Costa Brava/Girona from Barcelona

"The Costa Brava" is a series of beach towns. I haven't done any research on them, but I wouldn't want to go to a beach in November, and I don't know if they have any other appeal at that time of year.

Girona, on the other hand, has lots of things going on. It's attractive to walk around, and there's an old Jewish Quarter, Arab baths, cathedral, museum of cinema, etc. But you don't need a tour for this. You can just take regular trains from Barcelona, either the fast trains taking about 40 minutes (tickets are for a specific train, and get more expensive closer to travel) or the slower trains taking about 90 minutes (these are unreserved). It's about a 15 minute walk from the train station to the old center of Girona, or you can take a taxi.

Even taking a fast train both ways, at last minute prices, will run about €45, so that's much cheaper than a tour.

As mentioned, there is a pretty good AVE high speed train out of Sants Station in Barcelona. Now personally, I probably would not want to be on the beach of the Costa Brava in November, as it's too chilly/cold for my taste. I was in Cadaqués for a few days during one November and it started raining sleet non-stop.

However, if you would like to visit the Costa Brava in November (but not the beach itself), then may I suggest visiting Empúries. Empúries is the site of the ancient ruins of a Greek colony from the 6th–3rd century BC. It's quite unique as the ruins sit right on the Costa Brava overlooking the sea. The area is also the site of an ancient Roman town called Emporiæ from the 2nd century BC - 6th century AD. There is a pretty good museum on-site containing artifacts and mosaics of the Roman and Greek periods called the Museu d'Arqueologia de Catalunya - Empúries.

It will be difficult to visit Empúries via public transportation from Barcelona, so if you would like to check it out I would either rent a car or better yet find a tour of Empúries with transportation included. One could spend a few nights in Girona and then make a day trip to the ancient Greco-Roman ruins of Empúries.

We took this tour in October 2017 and highly recommend it. The 115 Euro cost includes a very good lunch with wine - and not chintzy with the wine.

https://spanish-trails.com/tours/costa-brava-medieval-girona-day-trip/

Thank you all for the suggestions! We may do Girona by ourselves if Costa Brava region is not as much fun in cold.
Thank you traylaparks for the suggestion of Spanish trails. This looks wonderful! Touring medieval Pyrenees villages and hike. Please suggest if this would be nice in November. Again thanks so much!

https://spanish-trails.com/tours/medieval-mountain-village-panoramic-trails/

GD, that Medieval Mountain Village & Panoramic Trails day trip looks great to me as well. However, I am totally unqualified to say whether not it would be a nice trip in Mid-November. With that said, I notice that Spanish Trails offers it then, and I can't imagine the company would set itself up for bad reviews because of weather conditions.

We have someone on this forum who took and was very pleased with a one-day tour of medieval villages in Catalunya. I think it was this tour, but I am not certain. This one seems less active, but also less potentially affected by bad weather.

I've been to Besalu (via public bus), and it is very picturesque. Girona has a great deal of interest, and one could be inside a good bit of the time (nice museum and two pretty churches, both of which with English audio guides, as I recall). It's a good shopping town, too.

I be that “someone” and yes, I enjoyed the Medieval Villages Tour, although it did involve quite some time on the bus, and the villages lie inland from Girona, and not near the Costa Brava. I was back in Girona for one night in early July of this year, stayed in the old city, and loved it. It was very quiet, despite being summer, and I was told locals all go to the beach during the summer.

@GD... I believe you didn't mention "beach", did you? so yes, November is probably not the best time to go to "the beach", but for visiting the landscapes of the impressive Costa Brava it is probably the best time of the year since you'll find no flocks of beach-goers invading every nook and cranny of the area. My view, anyway.

Also worth noting Costa Brava is far more than "sea and beach", the area has magnificent landscapes, picturesque towns, historical sites... Besides, the weather by the coast is mild all year long, and in November temperatures should be in the high 50s.

Your best bet is to rent a car for a couple of days, so you can easily move around at your own pace. The area is worth visiting. If you find this town irresistible you can stay a little longer and if not just skip to the next one. That's my philosophy.

I am not fond of day tours presenting "Costa Brava" as this is a large area covering many towns, wetlands, national parks.... which can't possibly be visited not even in a full week. You're likely to be crammed on a bus most of the day and you'll hardly be able to experience much. Albeit, of course, you can also pick a single destination and go there by public transportation to spend the day, many suggestions come to mind: Vall de Núria, Girona+Besalú...

If you're still interested, please do some research here to focus on a few places and come back. I'll gladly help to create a route.

A nice video for a glimpse of Costa Brava here and also, for many more ideas, check here.

Enjoy!