Want to escape the crowds in Barcelona? These car-free day trips offer the best of Catalonia

Barcelona is one of the most-visited cities in Spain, and can be incredibly crowded almost year-round. 

Its popularity has led to a lot of backlash against mass tourism in the city over the years, with widespread protests over the last 12 months.  

I’ve lived in Barcelona for 10 years and over the years discovered many ways to get away from the city’s ever growing crowds.  Here are my favourite, day or weekend trips from Barcelona, all accessible on public transport, so you can make sure your trip is more sustainable too.

I have always enjoyed the work of surrealist artist Salvador Dalí and when I want to be reminded of his genius, I head up to the town of Figueres. It is located north of Barcelona, just over 30km from the border with France. 

It can be reached by fast train from Barcelona in under an hour, so it's a very easy day trip. Figueres is the hometown of Dalí and is home to the Dalí Theatre Museum, one of the best collections of his work in the world with over 1,500 pieces from sketches and sculpture to furniture and paintings.

To find out more about the artist, you can visit the Casa Natal Salvador Dalí – the artist’s birth house, which only opened to the public for the first time at the end of 2023. 

If you love hiking like me, take a two-hour bus ride from here to the whitewashed coastal village of Cadaqués, where you can visit Dalí’s summer home at nearby Portlligat. I enjoy a walk in the Cap de Creus Natural Park, through the very landscapes that inspired Dalí and his work.  

It would be too much to do both Figueres and Cadaqués on a day trip from Barcelona, but it’s ideal if you have a couple of days to spare.

One of my absolute favourite day trips is to head out to Catalonia’s biggest and most important wine