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itinerary questions for side trip from Barcelona

Posted by on

Hi everyone,
my husband and I are visiting Barcelona & my son, who is temporarily living there. We are going in mid-October for 11 days. We arrive mid-day on Thursday, the 13th and depart mid-day on Sunday, the 23rd.

In addition to visiting Barcelona, we would like to take our son with us on a little side trip for one or two nites away from the city. Here are the logistics that I am trying to juggle: 1. we have bought tickets for the soccer game at Camp Nuo on Wed., the 19th; 2. my son would have a difficult time taking off work on Thurs., Fri., or Saturdays; 3. I know that most museums, and similar, are closed on Mondays.

We would love to go to Girona, Cadaqués, and Figueres. If it wasn't for stuff being closed on Mondays I would think that the perfect itinerary would be: Fri., Sat., & Sun., in Barcelona, Mon., Tuesday, and Wed. morning visiting these towns, return midday on Wed.for the Game, and then stay in Barcelona for the rest of the week, except for a day trip up to Montserrat, and then leave on Sun.

But, can these 3 places be reasonably visited in that amount of time generally, and does the fact that Monday would be one of the days really make it unreasonable?

If the 3 are too much for that time frame on those days, which would be more reasonable, and over what timeframe?

Additional separate questions:

  • Is the night show at La Pedrera really worth it?

  • I am assuming that by the time we arrive in Barcelona and get settled into our accommodations, that it will be at least 3:00 in the afternoon and we might be a bit beat, but we will still want to get out and see a bit of the city. Should we consider buying tickets for the Hop On, Hop Off buses to relax and just see the city? If so, which line should we start with? Or is there a cheaper, more reasonable way to go around and get a lay of the land without paying as much, especially since we probably wouldn't be doing a lot of hopping off that day, and really only have a few hours to do this.

Any advice is greatly appreciated. Thanks.

Posted by
2447 posts

On that first afternoon you can do the walks in Rick's Barcelona guide rather than the hop-on bus, at whatever pace your energy level allows.

Posted by
27057 posts

I think you can squeeze in all three places, though you may wish for more time in lovely Girona.

The Dali house in Port Lligat outside Cadaques (a 15- to 20-minute walk) is open on your Monday. I know it's not a priority for many visitors--I haven't been there myself. Otherwise, I think Cadaques is mostly a walk-around sort of place, so I think you could visit Cadaques on Monday, and a few hours in town would be sufficient.

The Dali Theatre-Museum (whose ticket also covers the jewelry collection) is closed on Mondays, and there's not a lot of other stuff to do in Figueres. Figueres struck me as a comparatively uninteresting town aside from the Theatre-Museum. I think you don't want to go to Figueres on Monday. You won't need a lot of time there.

Girona has a lot to see outside, and the cathedral is open on Monday. I'm not sure about the Basilica of San Feliu. I believe the Museum of Jewish History is open every day of the week. Therefore, you could do some of your Girona sightseeing on Monday, but the art museum is closed that day. (If you're not big on art and don't want to go to a lot of art museums, I'd recommend MNAC and the Miro Museum in Barcelona instead.)

I'd recommend staying in Girona, a much more attractive town than Figueres. Part of the drive from Figueres to Cadaques is very scenic, but I wouldn't want to have to make that drive twice a day for 2 or 3 days in a row. Therefore, I wouldn't set up camp in Cadaques.

Posted by
3961 posts

We visited Barcelona following 2.5 weeks in Portugal, Madrid 4 nights, & Toledo day trip. Ordinarily I don’t recommend a hop on hop off tour. That said we decided to try the bus to get “the lay of the land.” It was a great introduction. We especially wanted to see the Miro Museum so we got off and enjoyed the museum and the view. Otherwise we stayed on the bus and enjoyed the city. The following day we did a couple walking tours with Runner Bean. They were both excellent. We had 4 nights in Barcelona. We didn’t do any day trips, but if we return we would go to Girona.

Posted by
124 posts

I was in Barcelona in May and thought the night tour at La Pedrera was worth it. You are in a small group, the lighting is great and the view of Sangra Familia from there is wonderful. It also gives you a different perspective of the building. You get a snack and glass of Cava at the end which is nice. You can grab a nice dinner afterwards.

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