Dali Museum Figueres from Barcelona: take a small group tour, or just get there and tour on our own

We took the train from Barcelona to Figueres and then walked to the museum. It was about a 15 minute walk with shops and restaurants along the way. It was all very easy as was touring the museum on our own. I wouldn't hesitate to do it this way, if that's your preference.

Have fun! The Dali Museum was one of our most memorable experiences in Spain!

Thank you.

It was 2006, but we just showed up and visited it on our own. I will add that my wife and I seldom take a guided tour of any site because we like to move at our pace rather than a guide’s pace. A few hours after a tour you probably won’t remember 90% of what the guide said.

Be prepared to line up for admission. Maybe you could co-ordinate the museum hours with a train schedule. As a Dali skeptic beforehand, this compact museum converted me to fandom.

I don't know the protocol here since this was my first post, but let me put a general "Thank you" out there to all future responses.

To Southern: We are planning to buy tickets online beforehand so we shouldn't have to wait, but a good suggestion in general. Thanks.

It's easy to do the trip on your own, but there are a few things it's helpful to know (based on my 2019 experience):

• From Barcelona to Figueres there are both fast and slow trains. Unless yours is a very leisurely trip, you'll probably want to take one of the fast trains.

• Fares on the fast trains vary, generally rising as you get closer to the day of travel. Look now to see what you'd pay for your possible side-trip days in April if you bought tickets today, then look at the fares for tomorrow. The difference is the penalty for not plunking your money down right now. (Check rules for changes and cancellations of train tickets.)

• The fast trains go to the Figueres-Vilafant Station, which is 0.9 miles from the museum.

• The slow trains go to the Figueres Station, which is 0.6 miles from the museum.

• There's a city bus linking the train stations that passes within a few blocks of the museum. I believe it runs along La Rambla. The bus schedule seems linked to the train schedule, but my fast train from Barcelona was late, and the bus didn't wait, so you need to have a plan in case that happens to you. There might be a taxi waiting outside the station, but the walk is essentially flat.

• The Dali Theatre-Museum gets some bus tours. I had an initial-time-slot ticket that gave me quite a bit of time to explore without many other visitors, then a French group arrived and things got quite crowded. I immediately went upstairs to see the second floor with almost no one else around. By the time I got back downstairs, the tour was gone (not having spent even half as much time in the museum as I did, and I am no fan of Surrealism). I suspect most tours hit the museum in the morning, so if it doesn't work for you to travel from Barcelona and get to the museum early in the morning, it might be worth trying an afternoon visit. (Just guessing.)

• Because of the bus tours, if for no other reason, you're smart to buy your tickets in advance. I doubt that you need to do that very early. You just don't want to arrive and find 40 folks in front of you in line or discover the next available ticket is 2 or 3 hours later.

• The DT-M ticket includes a visit to the over-the-top-fabulous jewelry collection. It's in a separate building but very nearby. It doesn't take long to see unless you try to take photos, as I did; that did not go well. Thirty minutes should allow time for plenty of drooling. I was told one can see the jewelry collection before the entry time on one's DT-M ticket.

• Figueres seems short on significant sights other than the Dali-Theatre Museum and the related jewelry collection. There are more interesting places to spend multiple hours walking around, as far as I'm concerned. One of them is Girona, but that city is worth at least a full day.

Welcome, bsilc!

My friends and I took the train from Barcelona to Figueres. We arrived there several hours before our admission time to the Dali Museum, so we decided to take go to Castell de Sant Ferran, which is about a twenty minute walk from the Museum. We really enjoyed it…it isn’t a castle but an 18th century large military fortress and was so interesting. After touring it on our own and having a quick bite to eat in the small café onsite, we walked to the Dali Museum.