In this guide
💡 The Short Version: Montserrat is an FGC train from Plaça Espanya and a rack railway or cable car, about 1½ hours each way, and here a coach tour costs little more than the train. Girona is 1 hour 19 on the R11 from Sants and Figueres, for the Dalí Theatre-Museum, 1 hour 50; the museum is closed on Mondays except in July and August. Sitges is 31 to 37 minutes on the R2 Sud and Tarragona, the Roman capital, 1 hour 9; both are best by train. Andorra has no railway and is a 12-hour coach day. Or book a tour: a coach tour puts the transport and the stops in one booking, from £33.43 for Montserrat to £60.73 for Andorra (GetYourGuide, 30 September 2026), and on a three-stop day such as Girona, Figueres and Cadaquésad (from £50.27) it saves you the day’s connections.
The day trips compared
Train times and fares are for a weekday in October 2026, from the Rodalies de Catalunya timetable; tour prices are GetYourGuide’s lowest “from” price on 30 September 2026.
| Trip | Train from Barcelona | Single fare | Closed | Tour from | What decides it |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Montserrat | About 1 hour 30, FGC R5 + rack railway or cable car | €15.90 train + rack railway (€28.80 return) | Basilica open daily | £33.43 | Visitors who do not live in the EU need a tourist ticket for the basilica and the Black Virgin. |
| Girona and Figueres | Girona 1 hour 19; Figueres 1 hour 50 (R11 from Sants) | €12 Girona; €17.10 Figueres | Dalí Theatre-Museum: Mondays, except July and August | £50.27 | Never a Monday outside summer. Cadaqués, the third stop on many tours, has no railway. |
| Sitges | 31 to 37 minutes (R2 Sud from Sants) | €5.50 | — | £84.42 with Tarragona | 71 trains a day; the easiest trip on this page. |
| Tarragona | 1 hour 9 (R14 to R17 from Sants) | €8.60 | — | £84.42 with Sitges | 33 trains a day, the last back at 22:26. |
| The Costa Brava | Blanes 1 hour 22 (R1 from Plaça de Catalunya) | — | — | £48.85 (May to September); £88.71 all year | The railway ends at Blanes; Tossa de Mar and the coves further north are by road or boat. |
| Penedès cava country | 54 minutes to Sant Sadurní d’Anoia (R4 from Sants) | €5.50 | — | £63.16 | Book a cellar visit before you go. |
| Andorra | No railway | — | — | £60.73 | A 12-hour day, most of it on the road. Take your passport. |
When a tour is worth it
Two trips are hard to do without a tour:
- Girona, Figueres and Cadaqués: Cadaqués, the fishing village where Dalí lived, has no station, and the Dalí foundation warns that reaching his house there by public transport may take an entire day. The three-stop day tripad (from £50.27, 4.7 stars from 2,344 reviews, 11 hours) covers Girona, Figueres and Cadaqués. It runs on 12 to 19 days a month.
- Andorra: there is no train. The guided day trip to Andorra, France and Spainad (from £60.73, 4.6 stars from 2,921 reviews, 12 hours) carries GetYourGuide’s best-seller badge.
Montserrat is the exception where a tour costs little more than the train: the Montserrat tour with the cogwheel train, the Black Madonna and a wineryad is from £33.43, against €28.80 (about £24.68 at the ECB rate of 29 September 2026) for the combined FGC train and rack-railway return. For Sitges, Tarragona and the cava towns, the train is simple, and a tour adds convenience, not access.
The trips
Montserrat
Basilica 7:00–20:00 daily · FGC R5 from Plaça Espanya, then rack railway or cable car, about 1 hour 30 · tour from £33.43
The Benedictine monastery sits on a shelf of the Montserrat massif, with the Black Virgin, La Moreneta, in her chapel in the basilica. Visitors who do not live in Catalonia, the rest of Spain or the EU need the tourist ticket for the atrium, the basilica and the Black Virgin’s chapel, bookable a month ahead; the Black Virgin’s chapel is open 8:00 to 10:30 and 12:00 to 18:25 (montserratvisita.com, 29 September 2026). The boys’ choir, the Escolania, sings at 13:00 Monday to Friday, but not from late June to the end of August, after Christmas or in Holy Week. Change from the FGC train at Monistrol de Montserrat for the rack railway (€15 return) or at Montserrat-Aeri for the cable car (€15 return). The Montserrat day trip guide has the trains, the tickets and the tours.
The monastery of Montserrat. Photo: Imaginepascal, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Girona and Figueres
Dalí Theatre-Museum from €18.50, closed Mondays except July and August · R11 from Sants: Girona 1 hour 19, Figueres 1 hour 50 · tour from £50.27
Girona’s old town, with its cathedral and Jewish quarter, is on the river Onyar. Figueres, about half an hour further up the line, has the Dalí Theatre-Museum, built by Dalí on the ruins of the town’s old theatre; allow 1½ to 2 hours for it (salvador-dali.org, 29 September 2026). The museum has no audio guide, and rucksacks, pushchairs and anything bigger than 35 × 35 × 25 cm stay outside. The faster regional trains cost €12 to Girona and €17.10 to Figueres, one way; the last one back leaves Figueres at 20:46 and Girona at 21:19. The small-group Girona and Dalí Museum day tripad (from £55.93, 4.7 stars from 2,165 reviews) includes the museum entry and a walk through Girona’s Jewish quarter. The Girona and Figueres day trip guide has the timetable, the museum’s rules and every tour.
