Barcelona guide
Beyond Barcelona
Montserrat (the one to do)
A Benedictine monastery wedged into a mountain of serrated rock an hour outside the city. Take the FGC R5 from Placa Espanya, direction Manresa. Two stops serve the mountain and two ways up: Montserrat-Aeri for the cable car (every 15 minutes, dramatic, not for anyone uneasy with heights) and Monistrol de Montserrat for the rack railway (about 15 minutes, and the accessible option). Both cost 15 euro return. Allow about 90 minutes door to door.
What to see: the basilica, open 07:00-20:00, and La Moreneta, the twelfth-century Black Madonna and patron saint of Catalonia, enthroned above the high altar. Note her viewing hours - 08:00-10:30 and 12:00-18:25 - because the gap in the middle of the morning catches out a great many day-trippers. The Museum of Montserrat is 12 euro.
The boys' choir is the thing to plan around. L'Escolania, one of the oldest in Europe, sings Monday to Friday at 13:00, Monday to Thursday at 18:45, and Sundays at 12:00 and 18:45. It does not sing on Saturdays - which is exactly when most people take this trip. The choir also takes holidays and has non-singing days scattered through the year, so check escolania.cat the week you travel.
For walkers, the Sant Joan funicular (17.50 euro return) opens the high trails; Sant Jeroni, the summit, is about two hours round from the top station. A combined Tot Montserrat ticket at 71.50 euro covers metro, train, ascent, funiculars, museum and a buffet lunch - worth it only if you will use all of it.
Our founder's pick. Prices and times checked September 2026.
Girona
Half an hour by high-speed train from Barcelona Sants, from about 9 euro booked ahead. The cathedral has the widest Gothic vault in the world at 23 metres, and its Baroque staircase is the one that stood in for the Great Sept in Game of Thrones. Cathedral plus Sant Feliu basilica is 7.50 euro with an audioguide. El Call, the Jewish quarter, is among the best-preserved anywhere.
Sitges
Forty minutes on the Rodalies R2 Sud, about 4 euro - and usefully, the same line runs direct from the airport in about 35 minutes. Seventeen beaches, a handsome old town, and the seventeenth-century church of Sant Bartomeu i Santa Tecla on its rock between the two main beaches, which is the photograph everyone takes. A major LGBTQ+ destination, with a big February Carnival and an October film festival.
Tarragona
Roman Tarraco, UNESCO-listed, with an amphitheatre built into the hillside above the sea. Take the Rodalies R16 regional train, about an hour, a few euros, and it arrives in the city centre. Do not take the high-speed train: Camp de Tarragona station is 11 km outside town and the time you save is spent getting in. A single site is 5 euro; a combined ticket to five, including the amphitheatre, is 15 euro.
Penedes cava country
Rodalies R4 to Sant Sadurni d'Anoia, about an hour, roughly 6-8 euro, and both big cellars are walkable or a short taxi from the station - one of the few wine regions you can do properly without a car. Freixenet runs a 90-minute tour at 21.50 euro including two cavas. Codorniu costs 30 euro for 1h30, and is the more impressive visit: a Modernista complex by Puig i Cadafalch, underground cellars, a little train through the tunnels, and three prestige cavas paired with chocolate. Both need booking ahead; neither takes walk-ins.
Costa Brava
Tossa de Mar is the practical choice - about 1h20 by bus from Estacio del Nord, with its Vila Vella, the only surviving fortified medieval town on this coast, running down to the beach. Cadaques is lovelier and a poor day trip: 2h45 each way on only four buses a day. Give it a night, and pair it with Dali's house at Portlligat.
Prices and times checked September 2026. Confirm with official sites before you travel.
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