Catalunya 10 days
 

We are a group of 4 20somethings and are going to Catalunya for 10 days in early September. Does anyone have a good itinerary or any suggestions? I definitely want to spend a few days in Barcelona, than move to a beach town and base myself there for the remainder of the trip and take trips to Montserrat, Girona & Figueres. The beach place hasn't been decided yet but I'm thinking Lloret de Mar. We're looking for a place with a great beach & nightlife, but also with Spanish charm and not all-British tourist mecca.
This is my third trip to Spain, so I'm not afraid of a little adventure :)
Can you recommend anything? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
Serge

10 days is a great amount of time to spend in Catalunya and you are wise not to try to combine it with a lot of other places. Of course, arrive and depart from Barcelona (unless you use RyanAir, in which case Girona) and I would do 3 days and 2 days, filling in the middle 5 with the rest.

I would skip Montserrat, but that is a personal opinion, so saying you did that, you could actually use one of your Barcelona days for it, then the next day do Figueres (leave early in the morning) and then on to Girona. Spend the next 2 days there, then go on to Lloret de Mar (I went to Carnaval there last year and had a great time, but I am pretty sure it is not always that wild) for a few days, then back to BCN. You will get the city in as well as some smaller but fabulous places. Lloret is great, but I also love me some Cadaques in September.

Que et vagi be!

Cadaques sounds like a good idea for me to look into. This trip I wanted to focus on one region of Spain, as opose to my other 2 trips where we tried to do too many things. But I don't want to sleep in more than 2 places, so Barcelona being the first, I'm thinking Lloret de Mar or Cadaques will be the second. Or Sitges? Not sure about this.
Serge

Thought Sitges is a great place to go for beaching and partying, I think that if you are already sticking to the region, you will want to visit Girona and Figueres. Frankly, Cadaques and Lloret are much more on the way, and they offer what Sitges does without being as major a tourist attraction. You said you wanted to stay away from the tons of Brits who work their way over, and Sitges is actually a haven for non-Spaniards. That said, if you and yours are looking for fabulous gay nightlife, look no further. Sitges offers all you could want in that area and then some. Actually, so does Barcelona.

Will you all have a car? If so then you have more leverage.

Ye we're def down for a car...and the "fabulouse gay nightlife would def be cool to see"...maybe we'll stay in Lloret, but take a trip to Sitges for a day, a trip to Girona for a day, and a trip to Figueres for a day...so out of 9 full days..3 in Barcelona, and 6 in Lloret...I think this sounds good.

I spent 3 weeks in Catalunya a year and a half ago and did not feel as though I needed a car. I was in Barcelona for 2 weeks, then a bus up to Cadaques for 2 nights, a train to Girona for two nights, and a stop in Figueres on the way to barcelona for my return flight. I loved Montserrat, especially hiking the surrounding roads throughout the mountains. Sitges was the part of the trip that I would have skipped. Everything else was fantastic (I'm not a huge partier). Don't miss Dali's house in Point Legat (sp?) if you end up in Cadaques. I felt that everywhere I went was easy to get to by bus or train.

SShprints- if you are doing a side trip to Sitges, I would take it while you are in Barcelona, as it is to the south and Lloret is north.

Do 3 days in BCN, then 1 to sitges (sans voiture) and then get back to BCN, pick up the car, and drive up to Lloret, spending 6 days, using it as a base and visiting Girona an Figueres.

Awesome!

You'll love Barcelona and my twenty-something daughter loved the Dali theatre and museum and the town of Girona--so much that we're going in Spring next year.