Houses on the Onyar, Girona. Photo: Richard Mortel, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0.
Sitges
R2 Sud from Sants or Passeig de Gràcia · 31 to 37 minutes from Sants · €5.50 single
A seaside town of beaches and a small old centre, south-west of Barcelona along the coast. It is the simplest trip on this page: 71 trains a day from Sants, the first at 5:45 and the last just after midnight; from Passeig de Gràcia it takes 38 to 44 minutes. No tour on GetYourGuide covers Sitges alone; the Tarragona and Sitges day tourad (from £84.42, 4.8 stars from 575 reviews, 10 hours, with hotel pick-up) pairs it with Tarragona. The Sitges day trip guide has the timetable, the museums and the film festival dates.
Sant Bartomeu i Santa Tecla, Sitges. Photo: Pere López Brosa, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Tarragona
R14, R15, R16 or R17 from Sants · 1 hour 9 · €8.60 single
Tarragona was Tarraco, the capital of a Roman province, and its Roman remains, including the amphitheatre above the beach, are a UNESCO World Heritage Site. All 33 weekday trains from Sants to Tarragona take 1 hour 9; from Passeig de Gràcia, 1 hour 16. The first leaves Sants at 6:03 and the last train back leaves Tarragona at 22:26. The same Tarragona and Sitges tour is the one-booking alternative. The Roman sites are €5 each or €15 for five, and close on Mondays; the Tarragona day trip guide has the hours and the trains.
The Roman amphitheatre, Tarragona. Photo: Rafa Esteve, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.
The Costa Brava
R1 from Plaça de Catalunya to Blanes, 1 hour 22, every 30 minutes · tours from £48.85 (May to September) or £88.71 (all year)
The Costa Brava is the rocky coast north of Blanes, with coves and walled Tossa de Mar. The train goes as far as Blanes; beyond it the coast is by road or boat, which is why most visitors take a tour. The Costa Brava day tour with a boat tripad (from £48.85, 4.8 stars from 1,525 reviews, 9 hours) visits Lloret de Mar and Tossa de Mar, and runs from May to September. Out of season, the Costa Brava tour with lunchad (from £88.71, 4.8 stars from 1,223 reviews, 10 hours) runs all year, with the cliff-top botanical gardens and lunch in a local restaurant. The Costa Brava day trip guide has the train to Blanes, every tour’s season and what to see in Tossa, Lloret and Blanes.
Penedès cava country
R4 from Sants to Sant Sadurní d’Anoia, 54 minutes · €5.50 single · 35 trains a day
Sant Sadurní d’Anoia is the home of the Codorníu and Freixenet cava houses (cava is Spain’s traditional-method sparkling wine). Both run cellar tours: Freixenet’sad is from £18.43 (4.6 stars from 106 reviews, 1½ hours) and Codorníu’s, with tastingsad, from £25.71 (4.7 stars from 204 reviews). For smaller producers, the Penedès vineyards tour by 4WDad (from £63.16, 4.8 stars from 897 reviews, 6 hours) visits two family wineries, with three wines and four cavas to taste.
Andorra
No railway · tours 12 hours, from £60.73 · passport needed
Andorra is a small state in the Pyrenees between Spain and France, outside the EU and the Schengen area. You reach it through Spain or France, so you must meet the Schengen entry rules, and GOV.UK warns that customs officers on the way back may impound tobacco over the personal allowance (gov.uk, 30 September 2026). The tours spend most of the day on the road: the three-countries day tourad (from £66.30, 4.6 stars from 3,036 reviews, 12 hours) stops at the medieval town of Bagà and a French village for lunch as well as Andorra. The Andorra day trip guide compares the tours with the direct bus from Sants, which takes about 3 hours each way, and has the passport and customs rules.
Two trips in one day
- Montserrat, Girona and the Costa Brava: the combined guided day tripad is from £56.56 (4.8 stars from 1,963 reviews, 11½ hours).
- Tarragona and Sitges: the full-day tour with hotel pick-upad is from £84.42 (4.8 stars from 575 reviews, 10 hours).
Before you pick a date, check best time to visit Barcelona for the weather and holidays, and what to book before you go in Barcelona for the bookings that sell out. The Picasso Museum in the city is also closed on Mondays, which makes Monday a good day for Montserrat. It is a bad day for Figueres outside summer, for Tarragona’s Roman sites and for the Sitges museums, which all close on Mondays.
Common questions
What is the best day trip from Barcelona?
Montserrat: the mountain monastery with the Black Virgin, about an hour and a half away by FGC train from Plaça Espanya and a rack railway or cable car. It is also the one trip where a coach tour costs little more than going alone: tours start at £33.43 against €28.80 (about £24.68) for the combined train and rack-railway return.
Can you visit Girona and the Dalí Museum in one day from Barcelona?
Yes. Both are on the R11 line from Sants: Girona is 1 hour 19 on the faster regional trains and Figueres 1 hour 50. The Dalí Theatre-Museum in Figueres closes on Mondays except in July and August, so never plan it for a Monday outside summer.
Which day trips from Barcelona are easy by train?
Sitges (31 to 37 minutes on the R2 Sud, €5.50), Tarragona (1 hour 9, €8.60), the cava town of Sant Sadurní d'Anoia (54 minutes on the R4, €5.50), Girona and Figueres on the R11, and Montserrat by FGC train and rack railway. Andorra has no train, and the Costa Brava beyond Blanes needs a road.
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