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Spain - getting from Figueres to Cadaques

We are recently back from three weeks in Spain (thanks Rick Steves for all the great advice!) and wanted to share some information about getting from Figueres (where the Dali Museum is located) to Cadaques (location of the Dali House). You CAN get from Figueres to Cadaques very easily by bus.

Here is the bus schedule: http://compras.moventis.es/paginas/resultados_trayectos.php
For Origen choose "Figueres". Parada Origen choose "FIGUERES Estacio". Parada Desti choose "CADAQUES Estacio". There you have it, plug in a date and these are the buses you can take to Cadaques from Figueres.

We tried to buy the ticket when we were in Barcelona, at the Barcelona Nord bus station, but for some reason they said they could not sell me a ticket, or that there was no bus from Figueres to Cadaques. You want to buy your ticket in Figueres when you arrive. Assuming you came into Figueres to the Figueres train station, just walk out the front door facing the park in front of the Figueres train station. To your left, directly ahead and also along the park is the Figueres bus station. Ticket sales are inside. You cannot buy this ticket online. It is only a one hour ride, I forget exactly how much it cost but it is cheap compared to taking a taxi.

Speaking of taxis, I did not see a taxi at any time when we were in Figueres. Best to just walk the fifteen minutes to the museum from the bus station. We had no trouble getting our backpacks accepted at the Dali Museum in left luggage. And when you arrrive at the Cadaques bus station, it is an easy 20 minute walk to most locations in the town center from the bus station. Don't bother with a taxi unless you have difficulty walking.

Another small note: if your French is better than your Spanish, it seemed that French was spoken more often both in Cadaques and Figueres than Spanish, as a second language after Catalan.

Happy travels!

Posted by
2300 posts

We did this trip recently as well, but everyone should note that there are two train stations in Figueres. The fast trains stop at a station that's pretty far out of town. There are occasional buses from that station to the downtown station (maybe every two hours?), but to make our preferred bus to Cadaques we had to take a taxi (they do have them!) to the bus station. Not a major problem if you're expecting it but we weren't! Our original train was to have arrived downtown but train problems caused us to be transferred to the TGV in order to get there at all. When we got off the train we looked around and said, "Where in the - - - - are we??!" Only then did we figure out there were two stations. Another possibly helpful thing to know is that there is luggage storage at the bus station in Figueres. We left our backpack bags there rather than hiking with them to the museum.

Posted by
4088 posts

Before visiting the Dali museum in September I curled a cynical lip at Dali, especially his later years making a spectacle of himself in the US. The fun enshrined in his workplace museum relaxed my mind considerably. His enthusiastic experiments, along with a command of colour and techniques, combined to win me over. Many of his most famous images are preserved in great museums elsewhere but he was ceaselessly prolific so there's lots to see and to enjoy in context. A worthwhile side trip is a visit to his wife Gala's home in Pubol. Always his muse, she enjoyed their wealth with snazzy cars and a luscious collection of gowns from the great designers of the 1950s, http://www.salvador-dali.org/museus/castell-gala-dali-pubol/collection/
I went by car so I can't help with public transportation but however you do it I hope you have as much fun as I did.

Posted by
5 posts

Thanks, Janet! Yes the high speed trains don't go directly to Figueres center, they go to Figueres Vilafont train station which is not a walkable distance to the Figueres center. This is a good argument for taking the slower regional Media trains instead of AVE, since the Figueres central train station is a walkable distance both to the bus terminal and the Dali Museum.

Another benefit of taking the slow train is that there is a nice cafe just outside the station where you can have desayunos or crepes, a cafe con leche and take a breather before heading to the Dali Museum.