Salvador Dali Museum in Figueres, Day trip

Other than the museum, there’s little else in the town, although it’s nice to walk around. When we went it was straight from the train station to the museum and back to the train station, but it rained all day. Back then (2006) there was no timed entry; you showed showed up.

Believe we spent between about 3 hours in the museum, but how long you spend will depend on how much you like his work. We probably spent 20 minutes in the main lobby area where the car is before moving on to the rest of the museum.

Three hours sounds about right to me for the museum, with the proviso that people's taste in art varies greatly. The museum ticket also covers entry to the fabulous jewelry collection exhibited nearby. That could take an additional 20-30 minutes if you're a big fan of sparkly stuff.

I agree that Figueres doesn't seem to have a lot to offer the tourist aside from the Dali Theatre-Museum. There are many dozens of more interesting places in Spain. One of them is right on the rail line between Barcelona and Figueres, Girona. If you want to see Girona, you need to buy two tickets for that direction of travel.

There are both fast and slow trains connecting Barcelona and Figueres (and Girona). The slow trains mostly take just under 2 hours each way, are cheaper, have a fixed price and do not sell out because there are no assigned seats. The fast trains take under 1 hour each, and their fares vary with demand. Their tickets are time-specific and can get quite expensive if bought at the last minute, so there's money to be saved by buying your tickets earlier. There's no reason at all to buy tickets for the slow trains before the day of travel, when your plans are solid.

You need to consider how certain you are of your plans before buying tickets on a fast train. On some of the fast trains, it's possible to spend a bit more for an "Elige" ticket, which is changeable and partially refundable. For other trains, you lose all the money you've spent on the ticket if you change your mind about the trip.

The slow trains and fast trains use different stations in Figueres. The fast trains go to a station called "Figueres Vilafant". The slow trains go to the "Figueres" station. Neither is particularly close to the Dali Theatre-Museum, but "Figueres" is closer. There's a city bus linking the two stations and passing within a few blocks of the DT-M. In my experience, it doesn't wait for a train that's delayed, so you should figure you might need to walk to the DT-M or take a taxi. Thirty minutes would be enough time for the walk from Figueres-Vilafant at a normal pace, if you don't stop along the way. The walk from the Figueres station should take less than 20 minutes. There might be a taxi or two waiting at Figueres Vilafant, but I don't think that can be guaranteed; it's not an especially busy station. I think the Figueres station is busier, and the bus station is right there, so my guess is that taxis are usually available when trains arrive.

You should have no problem whatsoever getting to the Dali Theatre-Museum in time for a 10:45 entry time if you take a train due to arrive at 9:15; you should be quite early. I was told back in 2019 that a ticketholder can enter the jewelry collection before the time shown on the DT-M ticket, so that's a way to make use of your extra time if you arrive significantly early.

From the Figueres (slower train) station, the way to the museum is marked with embedded discs in pavement.
When leaving the Figueres station be sure to validate your ticket inside the station before going to the track to board.
If applicable, there are reduced rates for some senior train tickets. I was there in 2023.