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Tour from Dali Museum to Cadaques and back?

Not sure if this is a pipe dream, but I am planning out five days in Barcelona at the end of June, and was wondering if this is possible (note I will not have a car, and don't want one):

We take train to the Dali Museum, explore it on our own, then get picked up by a tour guide and driven to Cadaques, shown around Cadaques, and taken back to the train station? If it makes sense, any ideas?

I was roughing out my five days this way, based on the 2+ day itinerary in Rick Steves' book:

Day 1 - we arrive very early. Thinking about seeing one sight in morning and a half day tour in the afternoon, maybe with a brief hotel rest between if we can get into our room

Day 2 -- see what we didn't see on day 1 of Modernisme and Old Town, including Sagrada Familia, and take their tour (as opposed to a third party tour) and Picasso museum

Day 3 — Montjuic and barceloneta

Day 4 — tour to Dali and Cadaques, per the start of my post

Day 5 — train to Girona, explore

Posted by
76 posts

We did a full day trip with a tour company called Spanish Trails back in 2014 (hopefully they're still in business!) Their "Surreal Cadaques & All Things Dali" tour was fabulous! The tour was limited to eight people which we loved. They took us to Figueres, Dali's birthplace and home of his Dali Museum; then to Cadaques, an artsy, white-washed town where Dali spent most of his adult life; then to Portlligat, where the Casa Museu Dali (Dali's house and art studio) is located; finally to beautiful Cap de Creus overlooking the Mediterranean before heading back to Barcelona.

Back then this tour cost 115 euros, which included all museum tickets, a wonderful restaurant lunch, a comfortable touring van and an English-speaking guide. The tour company was very professional and easy to deal with and our guide was a lot of fun. It was totally worth it and is one of my favorite travel memories ever.

You may know that it's the 50th anniversary of Picasso's death this year. There are sure to be lots of special Picasso-oriented exhibits and events.

Posted by
28082 posts

I haven't taken a tour in that area, and I visited Figueres (while staying in Figueres) and Cadaques (while staying in Girona) on two separate trips to Spain. However, you should be able to combine the two via public transportation if necessary.

There are both fast trains (to Figueres Vilafant Station) and slower trains (to Figueres station). The Dali Museum is located between the stations, quite a bit closer to the latter. A city bus runs between the stations and within a few blocks of the museum. It seems to be timed to the trains at Figueres Vilafant, but in my one experience, the bus didn't wait when the train was late, so it was necessary to walk about a mile or hope there was a cab waiting when you exited the station, or plan to call one. While a tour bus would remove that uncertainty, note that a bus would be a lot slower than a fast train in covering the ground between Barcelona and Figueres (and that difference would exist on the return trip, too. The fast trains take 55-57 minutes (tickets cheaper if purchased early); the slow trains, at least 105 minutes. ViaMichelin.com estimates the time by private car at 99 minutes, and loading a tour van would add extra time.

There are buses from the Figueres station to Cadaques; the route is scenic (and curvy). The bus station is higher than water level, so it's a downhill walk upon arrival and an uphill walk when you head back.

In case you are also interested in the Dali house in Port Lligat: I saw a sign pointing the way from the port at Cadaques; I believe it estimated 20 minutes. It's reportedly a bit shorter walk from/to the bus station.

Other bits of info that might be helpful:

  • The Dali house in Port Lligat has limited capacity and sells out. The ticket must be purchased in advance.

  • The Dali Theatre-Museum in Figueres is popular but isn't as difficult, ticket-wise; however, there can be a ticket line, and individual time slots definitely do sell out in advance--inconvenient when you've got a busy schedule on a day trip. Therefore, you'd be very, very smart to get this ticket a a few days ahead. (In May 2019 I bought mine the day before, but tourism levels in June 2023 may well be higher.)

  • A French bus tour arrived at the Dali Theatre-Museum 20 or 30 minutes after I did. They left long before I did, and I am not a fan of surrealist art. Do you want a tour operator to decide how much time you spend at the museum? It's not like you can just walk back to it from your Barcelona hotel the next day. I am very doubtful about using a bus tour to combine two or three Dali sites if they are really important to you. On the other hand, if you really want to include the house in Port Lligat, a bus tour would simplify the logistics considerably.

  • The ticket to the Theatre-Museum in Figueres includes the Dali jewelry collection, located nearby. It is fabulous. It's doubtful a tour will allow time for you to see it. It might take about 30 minutes or so.

  • Cadaques is a very attractive (though now touristy) former fishing village. Figueres, by comparison, is short on charm; you needn't plan to spend much time there beyond what you need for the museum and jewelry collection.

