Will be in Madrid and then heading out of Barcelona. Thinking to spend last night in Tarragona or Zaragoza then take morning train into Barcelona Sants station, and then to Prat airport. We have been to Barcelona several times, and feel it has some stressful factors, so would rather try a new place. It seems Renfe has frequent trains either way. And in case of a train strike, buses might be an option.
Posted by
northern CA
2766 posts
What time of year?
Do you prefer seaside or plains?
Z is dry when it isn't raining; T is hot when it isn't cold.
Posted by
Denver, CO USA
492 posts
We spent 3 days in Zaragoza.
Firefighters museum is good, origami museum is great. The Aljafería is excellent.
Food is very good to fabulous (except for Taco Bell my lovely wife insisted on patronizing).
Really enjoyed. Recommended.
New place?
Take the R2sud for 28 minutes to Sitges—a great beach town.
Very good dining.
Relaxing beaches.
We loved it.
Posted by
OP
Los Angeles, CA
700 posts
Thanks. I live near the beach in the US, so just seeing a beach is not that much novelty for me. I like to see great architecture, historical places, photogenic scenes with castles, stone bridges, quaint street scenes, great local food, local music, etc. Just hanging out in calm place is not super attractive.
Posted by
Australia
1072 posts
Both of these are amongst our favourite towns in Spain. We have been to a Tarragona twice and Zaragoza once. We had a nicer meal in Zaragoza and found it more walkable than Tarragona, but if you like Roman ruins then Tarragona is superior to Zaragoza.
Just note that Tarragona has both slow trains to Barcelona that depart from a station right next to town and high speed trains that depart from Camp Tarragona station which is about a 15 minute taxi ride away from town. Don't go to the wrong station.
Posted by
Barcelona + Sweden
4180 posts
Can't go wrong with either, Zaragoza is about 6-times larger than Tarragona though, so maybe just for 1 night go with Tarragona, especially if you have to catch a plane the next morning in Barcelona.
Posted by
OP
Los Angeles, CA
700 posts
Thanks - especially for the info about multiple stations in Tarragona.
I guess Zaragosa is famous for the history of three religions. Taraggona is more of a quiet beach town?
Are there any other great cities between Madrid and Barcelona via train?
Posted by
northern CA
2766 posts
Hey -- if you have an interest in religious history there's oodles of it in T --
an early xtian cemetery has been being slowly dug up for decades and there is a great mini-museum on the site now;
the Apostle Paul had several hair-raising mythical adventures in town and off the coast, and several important Talmudic scholars held real conferences in the area during periods when Jews were not being murdered.
There's also cool French empire remnants, too.
Posted by
Barcelona (Catalonia)
3071 posts
No, Tarragona isn't "more of a quiet beach town", LOL!.... it's the seventh city in Catalonia, with over 150,000 souls living there.
When would you be spending that night there? In Sept, from 13th to the 24th, the Festa Major de Santa Tecla -the biggest heritage celebration of the year- is celebrated: https://www.tarragona.cat/cultura/festes-i-cultura-popular/santa-tecla
Aside from this, it is worth mentioning that Tarragona has an extensive number of historical sites due to its past as the capital city of one of the most important provinces of the Roman Empire: https://historia.nationalgeographic.com.es/a/tarraco-tarragona-ciudad-roma-hispania_19268. For those able to visit the city in May, there's another big festival celebrating the past of this city devoted to everything Roman: https://tarracoviva.com/ which includes reenactments, cultural shows, culinary displays of ancient Roman cuisine...
Regarding trains, indeed there are plenty as the journey to Barcelona is sort of a commuting type of journey -I myself spent nearly two years commuting almost daily from Barcelona to Tarragona for a work project. You have the option to take a taxi from the city centre to the high-speed train station -located a few kilometres outside the city- or take a regular train (either "Regional" or "Regional Express") from the centre of Tarragona. The latter, despite being slower (some will make a few stops to Barcelona, others will stop in many more stations), it's a pleasant trip since trains are comfortable and have A/C.
Posted by
OP
Los Angeles, CA
700 posts
Thanks. I did not know about the Roman re-enactment. I have seen they have those in Rome and Northern Europe. There is a group called Legio XXI Rapix (21st Rapacious Legion) that does re-enactments. Sadly we might be there more beginning or end of October.
Are there are other places to stay on the way from Madrid to Barcelona that have a lot of character, good food, or good historical sites?