Six days in Barcelona at end of trip. Suggestions for itinerary.

Hi Norma,

You can take day trips to the lovely towns of Girona and Tarragona. A short train ride from Barcelona. You also have the option to visit the Costa Brava towns near Barcelona such as Cadaques, Begur and Tamariu. These towns have great beaches and very picturesque.

https://theculturetrip.com/europe/spain/articles/the-6-most-beautiful-towns-along-the-costa-brava/

https://www.citylifebarcelona.com/exploring-catalunya-7-charming-towns-near-barcelona/

I think you would find plenty to do! Some would say you don't have enough time. Girona is a fantastic little medieval walled city. There is also a day trip option of Montserrat.

I have visited Barcelona only once – for five days – three of which were part of the RS “Best of Barcelona and Madrid” tour. I had a wonderful time – both as a tour member and as a pre-tour adventurer. It is a charming city and I long to return. During my visit, the tour took us to Sagrada Familia and the Avenue of Discord on “Gaudi Day”, Parc Guell, Picasso Museum, Barcelona Cathedral, the Catalan Art Museum and lots of wine tasting. I visited Montserrat, the north-eastern portion of Spain where the Dali Museum and home are located, and the Miro Museum, Modern Art Museum, Palace of Catalan Music, Barcelona History Museum and lots of walking on Las Ramblas on my own. That’s a lot of itinerary for five days – probably too much. When I return – which I sincerely hope to do – the only revisit I would do is the Picasso Museum – and that is because of my particular interest in the “Las Meninas” studies. Everywhere I went in Barcelona was fascinating – but I missed what may be its greatest charm – just being there. I would like to see an FC Barcelona match – good luck with the tickets.

For good reason, Barcelona is a massively popular destination. More popular than some of the locals might wish. And the popularity means there are lots of city guide books around. DK is probably the best for general purposes, but even one of the lesser books such as Lonely Planet is likely worth getting.

I don't think you've left too much time for Barcelona.

Firstly it's the major city in that part of Spain, and has great transport links for regional day-trips to, for example, Girona, Figueres or the monastery.

Secondly, Barcelona itself has a lot to see and, perhaps more usefully, has a variety of sights covering Roman, medieval, art, modern, civil war, marine, etc. Most of us would easily spend four days just in the city, I think, without getting bored.

I'm not convinced by those who say you could spend a week in Barcelona. It isn't London, Paris or Rome. And whilst some could spend several days visiting the modernisme sights, for me a couple would be sufficient. On the other hand, I'd spend a morning at Camp Nou, but others couldn't care less (or could care less as Americans say, strangely). My point, poorly made, is that Barcelona has variety. It's easy to tick off one sight and move onto something completely different. For example, I thought the fort at Castillo de Montjuich is rubbish as a castle to visit, on the other hand the cable car journey up and the views from the top are both fantastic and worth every penny You might hate the cable car, but love the fort.

But, what I'm sure we'll all agree on is the wonderful food & drink options which Barcelona is rightly famous for.

Nick, I spent ten days in Barcelona with must one day-trip (Sitges). All it takes is a great love of modernista architecture and some interest in art museums!

Most of the places I would have mentioned have already been covered, but here are three that I didn't see:

• Sant Pau Modernista Site: a really lovely multi-building complex that, as far as I know, isn't yet so mobbed with visitors that you need to tie yourself down to a timed ticket several days in advance. I spent 2 hours there and ran short on time. I think they've opened an additional building since then. I will allow 3 hours next time, just to be safe.

• Casa Vicens, a newly-opened Gaudi building which, one hopes, is also not yet mobbed.

• One of our posters has commented very favorably on a bus tour to several medieval Catalan villages. It sounds like a great way to see a bunch of places that one could never reach by public transportation in a single day. I have been to Besalu, which is very worthwhile and can be reached by bus from either Barcelona or (faster) Girona if you want to avoid the expense of a bus tour. (I hope I've linked to the right tour.)

I haven't been to Montserrat or Tarragona, but of the other obvious side-trips I would definitely rank Girona first. In fact, it's worth spending a couple of nights there. I'd recommend figuring whether you want to go to Figueres and/or Cadaques (or Besalu), because if you do, the trips will be shorter from Girona, and you could do both Figueres and Cadaques in one day by train/bus if you're early starters. I wouldn't attempt that from Barcelona, though I know at least one poster on this forum pulled it off. I figure since Girona is so worthwhile, you might as well take advantage of its position and use it as a base for a day-trip farther north.

As I alluded to above, there are a bunch of sights in Barcelona for which you really must buy tickets in advance to avoid long lines. In most cases those will be timed tickets, though there may be an opportunity to pay extra in some cases for a "wild card" ticket. Note, however, that there are quite expensive sights to begin with. The challenging ones I'm aware of are La Sagrada Familia, Parc Guell, Casa Mila/La Pedrera, Casa Batllo, Palau de la Music Catalana and the Picasso Museum. The Camp Nou Soccer (sorry, Futbol) Experience sells out far in advance, I believe. If your guidebook makes getting into those sights sound not so difficult, don't trust that information. The situation has deteriorated rapidly just since my 2015 visit.

The Dali House and Museum in Figueres and the Dali House outside Cadaques in Portlligat also need to be pre-booked.

I don't recommend the Picasso Museum for those with just a casual interest. It is often mobbed beyond belief, and Barcelona has many other good art museums that offer far more pleasant viewing environments.

Not going to enter into a discussion about "how long in Barcelona"... suffices to say that if you give me someone's interests and any number up to a month I guarantee I can draft a plan for each day without repeating one single venue. That's how many things you can do in Catalonia if you research.

Just a taste to get you started:
http://www.barcelonaturisme.com/wv3/en/
http://www.infocatalonia.eu/
http://www.timeout.com/barcelona
http://lameva.barcelona.cat/en
http://www.barcelonaesmoltmes.cat/en/inici
http://patrimoni.gencat.cat/en/discover/search

Thanks to everyone. I appreciate you taking time to share your thoughts. There is indeed much to see and do. The trouble I will have is selecting!!

I was just about to post the Barcelona Tourism site that Enric provided. One of the most efficient ways to use it is to go to the "buy tickets" link. Then you can choose by type of activity, time of day, etc.