We hope to visit Tarragona while staying for a week in Barcelona in April. As I check trains to take for a day trip I find two stations where trains stop in Tarragona--Estacio or Camp Tarragona. If I hope to see the main sights of the city, which of these stops will be most convenient?

I don't know the answer but you can be sure I will be following along with your planning and, hopefully, with the report or comments that follow after you return!

I was considering the area for a visit next winter...will be interested in where you go outside Barcelona; I know you've been before!

Very best, ek

All faster trains only stop in one station in Tarragona according to www.bahn.d/en - German Rail's easy to use schedule site for all European trains. And Campo seems not one of them but put each station in a dummy search and find out.

Thanks. Your directions got me to do more searching and I found the following which gives clear answer to my question. We will be taking the train from Barcelona to Tarragona Estacio

Tarragona has two train stations. The first is located in the city centre and offers links to regional trains (to Barcelona, Tortosa, Reus and Lleida), as well as national and internal long-distance trains (to Valencia, Andalucia, Madrid and France). The second, located just 10 minutes from the centre, is the "Camp de Tarragona" High-Speed Train (AVE) Station, which opened its doors on 19 December 2006 and entails a major improvement in Tarragona's connections to the exterior, as well as its connection to Spain's high-performance lines. The new station gives rise to a wide range of rail links to Barcelona, Lleida, Saragossa, Madrid, Cordova, Seville and, soon, all Europe. (RENFE 902 32 03 20).

ekscrunchy, This is our 50th wedding anniversary and we are celebrating with visits to our 2 favorite cities--a week in Paris followed by a week in Barcelona. Turns out we are unlikely to be doing a lot of day tripping from Barcelona but may return to Sitges (been before and enjoy it) and take a trip to Tarragon where we've not been before. I'd not been too excited about Tarragona since it's advertised as a city of ruins, but I looked at pictures and found the ruins surrounded by beautiful scenes of shoreline and beaches, so I'm up for it.

I tried without success to get back to Collouire (difficult train connections) which is a beautiful place outside of Barcelona in France on the Costa Brava) but if you have wheels, I recommend it highly, not as a day trip but as a side stop for a couple of days from which you can take some other lovely day trips. I'll return with some other suggestions from my logs. The Costa Brava is a particularly beautiful part of Europe IMO. BTW, the more usual day trips from BCN are Figueres (Dali museum and not a lot else) and Girona, worthy but a bit stodgy IMO. I also enjoyed Vic--went on market day, of course, and Reus, Gaudi's birthplace and a nice city--without any actual Gaudi buildings as I recall but some early moderniste places by others. I hope to be able to combine Reus with our stop in Tarragona,

Will return with more info. Watch this space, as they say on tv.

Tarragona Estacio <
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yes 'station' - why www.bahn.de/en just says Tarragona for the town's station served by fast trains - the only one served by them.

BTW, the more usual day trips from BCN are Figueres (Dali museum and not a lot else) and Girona, worthy but a bit stodgy IMO.>

I'd say Montserrat must be right up there - if have not seen and assume you have this is an old medieval pilgrimage stop with pilgrims sill flocking here to see the Black Madonna or some fake Holy Relic that draws huge crowds to pray before it.

More for ekscrunchy for her trip to BCN (sorry I am too computer averse to be able to figure out private messaging)

If you are driving the route from BCN to/through Costa Brava can be pretty awful as you leave BCN--high rises on beaches upon more of the same. If you stop, let it be Tossa del Mar, a real town with a castle and nice seashore. Llafranc is our favorite place to stay in the area and the Hotel Llevant right on the small beach there is our favorite and very price-friendly hotel, though if you want to splurge and don't mind a somewhat hairy bit of driving, the El Far near the lighthouse with nice restaurant and gauzy curtained bedrooms overlooking the water far down below is wonderful as well. From there a day trip to Peratelada is rewarding. I highly recommend Bonay restaurant there with a formal/rustic dining room on the second floor that serves Spanish food in a somewhat Tuscan feeling vibe. Take my opinions about Girona being stodgy with a grain of salt. It rained hard and continuously when we were there and my views are colored by that dismal experience. If you enjoy Spanish cavas, I highly recommend a day out of Barcelona to go to Sant Sadurni d'Anoia and take in the Cordorniu winery. Nice tour. Beautiful grounds, lovely architecture. In Sitges I can recommend the somewhat hokey sounding Zanzibar on the beach. While in Barcelona, check out a concert at Palau Musica even if you're not a big concert-goer just to be able to sit in the interior and take in the fabulous decor. Once we lucked into a Flamenco concert there and another time we went to an organ concert where the organ failed to work so we got to sit a while and take in the interior and got our admission cost refunded, actually not a bad deal. Enjoy your time in the area, it's a big favorite for me and I hope it will be for you too. J

I'm actually IN Tarragona at this very moment. I came from Barcelona yesterday. You have correctly figured out the train station question. It's actually about a 15 minute walk (up a lot of steps) to the center of town. But I think it would make a good day trip. I'm spending two nights, and heading to Valencia next. Get a map from the TI which shows where all the Roman sights are. The theater is the most impressive but there are a lot of others. I thought the cathedral was also worth while - not so much the cathedral itself but the cloister.