jgrynol

Hello. This is my first post. My daughter ( in her 20's) and I are going to Spain for 2 weeks in May/24. We're flying in and out of Barcelona. Our itinerary is 4 days in Barc, then take a high speed train to Valencia, stay there 3 nights, then back to Barc but continue by train to Girona, where we'll rent a car to spend the next 6 days in the Costa Brava. At the moment I have a booking in Begur for 6 nights. This is meant to be the more relaxing part of the trip. My question is whether we should allow 1 night in Girona ( this could be our 1st or last night in Costa Brava), or will be have ample time the day before we return to Barc? While in CB we want to do the coastal walks, visit a couple of wineries, go to Cadaques, and spend a couple of afternoons on a beach. We're trying to limit hotel changes/luggage transfers. As it is, in 2 weeks we'll be in 4 different accomodations ( staying in Barc again the night before our flight home to Canada) which seems like enough. Girona seems worth allowing some time for though. Thoughts from those of you who know the CB and Girona? Thanks!

Moderator1

Welcome to Fodors we moved your topic to the Europe forum and changed the tag to Spain.

Rubicund

Begur to Girona is only about half an hour by road, so you don't really need to stay in both places. Begur will give easy access to the coast south of there to get to Tossa and Palafrugell and north up the C31 to the Dali museum in Figueres in less than an hour, well worth the trip-it's spectacular. Begur is a small village with a good choice of restaurants to have enough variety for your stay.

jgrynol

Thank you so much for your reply. That's what I was thinking too, but it's nice to have it validated. Looking forward to exploring the Costa Brava!

Rubicund

While you are in the Figueres area, have a look at Roses and the bay. It's a lovely part of the world with some nice walking.

bilboburgler

and lovely cycling

memejs

I spent a portion of a trip to Spain in the Costa Brava last spring and loved it! We passed through Girona on our way a little further north. It was a super crowded, rainy final day of the flower festival, and the city was packed! We only allowed a few hours for Girona and I wished we had had more time, but I think a day trip from Begur would be perfect! We also based ourselves in just one location and drove all around the area during our time there. It was the highlight of the trip, in my opinion! You can click on my name to see my trip report and photos, although it sounds like you already have a pretty clear plan for your trip.

Be sure to check out the beautiful Sa Tuna while you're there!

Maribel

I've used Begur many times (actually Aiguablava) as a base and day-tripped to Girona, an hour's drive (especially in high season, or a bit more), but honestly, I would add a night in Girona because I feel that a day trip to this wonderful city simply just doesn't do it justice.

KarenWoo

While in Cadaques, I can recommend visiting Dali's quirky house in Port Lligat. We loved it! It's fun and memorable. You have to make reservations in advance.

Also while in this area, we enjoyed visiting Cap de Creus, north of Cadaques. Take a walk to the lighthouse through rosemary, thyme and the salt air. Beautiful views of the craggy coast and Mediterranean.

I agree with Maribel about spending a night in Girona. We did 2 nights there. It's a wonderful medieval city with a river running through it. It was so pretty at night. I remember thinking the Old Quarter was mysterious at night with its steep, narrow cobblestoned streets combined with stairways. It's like a labyrinth.

jgrynol

Thank you everyone for your good advice re the CB and Girona. Still considering the overnight in Girona or not. Could just catch a later train back to Barc so we’d see Girona at night. Memejs I LOVED your trip report and beautiful pictures and I’m tagging it! ( Mallorca now on my wish list!) I have a question about Cadaques now. We’re actually planning to get there by boat because I’m nervous about the twisty road ( Sorry just am….!) However, we’d also like to go to Port Lligat and the museum. I think we can walk - it’s not too far right? Or take a taxi from Cadaques? If we manage to include Cap de Creus, how much time would you allow there? Maybe it’s just not possible without the car? Thoughts would be appreciated, thank you!

Maribel

How do you plan to reach Cadaqués by boat? Is it this ferry from Roses?
https://www.elsblausderoses.com/en/ferries/cadaques

The distance from the center of Cadaqués to the Dalí house-studio in Port Lligat is about a 15-minute walk, says the website.

