Where to visit near Barcelona in Catalonia

These are ideas for lucky people. Lucky because they travel to Barcelona and they can also spend a few days visiting other destinations in Catalonia, discovering its added attractions. Are you one of them? Then take note and make the most of your holidays by taking one of these day trips.

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Montserrat Mountain and Monastery

Minimum recommended duration: one day.Distance from Barcelona: About 60 kilometres.How to get there: By car along the A2 motorway, a journey of approximately one hour. There’s also a train service from Plaça Espanya station in Barcelona. To get to the monastery from Montserrat, we recommend either the cogwheel railway or the cable car to get the most out of the spectacular views to the max.What you’ll see: a Nature Reserve boasting extraordinary beauty. You’ll be especially surprised by the unique shapes of the mountains and the massifs that shape it. It’s also home to one of the best-known pilgrimage sites in Catalonia, the Monastery of Montserrat.Remember: There are different options for visiting the Natural Park and the monastery with services such as guided tours, the inclusion of the cable car ride or entry to the museum.Fun fact: the monastery houses 'La Moreneta', the patron saint of the region of Catalonia. It’s a sculpture of the Virgin of Montserrat, renowned for its black skin and for being a Romanesque image of great beauty.

Tarragona and the Roman era

Minimum recommended duration: one day.Distance from Barcelona: About 100 kilometres. Reus airport is less than 10 kilometres away.How to get there: just over an hour by car on the AP7 motorway. The high-speed train connects Barcelona with Camp Tarragona station in approximately half an hour. This station is 10 kilometres from Tarragona. The regional trains connect Barcelona with Tarragona in journeys of about one hour.What you’ll see: An archaeological site that reveals one of the most important capitals of Roman Hispania during the time of the Empire: Tárraco. Its features include a Roman amphitheatre, a Roman circus and an aqueduct. Its Cathedral, Archaeological Museum and Roman and paleo-Christian necropolis are also interesting. By the way, there is a joint entrance for most of the monuments.Remember: every May the ancient Roman capital comes back to life with the Tárraco Vivafestival, which fills the city with Roman gladiators, soldiers and merchants.Fun fact: The archaeological site of Tarragona has been declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO since 2000.

PortAventura, a day of adrenalin and fun

Minimum recommended duration: one day.Distance from Barcelona: around 115 kilometres.How to get there: less than an hour and a half by car on the AP7 motorway. Lines R17 and RT2, leaving from Barcelona, stop at the park after a journey of around an hour and a quarter. There’s a ticket option that includes the train journey too.What you’ll see: a fun-packed theme park with more than 40 attractions and 40 shows a day for all the family, a refreshing water park and, since April 2017, the first theme park in Europe devoted to Ferrari, the icon of speed.Remember: the park varies its opening hours during the year and doesn’t normally open continuously in January, February or March. When organising your trip, remember that you can stay at various themed hotels in the complex.Fun fact: there is also a wellness centre and golf club with massage and beauty treatment services and three golf courses.

The Cistercian monastery route

Minimum recommended duration: one day.Distance from Barcelona: The route links the monasteries of Santa María de Vallbona de Les Monges (Lleida), Santes Creus and Poblet (both in Tarragona). They’re at a distance of between 100 and 150 kilometres from Barcelona.How to get there: By car via the A2 and AP2 roads with journey times of around an hour and a half.What you’ll see: Three important monasteries of the Cistercian order that form one of the most traditional routes in Catalonia. They’re famous for their attractiveness as monasteries and for the spirituality they permeate. Visiting them is a good way to find yourself and enjoy nature, far from the fast pace of everyday life.Remember: The monasteries of Santes Creus and Poblet offer guided tour services. In turn, the monastery of Santa María de Vallbona allows you to stay there during certain times of year.Fun facts: One cultural and the other for sports fans. The first is that the Poblet Monastery has been declared a UNESCO World Heritage site. The second is that the GR175 trail connects the three monasteries on a route of about 100 kilometres that you can do by bike or on foot.

Dalí's Triangle

Minimum recommended duration: two days.Distance from Barcelona: Púbol, about 125 kilometres; Figueres, about 140 kilometres; Cadaqués, about 170 kilometres.How to get there: To travel more comfortably between municipalities, we recommend traveling by car. From Barcelona you’ll reach the farthest point, Cadaqués, in just over two hours.What you’ll see: Mediterranean villages that inspired the artist Salvador Dalí and three of the cultural spaces that best describe the figure of the surrealist painter: the Dalí Theatre-Museum in Figueres; the Salvador Dalí House Museum, in Portlligat (Cadaqués); and the Gala Dalí Castle and Museum in Púbol.Remember: These towns and their surroundings are located in the heart of the Costa Brava and offer Mediterranean images of great beauty.Fun fact: The Dalí Theatre Museum in Figueres is considered the largest surrealist object in the world and was designed by the artist himself.

Mediterranean beaches and coves

Minimum recommended duration: two days.Distance from Barcelona: this region is 100% Mediterranean Sea and in the town itself and its surroundings you can spend days enjoying the beach. When it comes to getting around, there are two particularly popular areas: the Costa Brava, in the province of Girona, with small towns such as Sant Feliu Guíxols, Tossa del Mar, Begur and Palafrugell (75 to 150 kilometres from Barcelona going north); and the Costa Dorada, in the province of Tarragona with resorts like Salou, Cambrils and Calafell (70 to 130 kilometres from Barcelona going south).How to get there: Road access is very easy from the AP7. Also, the regional train lines that leave from Barcelona usually have connections with the most popular tourist locations.What you’ll see: many of the most beautiful postcards of the Mediterranean in real life. You’ll visit fishing villages like L’Ametlla de Mar or Sant Carles de la Ràpita, landscapes that inspired artists such as Picasso or Gaudí on the Costa Dorada, or major tourist hotspots like Sitges or Lloret de Mar.Remember: You can enjoy thousands of activities at sea, such as a fishing trip, a day of sailing, diving into seabeds full of life...Fun fact: if you visit Tossa del Mar and you look out from one of its spectacular vantage points over the Mediterranean, you’ll probably come across one of the myths of American cinema: Ava Gardner. A sculpture with which the town pays tribute to the actress who starred in 'Pandora and the Flying Dutchman'.

Romanesque sites in the Vall de Boí

Minimum recommended duration: Three days.Distance from Barcelona: Around 300 kilometres. By car, it takes about three and a half hours to get to the towns of Taüll or Boí.How to get there: By car via the A2 or AP2 roads. There are also regular bus services from Barcelona and Lleida. Don’t forget that the high-speed train connects Barcelona with Lleida in less than an hour. Lleida is about 140 kilometres from the Vall de Boí.What you’ll see: one of the most highly-valued artistic sites in Europe, made up of several Romanesque churches. They’re right in the heart of the Pyrenees, in spectacular natural surroundings which we recommend you to discover by visiting the Aigüestortes i Estany de Sant Maurici National Park.Remember: All churches can be visited but some are not open all year round. Consult the Romanesque Centre of the Vall de Boí before your trip. Remember that there’s a combined entry ticket that includes the National Art Museum of Catalonia in Barcelona, where original Romanesque paintings from the churches are kept for conservation reasons.Fun fact: every day, the church of Sant Climent de Taüll reproduces its original paintings in its interior through an attractive video mapping that definitely should not be missed.