Has anyone used Sitges as a base to visit Barcelona via train? Did you like it?
Last year we did something similar w/ Amsterdam using Haarlem as the base and we liked it. We like having access to the city but wake up and come home to somewhere more relaxed.
This would be during the week between Xmas and New Years. Plan would be to stay in Sitges for maybe 2 days and the rest going into Barcelona.
While Harleem is a striving small city from which people regularly commute, Sitges is, for the most part, a beach resort town. There is a smaller permanent population, but I'd expect it to feel semi-abandoned in the winter.
We were in Barcelona for 5-6 nights in June of 2017 and went to Sitges as a day trip. Even in June, the town wasn't very busy. I agree with Scudder that this beach town might feel a shut down. Perhaps you can find an article online about the holidays there.
Another idea is Girona for a couple nights instead. It is a smaller town, although not small like Sitges.
The two situations aren't equivalent. Haarlem is 15-18 minutes from Amsterdam. Sitges is 35-40 minutes from Barcelona Sants.
The December temperatures in Sitges are 41 F to 60 F. (Google) I would expect many hotels and businesses to be closed for the season. It might be quite a dead place to be sleeping. I don't agree with staying in Haarlem. I want to hit the ground running after breakfast, which I am happy to have in my hotel.
I haven't been there since 1988, but I remember that the city water in SItges seemed either saline or softenened. It was hard to wash soap off in the shower, and it felt slimy. I wonder if their aquifer is invaded by sea water?
Castelldefels is closer to Barcelona than Sitges. It’s a beachside town just 30 minutes away and a train ride on the Rodalies Sud commuter train into Barcelona will cost you only about €6.
While Harleem is a striving small city from which people regularly
commute, Sitges is, for the most part, a beach resort town. There is a
smaller permanent population, but I'd expect it to feel semi-abandoned
in the winter.
Sitges and Sant Pere de Ribes -adjacent to the first and forming a de-facto joint urban nucleus - have a "permanent" population of 62,000... just sayin' 😉
a "permanent" population of 62,000... just sayin'
I never know what "just sayin'" is supposed to mean, but since that population is about a quarter of Haarlem's I suppose it's meant to be affirming of my earlier statement.
@Scudder it meant to say that if you feel 62,000 permanent residents equates to "semi-abandoned" for you, well, keep in mind many tourists come from far smaller places. I mentioned the figure just to give them a sense of perspective. But again, your point of view is, of course, as good as mine or anybody else's.
Enric- I live in a town of 900 people (no zeros missing), and I've been to Stiges in the winter (6 years ago, granted). From a tourist's perspective, it felt semi-abandoned.
We could debate finer points, but I stand by my advice that Sitges probably isn't a great base for visiting Barcelona—especially in the winter. But glad to hear relevant counterarguments that go beyond population data.
