3 Days in Barcelona Plus Day Trips

Three days buys you one city day and two genuinely different day trips, Montserrat’s mountain monastery and the Girona-Figueres rail corridor, without rushing either. This is the shortest version of this itinerary that pairs two day trips back to back; the 2-day version only manages one. Read the Barcelona day trips guide first for the full lay of the rail network this itinerary runs on.

Day Focus Train time from Barcelona
1 Sagrada Familia, Gothic Quarter, El Born In the city
2 Montserrat monastery and hiking trails FGC R5, about 1 hour each way
3 Girona old town and the Dali Theatre-Museum in Figueres Rodalies/AVE, 40 min to under 2 hours by service

Book these before you go:

Day 1: Barcelona, the Short Version

Sagrada Familia first, booked weeks ahead if you’re travelling in summer, basic entry runs around EUR 26. Spend the rest of the day on foot through the Gothic Quarter and El Born rather than trying to add a second major sight; this itinerary is built around the day trips, not city depth, so the full Barcelona guide is where the restaurant-level detail lives. Keep your bag zipped and in front on La Rambla and around the Sagrada Familia queue.

Day 2: Montserrat

The FGC R5 from Placa Espanya takes about an hour to Monistrol de Montserrat, then the Cremallera rack railway or the Aeri cable car covers the last five kilometres. The combined ticket runs EUR 15.90 one-way, current for 2026. The monastery holds the Black Madonna, La Moreneta, but the hiking trails above it, the Sant Joan route especially, are where the mountain actually earns the trip. Book a guided Montserrat day trip if you’d rather skip sorting train and rack-railway tickets yourself.

Day 3: Girona and Figueres

Girona is about 40 minutes from Barcelona-Sants, EUR 9-17 one-way, a medieval old town with a cathedral, the Jewish quarter El Call, and the colored houses along the Onyar river, easily a full morning on its own. Figueres, the Dali Theatre-Museum’s home, sits on the same rail corridor, 40 minutes to under 2 hours away depending on the service, museum admission EUR 18. Most visitors do both in one day since the trains connect so directly. A combined Girona and Figueres day tour handles both stops without you juggling two separate timetables.

Should You Do Montserrat or Girona First?

Montserrat, if you’re only choosing one order. The cable car queues build fastest on weekends from mid-morning, so putting the more time-sensitive trip on day two rather than day three protects against a late train derailing the whole plan. Girona and Figueres run on a more forgiving, more frequent rail line, so a slightly later start costs you less.

Is Sagrada Familia Worth Doing on a Day-Trip-Heavy Visit?

Yes, and it’s the one city sight worth keeping even on a trip built around leaving Barcelona. It’s the single most likely booking to sell out if you leave it too late, and skipping it to save a morning for day trips is a worse trade than skipping a second day in the Gothic Quarter instead.

For a fourth day trip added on top of these two, Sitges’ beach and Modernisme architecture, the 4-day version of this itinerary is the next step up. Buy your Girona-Figueres train tickets on renfe.com a few days ahead rather than at the station machine; advance fares run noticeably cheaper than walk-up prices on this route.