Cadaques/Figueres day trip from BCN??

If you are a Salvador Dalí fan, those are both worth visiting. We had a car, so we were able to see both in a day, but we were coming from San Sebastián and heading eventually towards Barcelona. We didn’t actually get to Barcelona at the end of that day; after the house/museum in Port Lligat, we stayed for the night outside of Roses.

If you didn’t have a car, maybe public bus is the way to go. Sorry, but I don’t have personal experience there. It appears there are also tour companies that would handle the transportation, but whether you would want a group or private tour, plus the guide costs, would need to be considered.

I hope that you find an acceptable away to get to both places.

Has anyone done it?

I took a direct, 9p bus from Barcelona to Cadaqués arriving before midnight. No food or beverage was allowed on board other than bottled water.
Cadaqués is crowded during the summer with lots of families hanging out on the beach. You can easily walk from Cadaqués to Port Ligat (15m) where Dali’s home is.
Dali’s home is quite small, but to go to Cadaqués only to see Dali’s house is not worth it in my opinion.
You can take a direct, scenic bus ride from Cadaqués to Figueres (1h) and store your luggage in a locker. Follow the crowd from the bus station to the Dali Theatre-Museum and make sure you buy tickets before leaving home. This museum is worth visiting.

I’m going to Barcelona and the Costa Brava and have looked into some of the transit details and here’s what I learned: one of Renfe’s fast Avant trains can get you from Barcelona to Figueres in about one hour There’s no train station in Cadaques, so the bus taking about one hour is the only public transit from Figueres to Cadaques. Returning to Figueres requires another hour. Avant train back to Barcelona takes another hour.

While seaside Cadaques does have a house that Dali lived in, I decided stopping in historic Girona with its frozen-in-time Jewish Quarter, Roman Tower, old Arab Baths, medieval Benedictine Monastery and ancient city wall that you can walk on for a birdseye view of Girona— has a lot more bang for my buck. And since Girona is on the same route between Barcelona and Figueres, stopping off in Girona doesn’t require any detour.
The best thing is that the house that Dali was born in 1904 is actually in Figueres, and, while you can’t go inside today, you can take a photo of the plaque commemorating his birthplace. ( He was born in the ground floor apartment #6 of the building at Carrer de Narcis Monturiol 20). This is why his museum and his crypt are both located in the Salvador Dali Museum in Figueres.

Have a great trip!

I have not been to the home in Port Lligat (it's not in Cadaques, but rather a 15-20 minute walk from Cadaques), but I haven't read any negative comments from people who have been there. I have visited and enjoyed the Dali Theatre and Museum in Figueres. So I'd say going to those places would be worth it is you're interested in Dali.

It will be something of a slog from Barcelona. You pass through Girona on the way, which is an excellent side trip from Barcelona, worth at least a full day on its own. Therefore, if you happen to have some slack in your schedule, you could spend 2 or 3 nights in Girona and make the Dali excursion less onerous.

This is the way the trip would work from Barcelona:

• Fast train to Figueres Vilafant Station.
• Bus or taxi (or walk, but it's about 1.5 miles) to the other train station in town, simply called Figueres.
• Public bus to Cadaques. This is quite scenic.
• Walk from Cadaques to the house in Port Lligat.
• After viewing house, walk back to Cadaques bus station.
• Bus back to Figueres train station.
• Walk (or taxi) to Dali Theatre-Museum (0.6 miles; bus probably not worth trying since it doesn't take you right to the museum).
• After viewing DTM (and the wowza jewelry collection nearby), walk or taxi 0.9 miles back to Figueres Vilafant Station. The nearest bus stop that would get you to Figueres Vilafant is a few blocks from the DTM.
• Fast train back to Barcelona.

Somewhere along the way you'll need to grab something for lunch.

The bus that runs between the two train stations in Figueres is scheduled to meet the fast trains, but in my experience it doesn't hang around if the train is late, so consider ahead of timemwhether you'd want to take a taxi or walk,in that situation. If the plan would be a taxi, have phone numbers at hand in case there's not a taxi waiting in front of the station when you arrive.

If the above process seems daunting, there's probably still a company running bus tours to both Dali sights from Barcelona. I have my doubts about how much time you'd be allowed at each stop. The DTM isn't small, and the jewelry collection is worth seeing.

As alluded to above, you need to buy the Port Lligat house ticket well in advance. Those definitely sell out early. The Theatre-Museum ticket also needs to be purchased before you arrive, but I believe those don't sell out so early. The issue is that the DTM gets bus tours, so you might arrive, ticketless, and be told the next opening is several hours later. That's really not practical for a day trip.

Some friends from out of town took this tour a few years back and said it was excellent, though it takes up most of the day. Includes transportation, local guide, and entrance to both the Museum and Dali's house. Might be good if you don't want to deal with confusing logistics of combining the two on the same day.

https://www.viator.com/tours/Barcelona/Salvador-Dali-Museum-Figueres-and-Cadaques-Small-Group-Day-Trip-from-Barcelona/d562-3142DALI?mcid=61846

Link to my post and others to your question:

https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/spain/spanish-trails-or-other-tour-group-for-day-trip-from-bcn-any-recommendations

I was put off by the train and transfer situation getting to Figueres and ended up scheduling an all day tour to Figueres & Girona, but not Cadaques, through Catalunya Bus Turistic. I will be going in September so can't report on the quality of it, but it was mentioned in the latest edition of the RS Spain book at page 47. Good luck!

Years ago we took the train to Figueres and thoroughly enjoyed the Dalí museum. We spent the better part of a day on the excursion.

I took a tour with this company, because although I am a huge fan of public transit, I was concerned about missing the bus connection to Cadaques, especially with the strict timed entry of the Port Lligat house: http://www.explorecatalunya.com/

Thank you so much everyone for your suggestions! I think I will skip Cadaques and go to Girona and Figueres. I am looking into maybe taking a tour.

Although I'm sure tours are available, those are easy places to visit on your own, and you'd be able to decide for yourself how much time to spend in each place.

Figueres isn't a bad town at all, but it doesn't seem to have a great deal to recommend it beyond the Dali Theatre-Museum and jewelry collection. Girona, 9n the other hand, has the atmospheric, walled medieval district, a couple of old churches, the Museum of Jewish History and a nice, not-too-large art museum. I have the impression there are also some good restaurants in Girona,