Overnight trip from Barcelona

Old Dec 7th, 2016, 05:10 PM
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Overnight trip from Barcelona

Going to Barcelona solo for 8 days. Wanted to break my stay with an overnight stay. I was thinking of Girona, but was wondering if there was enough to do in March? Also wanted to visit Tarragona as well. All will be done by public transport.

Also wanted to ask about wine or cava tours and since I'm going solo, would really like to go with a group.
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Old Dec 7th, 2016, 05:14 PM
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Plenty to see and do in Girona for an overnight at any time of year, IMO!
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Old Dec 7th, 2016, 05:48 PM
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What do you like to do? There is plenty to do in Girona, but Tarragona would be a good option for an overnight if you like Roman stuff. Either city would be a wonderful overnight from Barcelona.

For the wine tour, check out http://spanish-trails.com/
I haven't been on one of their tours personally, but I have seen the name pop up here before.
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Old Dec 8th, 2016, 01:51 AM
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For a day-trip, you might want to look into the bus service that runs from Barcelona to Codorniu Winery in Sant Sadurní. We considered taking their bus from Barcelona but ended up driving there instead from Sitges. I tried contacting Codorniu about the bus but did not hear back from them, but maybe you'd have better luck reaching them.
http://www.visitascodorniu.com/en/

You must make an appt. for the Codorniu cava tasting and tour. We booked about a month in advance (this was for October) and the English language tours were already sold out, so we took the Spanish tour instead. We began with a tour of the historic Art Nouveau buildings designed Josep Puig i Cadafalch (a contemporary of Gaudí) and with descriptions of the cava making process, then we descended into the tunnels, touring them on a little "train." When done, you ascend to the surface by elevator and finish off with the cava tasting and visit to the shop. You can easily find Codorniu's cavas in Barcelona supermarkets for less, so may not want to buy them from their shop, but we thought the tour and tasting easily justified the cost.

I noticed that the link rialtogrl gave you (spanis-trails.com) has an all-day tour to Priorat. We loved the mountainous landscape and especially the red wines of Priorat (which were not widely available outside of Priorat).

Girona is just a train ride away from Figueres, home to the Dalí Theatre-Museum, which is unlike any museum I've been to. So train, then bus or walk to the museum. You can also travel to the museum by train from Barcelona:
https://www.tripadvisor.com/Travel-g....Figueres.html
We drove to the Dali Museum from Girona, but the train trip sounds easier than driving.
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Old Dec 8th, 2016, 04:46 AM
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Girona's appeal is not seasonal. It's an easy hour train ride from Barcelona; hotels are moderately priced; look at how many Michelin stars its restaurants have been awarded.
I agree that the Dali museum in Figueres is a wonderment; it changed my mind about the old jester. But what else to do there? The train connections are on the high-speed line. But trying to cover both places in one day while taking a hotel over night will be something of a rush; it would work better if you split the destinations between two days with the hotel in Girona.
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Old Dec 8th, 2016, 04:51 AM
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We stayed in Girona for 2 nights and Cadaques for 1 night after visiting Barcelona. We rented a car and my husband did all the driving. No problem driving at all. We loved Girona; you might also want to check out Cadaques on the Mediterranean. It's beautiful! We visited Dali's house in Port Lligat (sp?). It's so quirky; unexpected highlight of our trip. You have to make reservations at least a day in advance.

If you don't want to rent a car, then Girona might be the easier choice instead of Cadaques.
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Old Dec 8th, 2016, 06:55 AM
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We did just a day trip to Girona and the Dali museum with a local company we found after arriving in Barcelona. I don't like to pack up for just one night so that was a better option for us and a very nice day out from Barcelona. There was time for lunch in Girona and then we could skip the line at the Dali museum.
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Old Dec 8th, 2016, 08:09 AM
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I agree with southam, don't try to visit the Dali museum and Girona in the same day. But that is a great idea to go to the Dali museum the day after before heading back to Barcelona.

There is much to see in Girona itself. Visit the cathedral (if you like medieval iconography make sure to see the Tapestry of Creation inside the museum, it is amazing). Walk the city wall, meander around the maze of medieval streets, visit one of the museums...

http://www.gironamuseus.cat/eng/index.php
http://www.museudelcinema.cat/eng/museu_info.php

There are lots of places in Girona to try regional wines. My favorite is La Simfonia. http://www.lasimfonia.com/

Girona is a beautiful city just to walk around in. Lots of parks, atmospheric little squares and bridges, and then there is the river running through it..

If you like chocolate, you will love Gluki...
http://www.gluki.cat
They have a store on the new side of town just of Placa Indepencia, on Carrer Santa Clara.
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Old Dec 8th, 2016, 09:24 AM
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Another option ( a bit further away ) is Zaragoza...
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