Barcelona, located in Catalonia, in the north of Spain. There’s plenty of different things to do, sights to see and beaches to lie on. To find out more check out my article on top 10 things to do in Barcelona! Despite having a city full of beautiful sights, monuments and restaurants, there are also some must-do day trips to some absolutely gorgeous places which I would also recommend if you have the time. I’ve chosen my top 3 day trips from Barcelona, all of them are under 2 hours distance and easily accessible with public transport or car. So let’s take a look!

Monserrat

Monserrat is actually a monk retreat up in the mountains north west of Barcelona. The rock formations here are incredible and to get there you need to take a cable car and afterwards, to get to the very top, a funicular! At the top, you’ll find the monastery, shops, restaurants, a church and plenty more things to do. So despite being in the middle of a mountains, don’t worry about running out of food or water! You can also take various walking routes around Monserrat, very popular among day visitors and I would recommend a little walk at least! Just ask in the tourist information which one is best for you, depending how much time you have.

How to get Get to Monserrat: 

Get the train from Plaça españa. Take the R5 line to Monserrat which runs roughly every hour starting from 8am until around 6pm. With a journey time of 1 hour. You will also need to take another train or a cable car(nicer) up to the top of the mountain once you’ve arrived. The cable car has fantastic views down the valley so it’s definitely worth including this in your visit if you’re not too scared of heights!

Sitges

Sitges is a beautiful little town right on the coast of Catalonia with gorgeous beaches and a mixture of great seafood restaurants. You can visit Sitges if you want to enjoy the beach without the many crowds or dirtiness you can find in Barcelona. It’s actually known as the ‘gay town’ of Spain as it’s also very popular among homosexuals. Due to being sheltered by the Garraf mountains, Sitges stays warm almost every month of the year!

How to get to Sitges:

Take the C2 train from either Estacio de França, Passeig de Gracia or Estacio Sants. The trains rum from 6am until midnight and take around 30-40 minutes depending on your starting station.

Girona

Located north of Barcelona, Girona is a beautiful small city with the vibrance and energy of a much bigger city than it actually is. Girona is much cheaper than Barcelona and home to a beautiful gothic quarter and well preserved architecture. It’s also famous for it’s gastronomy and recently was voted to have the best restaurant in the world: El Celler de Can Roca!

How to get to Girona

You can now take the high speed train from Barcelona to Girona in 37 minutes. You could also drive or take the bus but it would take around 1.5 hours.

Have you visited any of these towns from Barcelona? Which one was your favourite? Do you have any other suggestions? Leave a comment!

You might also want to checkout Top 10 Things to do in Barcelona or 5 Day Trips from Madrid.