My daughters (20 and 12) and I just booked very reasonable airfare to Barcelona for next June/July. We arrive early evening on a Monday and fly home Thursday of the following week in the morning (9 full days). We are looking to spend a few days exploring Barcelona and trying to figure out where else we should visit. We would prefer to travel by train rather than renting a car. Please offer any suggestions you might have as to possible destinations to include. Thank you.
Posted by
Washington DC
28090 posts
You could actually spend all that time in Barcelona (I spent 10 nights there), but right in Catalunya is a wide variety of sights that will probably entice you away for part of the time. One thing to keep in mind is that Barcelona is immensely popular, and there are a bunch of sights for which you need to buy tickets in advance in order to avoid very long ticket lines (and possibly not getting inside at all). The only thing that sells out way ahead of time is the Camp Nou Experience (a soccer thing). You don't otherwise need to worry about buying tickets now, but you need to be aware that pre-purchased (usually timed) tickets will be required, which makes it difficult to cram 5 days' worth of sights into 3 days, as so many people try to do. The best plan is to slot as many of those problem sights as possible first thing in the morning so there's no concern about when you'll finish up at the preceding sight and how long to allow for transportation between the two locations. These are the places for which you'll want to have tickets already in your hand when you arrive at the location:
La Sagrada Familia
Parc Guell (avoid mid-day due to possible hot weather)
Casa Mila/La Pedrera (always seems crowded)
Casa Batllo (they really pack 'em in)
Palau de la Musica Catalana (tour required)
Picasso Museum (quite often an utter madhouse; skip if not a fan)
Camp Nou Experience
I am not saying you should go to all of those places, just that if they interest you, they require pre-planning. Fortunately, there are other sights that are walk-right in. Among them are: Sant Pau modernista site, most likely all the art museums except the Picasso (including MNAC and Miro), Barri Gotic, the cathedral and all other churches except La Sagrada Familia, Montjuic and the Magic Fountain.
OK, what about outside Barcelona?
Girona: Beautiful historic city with medieval district, walkable wall, two cathedrals and a nice medium-sized museum. It is popular but is a nice change from Barcelona. Worth spending a few nights here not only because it's so lovely in the evening, but also because it is closer than Barcelona to Figueres, Cadaques, Besalu and other points possibly of interest.
Figueres: Dali Theatre and Museum. I believe there's also a small historic district. I haven't visited either. By train from Barcelona (or closer from Girona).
Cadaques: Gorgeous white-cube former fishing village, now very touristy. Dripping with bougainvillea. There's a Dali house a walkable distance away, in Port Lligat. Bus route from Figueres is very scenic.
Besalu: small medieval town with fortified bridge. There are other sights; check your guide book. By bus from Barcelona or Girona (closer). Return bus is just passing through and might depart early.
Montserrat: Train from Barcelona followed by a bit of mountain transportation. Easily day-trippable.
There's a bus (or van?) tour from Barcelona to several medieval towns, including Besalu. Although Besalu can be easily seen on your own, the tour would allow you to hit several small places that you could not manage via public transportation.
The Pyrenees are by all accounts lovely, but I'm not sure about covering that area without a rental car. I can tell you that the nearby Cerdanya Valley (main town: Puigcerda) has lots of interesting towns/villages but bakes in the summer.
North of the border in France, one of the top close-by destinations is Collioure. It is very picturesque coastal village but also very touristy. Accessible by train. It would be a shorter trip from Girona.
There are lots of attractive beaches, of course, but I am not a beach person.
Tarragona has some Roman ruins. By train from Barcelona.
Posted by
Pittsburgh, PA
162 posts
I agree with acraven, I would stick around Barcelona, which can easily take up 5-7 nights, and do some exploring in Catalonia as well.
Posted by
Tel Aviv
15788 posts
I agree that Barcelona has plenty to keep you busy and happy for the entire trip. But it is also nice to mix it up a little. acraven suggested Girona and Figueres. Consider spending 2-3 nights in Girona and day-tripping from there to the Dali sights or other small towns. Another option is to spend 3 nights in Valencia.
At another time of year, I might suggest Madrid/Toledo, but not in July!