dali

While you can easily visit the Dali Theatre in Figueres by train, you really need a car to visit his house in Port Lligat. Both can easily be done in one long day by car. You MUST make advanced reservations for the house and the tickets sell out quickly (plus if doing this a one day trip, your visit needs to be late afternoon). So be sure to book a couple weeks in advance for that. Another tip, make the drive to Cap d'Creus when you visit Cadaques and Port Lligat. The natural rock landscape is phenomenal and was highly inspirational to Dali's work.

We visited both the museum in Figueres and the house/studio in Port Llegat in one day this past November, renting a car in Girona (not Barcelona) and doing the driving. We had reserved our time for the house tour for the last available time of the day, so we had to watch the clock while visiting the museum to ensure that we left in time to make the drive to Port Llegat (picking up sandwiches on the way for lunch in the car). We could've spent more time at the excellent museum, and did a really fast walk thru the Dali Jewels exhibit before leaving for Port Llegat, but we were on a tight schedule. As it was dark shortly after we left the house tour (5PM in November), we spent the night in Roses (Hotel Mas Palou) rather than driving back to Girona that night. We turned in the car the next morning at the Girona train station and took the train to Barcelona for the next leg of our trip. Your timing may be different for you. Enjoy!

Getting the car in Girona is a great idea if you are just renting a car for this. You avoid all of the Barcelona congestion and the expensive tolls. Plus Girona is a nice city. If possible, I would recommend doing this as an overnight, staying in Cadaques (a far more quaint village than Roses). That would also give you a chance to explore Girona some too on your way back. Know too that Spain requires an international drivers permit and driving in Catalonia is very easy - roads well marked (get the GPS though) and drivers courteous. I've been to both museums and while not a Dali fan per se, I found them both pretty cool, especially the house. There is a convenient parking garage right next to the Dali Museum in Figueres.

Thanks for the wonderful advice. I think we will rent the car and do the overnight, but how do I obtain international driving permit?

"how do I obtain international driving permit?"

You go to AAA (you do not need to be a member). If you bring your own photos, it's cheaper; if you don't bring them, they can take them for you. It's good for a year, but you can determine when it starts, so it need not be 1/1 through 12/31.

Note that it is a translation of your license, but does not replace it; you need to carry both the IDP and your Florida license.

We did both the museum and house by train and car. We trained from Barcelona Sants to Girona and stayed over one night because we wanted to see a flower festival. Even without the festival it's a charming walking town. Then we took 1/2 hour train to Figueres where when you get out of the train station there is a public bus waiting and a few stops and your a 2 minute walk to the museum. After we caught a 3pm bus to Cadiques. We could only get a 5 pm house entry time but if you can get an earlier morning time you could take an earlier bus to Cadiques. We stayed over because with a5pm appt it would be too tight to do the 6pm bus back. Having done both in one day Next time I would break it up into 2 days as it's a lot of art and wildness to take in one helping. I would have done the Dali Jewels and Art Museum in one day and the next morning do the house. Cadiques is a charming fishing village and a lovely place to spend the night. As far as driving its a tight mountain road and while beautiful I don't think I would want to make the drive. It's narrow with twists and turns. Coming back the return ride was hairy with some drivers freaking out, large trucks and tight fits. Exciting for some but could be stressful for others. By the way you could stay on train past Girona right to Figueres. We also love the Tampa museum but the Figueres is amazing and it's fun to see the room Dali painted in and how he lived.

Some follow-up details: if you don't ever get stopped by the policia in Spain, then no one will ever wind up seeing your International Driver's Permit, but if for some reason a cop wanted to see it and you didn't have one, you'll wish you did. For $20, it's better to get it and not need it than the other way 'round.

The parking garage next to the Dali museum in Figueres was handy, but when walking out of it, go around the left side of the Dali museum to get to the entrance, as the right side is the loooong way, and takes you past the entrance to the Dali Jewels door but not the main ticket window/museum entrance. A woman was walking around in the garage & kept trying to sell us a discounted monthly parking pass, even though we made it clear we were not in the market for one. I made sure the car was locked & left nothing showing in the front or back seats.

The drive to the House was fun, and we even saw two bicyclists in full kit pedaling up the twisty, hilly roads. Driving regularly in the mountains in Colorado, we were used to that kind of road, but someone from a flatter place might find it more challenging. Other than the bikes and a couple of other cars, we had the road to ourselves in November, however, and in September there might be tour buses and more traffic that could make the drive hairier. We wound up driving past many empty parking lots before we got to the bottom of the hill for the final (empty) parking lot, but, again, you may have a different experience in September.

We didn't actually go into Roses town, but stayed at the Mas Palou about a mile to the north, because we'd heard such good things about their restaurant. Unfortunately, to our surprise the restaurant wound up being closed for dinner in the off-season, but the B&B was still very nice, with a great price for the room in November. Cadaques looked worth exploring, if we'd had more time.