In this guide
💡 The Short Version: Take a Regional Express from Barcelona-Sants: 1 hour 9, 33 trains a weekday, €8.60 single; the last one back leaves at 22:26. The station is about 600 m from the Roman amphitheatre by the sea. The Roman sites are run by the city’s history museum: €5 a site or €15 for five, under-12s free. They are closed on Mondays and close at 14:30 on Sundays, so go Tuesday to Saturday. Or book a tour: the Tarragona and Sitges tourad (from £84.42) collects you from your hotel, includes the amphitheatre and circus, and adds the Devil’s Bridge aqueduct outside town and Sitges on the way back. On your own, the train and the five-site ticket come to €32.20 (about £27.60).
Getting there on your own
Regional Express R14, R15, R16 or R17 from Barcelona-Sants · 1 hour 9 · €8.60 single
Times are from the Rodalies de Catalunya timetable for Tuesday 6 October 2026.
| From | To Tarragona | Trains a day | First out, last back |
|---|---|---|---|
| Barcelona-Sants | 1 hour 9 | 33 | 6:03 out; 22:26 back from Tarragona |
| Passeig de Gràcia | 1 hour 16 | 33 | 5:56 out; the same trains back |
- The station is about 600 m in a straight line from the amphitheatre, and the circus about 230 m beyond it.
- Travel cards: Tarragona is far outside zone 1; buy the train ticket, €8.60 each way.
Tours from Barcelona
Prices are GetYourGuide’s lowest “from” price on 30 September 2026.
Tarragona and Sitges with hotel pick-up
From £84.42 · 4.8 stars from 575 reviews · 10 hours · up to 8 people
From Barcelona: Tarragona & Sitges Full Day Tour with Pick-upad collects you from your hotel between 8:00 and 9:00 in a minivan. It starts at the Devil’s Bridge aqueduct outside Tarragona, then walks through the Roman forum, the circus and the amphitheatre with a guide; entry to the amphitheatre and the circus is included. The afternoon is Sitges: the old town with a guide, then Sant Sebastià beach. Food and drink are extra.
Tarragona and Sitges, small group
From £84.85 · 4.6 stars from 83 reviews · 11 hours
Tarragona & Sitges Small Group Full-Day Tourad covers the same two towns.
The Roman sites
Tarragona was Tarraco, the Roman capital of a province, and its Roman sites are run by the city’s history museum, the MHT. Prices and hours from tarragona.cat, read on 30 September 2026; last entry is 30 minutes before closing.
| Ticket | Price |
|---|---|
| One site | €5 |
| Five sites: the amphitheatre, the circus and Praetorium, the Archaeological Promenade, the Forum of the Colony and Casa Canals | €15 |
| Under-12s | Free |
| 12 to 17-year-olds, students, retired people | Half price |
The amphitheatre
By the sea, about 600 m from the station · €5, or the five-site ticket
The Roman amphitheatre stands by the sea and is part of the UNESCO World Heritage listing. In 259 it was where Bishop Fructuosus and his deacons Augurius and Eulogius were executed (tarragona.cat).
The Roman amphitheatre in Tarragona, with the sea behind. Photo: Travel dreamer, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.
The circus and the Praetorium
About 230 m from the amphitheatre · €5, or the five-site ticket
The circus held the chariot races; it was built at the end of the 1st century AD, under the emperor Domitian, and the museum calls its state of preservation exceptional. The Praetorium is a Roman tower that housed the stairs from the lower town up to the provincial forum, linked to the circus by underground passages.
Remains of the Roman circus in Tarragona. Photo: Michael131977, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.
The Archaeological Promenade
Along the Roman walls · €5, or the five-site ticket
A walk alongside the Roman wall, running over the later fortifications, with a small museum space on the city.
The Devil’s Bridge
About 3.7 km north of the amphitheatre · free, open access
The Pont del Diable is a Roman aqueduct of the 1st century AD that carried water from the river Francolí to Tarraco. It stands about 3.7 km in a straight line north of the amphitheatre; the tour above starts there.
The Pont del Diable, the Roman aqueduct outside Tarragona. Photo: Dietmar Rabich, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Opening hours of the Roman sites
| Months | Tuesday to Saturday | Sundays and holidays | Mondays |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 April to 26 October | 9:00 to 20:45 | 9:00 to 14:30 | Closed |
| 27 October to 31 March | Amphitheatre, promenade and forum: 9:00 to 18:30 (Saturdays from 9:30); circus and Casa Canals: 9:00 to 20:00 (Saturdays from 9:30) | 9:30 to 14:30 | Closed |
- Closed on 24, 25, 26 and 31 December 2026.
- Morning only on the listed public holidays, among them 12 October and 8 December 2026.
Which day to go
- Tuesday to Saturday. The sites are shut on Mondays and close at 14:30 on Sundays and public holidays.
- Not Monday: Sitges’s museums close on Mondays too, so the Tarragona and Sitges day is best on another day.
Tarragona is one of several day trips from Barcelona. Sitges is on the way, 31 to 37 minutes from Sants, and the Tarragona and Sitges tour does both in a day. For the sights to book back in the city, see what to book before you go in Barcelona.
Common questions
How do I get from Barcelona to Tarragona?
By Regional Express train (lines R14 to R17) from Barcelona-Sants: 1 hour 9, 33 trains on a weekday, €8.60 single. From Passeig de Gràcia it takes 1 hour 16. The last train back leaves Tarragona at 22:26. The station is about 600 m from the amphitheatre.
How much are the Roman ruins in Tarragona?
€5 for one site or €15 for a combined ticket to five: the amphitheatre, the circus and Praetorium, the Archaeological Promenade along the Roman walls, the Forum of the Colony and Casa Canals. Under-12s go free and 12 to 17-year-olds pay half. The Devil's Bridge aqueduct is free.
When are Tarragona's Roman sites closed?
On Mondays, except some public holidays, and from 14:30 on Sundays and public holidays. They also close on 24, 25, 26 and 31 December 2026. Last entry is 30 minutes before closing.
