Which would you pick? We'll be there the first week of November as far as weather is concerned...

Some we are considering:

Sitges
Montserrat
Girona
Figuerres

Anything other than these 4 that you would suggest?

We're in Barcelona for 9 days and 8 nights, so I think realistically we'll probably leave the city 3 times. Maybe stay the night somewhere, it depends.

I've spent so much time working on the Paris portion of our trip that I haven't even started Barcelona and we leave in 1.5 weeks!

we visited only Girona.
It is easily done in a day. Train takes a bit over an hour ( take C. express) , return ticket is about 12 euros. 20 minutes or so to walk from the station to the 'old town".
Figuerres is on the same train line so both could probably be done in one day - we just did not feel like
a "long day".
You will get all the info ( also for Sitges) here:

http://horarios.renfe.es/hir/ingles.html

You can do Girona and Figueres in one long day-trip if you start out early enough, but I would do them separately. Sitges is an easy day-trip, and Montserrat will usually take you a full day if you go on a regularly scheduled tour.

Have you checked out Maribel's Guide to Barcelona? You should find it useful in planning you stay, as well as planning your day-trips.

We stayed in Barcelona for 7 nights and went to Montserrat (highly recommended on a clear day - it was beautiful), Sitges (loved it), and Tarragona (just okay, wouldn't go back).

Maybe do one in each direction from Barcelona to see the different areas.

Even with 3 day trips in 7 nights, we still felt that we had more than enough time in Barcelona. We just wake up early and don't stop!!

Love, love , love Sitges. Very easy trip by train from Barcelona.

Montserrat, Figueres, Sitges in that order.
I have seen Montserrat but dying to get to the Torres winery there!

It depends on your interests.

Figueres is mainly interesting for the Dali museum. The museum is spectacular, a converted theatre, but you must like Salvador Dali to enjoy it. Maybe a good option for a rainy day.

Montserrat is beautiful, mainly because of the scenic setting. On a cloudy and rainy day it will be only half as good (if the Montserrat - the split mountain - is in clouds).

If you are interested in Roman remnants you may go to Tarragona. There is a fine aquaeduct, a Greek theatre, a necropolis, ancient walls and some museums.

Sorry, I can't tell about Sitges and Girona.

You might be interested in my trip report on Barcelona and the Costa Brava:

http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=35086408

I see that Sitges is a resort/beach town, does that mean it will be closed up and dead in November like the Italian beach towns are? I checked the weather and it looks like it's still going to be around 70 degrees when we are there.

sorry, I forgot ......

...Girona is interesting and well worth a visit!

Sitges is very pleasant place to stroll along the seaside pathways. I think you would find Sitges a wonderful change from Barcelona. Montserrat is more valuable if the weather is cooperative. Have a wonderful trip.

Sitges is a popular (beach) town all year round because it it famous for gay cruising and nightlife.
It also hosts events like the sitges film festival and is famous for its carnivale.

I would love to hear which daytrips you picked in the end and which you would recommend..
How was the apartment in Barcelona?

We ended up doing Sitges, which was beautiful and very enjoyable. I was sad that we were there on a Monday when the museums are closed, but we had a lovely time sitting on the beach reading and sketching. It was in the 70's and many people were still swimming in the sea. We went to one of the bakeries and got some sandwiches and some fruit from a little market and had a picnic. It's a very peaceful place off season, I found it very charming and I really liked it a lot.

The apartment was so gorgeous there are no words to describe how beautiful I loved it, EXCEPT for one thing...the location is great, the place was stunning, but if you value sleep, it's not such a good place. Every single night between 12am and 3am, a huge crowd that expelled from the restaurant below would congregate right outside our window on the 1st floor and laugh and smoke and whoop it up for hours. I swear it was so loud it sounded like there were 50 people at the foot of my bed. I started to wear ear plugs after 3 days of no sleep, and that worked fine. I couldn't hear the alarm clock but at least I was able to sleep. The location was superb, absolutely superb and the apartment itself was incredible. So, if you can handle the noise, it's great.

Please let us know where the apt was located???

If you go to way2stay.com, choose barcelona apartments, it's #0199.

It was about $2000 for 1 week, the exchange rate at that time. I'd have to say, given the noise factor, and the lack of English cable channels, it wasn't worth over $1200 for the week.

http://www.waytostay.com/Barcelona-a...en-52-2110.htm

thanks, I was just wondering why that location was so noisy. We stayed not far from the Univ. last moths ( rented from Habitat - 2 bed was 120 euros a day) but the bedrooms were not on the street side of the apt.

Oh, sorry, maybe I didn't mention it above, there were 2 restaurants right below us and 1 across the street. All 3 closed at midnight, so all the patrons would hang around and smoke and socialize for 1-3 hours after the restaurants closed. Also, I forgot to mention that at 7am, they start dragging the aluminum tables and chairs across the floor to set them up for breakfast and it makes a HUGE racket. So you get quiet time between 3am and 7am, not too many hours when you need to recharge for touring!

thanks, I think you did mention the restaurant.
One problem with renting is : you never know what is
going on bellow the apt or across the street......