Offbeat Barcelona and Catalonia: 6 Days
Six Days Adds the Cava Cellars Most Itineraries Never Reach
Six days adds the one stop that fits almost nowhere shorter: a forty-minute train to Sant Sadurni d’Anoia, the epicenter of Catalan cava, and a couple of cellar tours that most first-timers assume need a bigger trip than they actually do. This builds directly on the 5-day itinerary ; the 7-day version adds a flex day and the Madrid math on top of this.
Book these before you go:
- A guided Montserrat day trip, if juggling the FGC and Cremallera schedules yourself sounds like effort: check tour options on GetYourGuide
- A combined Girona and Figueres day trip, one booking instead of two train changes: browse the combo tour on Viator
- A rental car for the Costa Brava day, the one stop with no direct train: compare rates on Discover Cars
- A Barcelona-Sants-adjacent base for all six nights: check rates on Booking.com
| Stop | Distance | Time from Barcelona-Sants |
|---|---|---|
| Montserrat | ~50km | ~1-1.5h (FGC train plus Cremallera) |
| Girona | ~100km | ~40 min (fast train) |
| Figueres | ~140km | ~55min-2h (paired with Girona) |
| Sitges | ~35km | ~35-40 min (R2 Sud) |
| Costa Brava (Begur, Cadaques) | ~150km | ~2-2.5h (car only) |
| Tarragona | ~100km | ~75-90 min (Rodalies, drops in town) |
| Penedes (Sant Sadurni d’Anoia) | ~45km | ~40-50 min (Rodalies R2/R4) |
Day 1: Land, Base Near Sants, Montserrat
Fly into Barcelona-El Prat and take the Aerobus or the Rodalies R2 Nord into the city, both under forty minutes to Barcelona-Sants; skip the standalone airport metro ticket unless you already hold a Hola BCN card, since a bare T-casual does not cover the L9S airport leg. Check into a base near Barcelona-Sants or Placa Espanya, the two stations nearly everything below starts from. Drop bags, then take the FGC R5 line from Placa Espanya to Monistrol de Montserrat, about an hour, and ride the Cremallera rack railway the last five kilometers up the mountain (fifteen minutes; combined train-plus-Cremallera ticket EUR 15.90 one-way, EUR 28.80 return, fact-checked July 2026). The Benedictine monastery holds the Black Madonna, La Moreneta, and the jagged massif behind it has hiking trails a lot more dramatic than a single afternoon usually implies.
Day 2: Girona and Figueres, One Rail Line, One Day
Girona is about forty minutes from Barcelona-Sants by fast train (EUR 9-17 one-way), and its medieval old town, the Onyar river’s stacked colorful houses, and El Call, one of Europe’s best-preserved Jewish quarters, easily fill a morning. Figueres sits further up the same rail corridor, fifty-five minutes to two hours depending on whether you catch the fast Avant to Figueres-Vilafant or the slower regional service into the closer-in station; the Dali Theatre-Museum charges EUR 18.50 online in low season, rising to EUR 22 in July and August (fact-checked July 2026), and booking online beats the desk rate every time. With a car instead of a rail pass, skip past Figueres itself to Cadaques and Dali’s actual house at Portlligat, a whitewashed fishing village no train reaches at all.
Day 3: Sitges, the Half-Day Beach Fix
Sitges is the shortest ride on this list: the R2 Sud line from Barcelona-Sants or Passeig de Gracia takes 35-40 minutes for roughly EUR 4-5, every twenty minutes. Between the beach, the Modernisme-era mansions strung along the seafront, and a plate of fideua at a table with an actual sea view, three or four hours does the job; there is no reason to burn a full day getting there and back for something this close.
Day 4: The Costa Brava Cove Everyone Skips for Tossa de Mar
The Costa Brava has no direct train, which is exactly why a rental car earns its cost here more than anywhere else on this list. Skip Tossa de Mar, the cove every bus tour already covers, for Begur, a cluster of small coves and a hilltop castle roughly two to two and a half hours north by car, or push further to Cadaques and Dali’s actual house at Portlligat. Compare rental rates on Discover Cars before you land; this is the one day in this itinerary that genuinely does not work without one.
Day 5: Tarragona, Rome Two Hours South
Tarragona holds a genuine UNESCO Roman ensemble, the amphitheater, the circus, the old forum, and the choice of train matters here: the slower Rodalies regional service (75-90 minutes, roughly EUR 7.50-9) drops you inside the historic center, while the faster Avant or AVE (45-60 minutes, EUR 14-16) leaves you at a station about 10km outside town, a bad trade for a day built entirely around walking Roman ruins. Individual sites run about EUR 5 each; a combined pass covering five sites costs EUR 15 and pays for itself after three stops.
Day 6: Penedes and the Cava Cellars, Then Departure
Sant Sadurni d’Anoia, the epicenter of Catalan cava, is forty to fifty minutes from Barcelona-Sants on the Rodalies R2 or R4 line, roughly EUR 4-5.50 one-way, cheaper and shorter than half the trips already on this list. Freixenet and Codorniu both run cellar tours a short walk from the station; tastings elsewhere in the Penedes wine region run EUR 15-50 per person depending on the estate. Head back into Barcelona for a last dinner before a flight out of El Prat the next morning.
Do I Need a Car for All Six Days?
No, only the Costa Brava day genuinely requires one. Montserrat, Girona, Figueres, Sitges, Tarragona, and Penedes all run on direct or one-change regional trains from Barcelona-Sants or Placa Espanya, and renting for just that single day rather than the whole week saves on parking fees in a city where a car otherwise sits idle.
Is Penedes Worth a Full Day on Top of Everything Else?
Not really, and it does not need one. Sant Sadurni d’Anoia is the shortest, cheapest trip on this whole list, and half a day covers a cellar tour and a tasting comfortably, leaving the rest of the afternoon free for a slower look at whichever earlier stop felt rushed.
For the city itself, from Sagrada Familia’s finished tower to the pickpocket warnings, see the Barcelona guide . The 7-day itinerary adds one flex day and the Madrid math on top of this same six-day base, and the guide to this whole gateway family covers the same ground without the day-by-day structure.