One needs advance reservations and the admission is by groups of 8.
https://www.salvador-dali.org/en/mus...a/com-arribar/

If you include Cap de Creus you'll need a car.

jgrynol

Thanks for your response Maribel. Yes, that is the boat to Cadaques, or one like it ( I believe more than 1 company offers this). We can stay in Cadaques for 1.5 hours, or take a later boat back. I'm organizing this trip and booking a few things partly with the help of a travel agent based in Spain, and she mentioned that a more open return is possible ( for me this will depend on cost, but the open return certainly provides some flexibility). Thanks for the heads up on the Dali House in Port Lligat. I'll book those tickets as soon as I have a boat schedule, as I noticed some times are already sold out.
I do have another question regarding our time in Barcelona. We'll be there for 4 nights ( including the day we arrive from an international flight), plus one more full day/night before our return flight. I can already see that we'll have to choose what we most want to do while in Barc because to do everything will require another trip. At the moment, we're planning to do an e- bike ride to a winery, visit/tour, then a sailboat back to Barc, altogether about 6 hours ( 9-3). This sounds lovely, but am concerned about it taking almost a whole day out of our time in Barc with already limited days, and we will be spending the rest of our trip either in Valencia or CB. On the other hand, how often do you get to bike to a winery and sailboat back?! This is our first visit to Barcelona. Thoughts or advice anyone?

Maribel

Since you'll have the boat ride to Cadaqués from Roses, I would concentrate in Barcelona on the myriad of sights in the city itself. There is just so very much to see.

I can´t advise you on the bike wine tour then boat back as I´ve never done this.

Or... take a Penedés wine tour via either small group van or a private tour by car. Spanish Trails is the company that I´ve used for this. But remembering that it takes up 7.5 hours of your valuable sightseeing time.

Maribel

Is this the bike wine tour then boat back experience? to Alella? And this the winery?
https://www.sailingexperiencebcn.com/shop/e-biketour-sail-a-wine-tasting-sailing-experience-barcelona/
https://altaalella.wine

jgrynol

Yes Mirabel it is. It's a tough choice between Barc and the bike/sailboat! But as you said, perhaps save our boating for Roses to Cadaques.

KarenWoo

I agree with Maribel about spending all of your time in Barcelona. There is so much to see and do there. And it’s also fun exploring the different neighborhoods. We spent 6 nights in Barcelona, and we didn’t see everything.

Rubicund

If you wan to include a wine tour/visit, then I'd go up to San Sadurni d'Anoia, the home of Cava. It's close to Barcelona and you can do a trip a bit further on to Montserrat on the same day. My favourite Cava is Juve y Camps:

https://www.juveycamps.com/en/

Drop them a message to take a tour of the winery -- https://www.juveycamps.com/en/enotourism-penedes/ -- and a tour usually finishes with a tasting. Don't miss the Reserva de la Familia, my favourite of all Cava.

The visit to Montserrat before or after fills out a day nicely.

Besalu

For me, trips are experiences and if you are excited about this visit to the vineyard then go ahead! It's not all about visiting the buildings that we already know by sight. Alella is in Maresme, an area of Catalonia where there were many Roman villas that already lived on wine 2000 years ago. Between the mountain and the sea there is barely 5 km and despite being very close to Barcelona it is green (stone pines predominate).
In relation to the vineyard, there are several that offer the winery + boat combination from Barcelona. Apart from the one that Maribel shows, which is Bouquet d'Alella, there is also this one: Alta Alella,

Maribel

The one I meant to link to is Alta Alella but I see now that it didn't link but instead linked to the Sailing Experience.

jgrynol

Thank you everyone for your input concerning whether to do the bike/winery/sailboat experience or take the extra time in Barcelona. We’ve decided to stay in the city because we can see how much there is to do, and we’re looking forward to visiting 1 or 2 wineries while in the Costa Brava.
Now I have another question. Is it worth it to buy the Barcelona Card? I like the convenience of access to all public transit and many museums that we want to go to. However, I hear that you still wait in line along with normal tickets, and since Barcelona is so walkable, how much public transit will we take in 3 or 4 days? Advice? Has anyone ever used one? Thanks.