Barcelona day trips Dali's Cadaques or Tarragona & Sitges?

Cadaques is a nice town to relax after touring Dali's house. I would not go there on a day trip from Barcelona that would include Figueres. It is too far . You can easily do Sitges on day trip.

Suggest you head to your library and scan thru the Barcelona travel books, should be two to ten on the shelves.Most have regional excursion suggestions along with planning realities.

Those are good destinations for most people. Tarragona is mainly of interest for its Roman ruins.

My favorite side trip from Barcelona (worth an overnight) is Girona. Girona is a more convenient base than Barcelona for trips to Figueres and Cadaques. I often suggest that travelers spend some nights in Girona to facilitate visits to places in that part of Catalunya. That works best for people who have a lot of days to spend or who aren't gung-ho about Barcelona's modernista architecture.

All of the above destinations are accessible via public transportation--train for all except Cadaques, which requires a bus from Figueres. The Dali house is actually in Port Lligat, reportedly a 15- to 20-minute walk from the Cadaques bus station. So for that one sight, a bus tour does offer a logistical advantage (though probably at substantial extra cost).

The problem with bus tours, especially those that go to two or more destinations, is that you have no control over how the too-limited time is allocated between sights. There's a fabulous jewelry collection covered by the ticket to the Dali Theatre-Museum in Figueres. I bet the tour doesn't go there at all. I seriously doubt that you'll be given enough time at the Theatre-Museum for a comprehensive visit.

My husband and I are visited Spain in 2016, of which we allocated six nights (of our three weeks) in Barcelona. As we are huge Salvador Dalí fans, we day/night-tripped to Figueres and Cadaques, it was truly one of our trips highlights. We took a train in the morning from Barcelona to Figueres, and immediately toured the museum there. We then picked up our rental car to drive to Cadaques, as there is (or at least then) no train to Cadaques. It was an easy and beautiful drive. And Cadaques is just enchanting! We got settled into our hotel and enjoyed the town, to include a lovely dinner; one of our best meals. The next morning after checking out we drove to Port Lligat to tour the museum there. So worth it. Could really feel the essence of Dalí. We then drove back to Figueres, with a stop in Rosso for lunch on the way, and returned the rental car and trained it back to Barcelona. Hope you make it there.

I feel that Cadaques is too far for a day from Barcelona. Girona or Tarragona certainly doable, and by train easily (and preferably).
Montserrat can have you back in Barcelona by lunchtime if you make an early start.
If you fancy a later start then Sitges for lunch and to wander the seafront and the old town.

Thank you very much for all the responses! I chuckled at the response suggesting I check out books from the library as that's all I've been doing for almost a year. I posted my question in this forum to get personal advice from you seasoned travelers. We just got back from our trip and due to complications were unable to make a day trip out of Barcelona. Sad but next time. Based on your responses I'm glad we didn't try to do a day trip. Jeff I really appreciate your suggestion to go to Figueres on an overnight then rent a car for a day to Cadaques. Would not have thought of that! Thanks again to everyone for taking the time to respond. :)

I believe Jeff recommended overnighting in Cadaques (which I would call charming), not in Figueres (which I don't think is particularly attractive).

Thank you acraven for the correction. I misread Jeff's comment. :)