My recommendation: Spend 2 or 3 of your nights in Girona, which is much closer than Barcelona is to Figueres and Cadaques. In addition to reducing travel time, it will save you a bit of money on transportation since you will make two rather than four trips back and forth between Barcelona and Girona. Girona is a very pleasant place to wander in the evening after your hard-core sightseeing is over. You can easily press on to Girona on your arrival day, when you may not be in great shape to tackle heavy-duty sightseeing. (I wouldn't pre-pay for a tour in Barcelona that day in any case.)

I think you need more time for what you plan to see. Five nights with 3 side trips is shortchanging Barcelona.

Posted by
28082 posts

Continuing since I ran out of space before pointing out that there are a bunch of highly popular sights in Barcelona for which you must buy date/time-specific tickets in advance. If you do not do that, you will face extremely long, time-wasting ticket lines and may find, when you eventually reach the ticket counter, that all that day's tickets have been sold. It is impossible for a first-time visitor to estimate accurately how much time to allow at an individual sight, then there's also the challenge of getting to the next sight. And how much time do you allow for lunch? These issues make it impossible to craft a maximally efficient sightseeing schedule. You'll either need to pad the schedule every step of the way (and you don't have time to do that), or you'll have to rush through the occasional sight or leave before having seen it fully.

These are the sights you'll need to prebook if you want to see them:

La Sagrada Familia
Parc Guell
Casa Mila/La Pedrera
Casa Batllo
Picasso Museum
Palau de la Musica Catalana (English tour--I think required--can sell out)

All except the last will be crowded. If you want to take photos, the crowding will really slow you down. Assuming they're still requiring a tour at the Palau curing peak season, it will beeasier to estimate your time there. Check on the length of the tour and add just a bit of time.

There are of course many other sights in Barcelona; I've just listed the ones at which you definitely should not arrive without a ticket.

Posted by
196 posts

@Jean, this tour still exists. Thank you!

EDIT: this company looks amazing! I'm having trouble narrowing down the ones I want. Thank you!

Posted by
196 posts

@acraven -- thank you for your detailed advice! This is a pretty strenuous trip -- we are moving on to the French Riviera, Avignon, and Paris, each involving a hotel change, and I really don't want to change hotels in Spain. That said, I don't think this is three day trips? I am looking for a tour to combine both Dali and Cadaques together. I know that Girona is on the way, but if there is a 40 minute train, I don't think it is too bad?

I am very aware of the ticket situation; I am the kind of person who checks out when they go on sale and then flags it in my phone. Sagrada is already in my calendar for that purpose. I'm just trying to narrow down my plan. I do find that the timed tickets are great for avoiding lines but bad for dealing with the little travel inconveniences that pop up, but I do my best!

Posted by
28082 posts

I was counting Figueres/Cadaques, Girona and Montserrat as three trips away from Barcelona when you are only spending five nights there. For myself, I don't count the arrival day after an overnight flight at all, but I know some lucky folks are able to get value out of that first day.

Posted by
605 posts

Day 4 — tour to Dali and Cadaques, per the start of my post Day 5 — train to Girona, explore

Girona is on the way to Figueres (Dali Museum), so not sure why you would train to Figureres, then train back to Barcelona and then train to Girona the next day. (and I assume train back to Barcelona that late afternoon or evening)

There's probably a bus tour from Barcelona that will visit Girona and Figueres (the Dali Museum) in one day

Public transportation to Cadaquez is spotty at best. Hiring a private driver might work, but will you have enough time? From Figureres, it's a least an hour drive on windy roads to Cadaquez, so an hour drive back to Figureres train station. Your head will be spinning from the road trip. You'll have to time this carefully as the Dali house in Port Lligat requires advance tickets and sells out daily. the house is closed on Mondays.

Last year, When I was planning a visit to Cadaquez and Figueres, I had the same issues. We solved it by renting a car at Barcelona airport and going to Cadaquez first, and staying several nights. It's mainly highway (autopiste) driving and then the windy road over the hill down to the sea and Cadaquez.

We stayed at the Hotel Playa sol.
The windy road made us tired, so we were glad to just have the rest of the late afternoon to rest and had a wonderful dinner at a local Michelin restaurant- "Compartir". Reservations required.
Next morning. We drove 15 minutes to Port Lligat (could have walked it in 30-40 minutes) and visited the Dali house. Tickets were sold out and people were turned away. (we bought timed tickets in advance- so timing is important)
Next day, we did the windy road back to Figureres and visited the Dali Museum for several hours and then back to Cadaquez.
Not sure I would do that again.
Anyway, last day, we drove to Girona, spent the day visiting. then drove back to Barcelona airport to return the car and then took the AeroBus to Placa Catalunya and walked to our hotel. I would never drive in Barcelona.

Let us know what you ended up doing.