get to bored by it.

Another spot the kids would enjoy and easy with a car is Montserrat. You can drive up and easily park, then let the kids explore the trails for awhile.

Thanks once again acraven and thanks a lot Douglas for those suggestions. !

It looks that 6 nights in Catalonia wont be too much after all (that's what we thought at first !)

We dont want to do only one night stays so all your itinerary are fine for us. One or 2 one nighters can be ok but 6 would have been too much. Since our flight is at 9:55 we would like to spend the last night not too far and Terragona is a bit far. We are not sure about Sitges yet....

We think about getting the car in Barcalona itself because there's a fee for taking it in the airport (but we can get it back at no fee). We will stay at the corner of Carrer Londres and Muntaner, anywhere near that where we can buy kids car seat ?

1) Figueres and Cadaques - the Dali Museum takes 2 hours maximum.
This would be a relaxed schedule ...
10:00 Dali Museum Figueres
12:00 Drive to Cadaques
13:00 Lunch in Cadaques
14:30 Explore Cadaques
16:00 Dali House Portlligat

3) SItges - as I said makes a pleasant staging point to get to the airport, rather than an airport hotel, or travelling again into the busy centre.

I just uncovered my notes and discovered I gave the wrong museum name for Sitges. The one I visited and enjoyed was the Museu de Cau Ferrat. I'll correct my earlier post.

Londres & Muntaner is a good location, very close to the big el Corte Ingles department store on Diagonal.

Thanks for that suggestion about Figueres ans Cadaques, it seems really feasible !

Lodging in Stiges is expensive and we wont really enjoy nuightlife withe kids and an early flight. We book a holidayinn express free parking, and free breakfast and only 60 euros) at 15 minutes from airport for our last night.

We will have a look at that department store. Do you think our location is good for our 5 nights in Barcelona ? Some told me (on another forum) that this is a bit far for them.

I like to walk almost everywhere rather than taking buses and subways, so I'd rather be closer to Pl. Catalunya. There's quite a trade-off involved, though, because you'll surely pay more for less space closer in, and space can be an issue when you're traveling with three other people. You can use Google Maps to see how far your hotel will be from key Barcelona sights.

It's a central location, without being in the centre. The metro at Hospital Clinic is about 10mins walk, 3 blocks across and 3 blocks down. You may find bus on Muntaner more convenient for some journeys. Of course there are better locations for a traveller to be staying, but also many far worse. 7/10.