5 Days in Barcelona Plus Day Trips

Five days keeps the same one city day and adds the Costa Brava, the only day trip on this whole itinerary that genuinely needs a rental car. Everything through day four stays identical to the 4-day version ; day five is the new one. The 6-day plan adds Tarragona on top if you’ve got a sixth day.

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
4 Sitges beach and Modernisme architecture Rodalies R2 Sud, 35-40 minutes each way
5 Costa Brava coastal towns by rental car No direct fast train, drive or tour

Book these before you go:

Day 1: Barcelona, One Day Only

Sagrada Familia first, then the Gothic Quarter and El Born on foot for the rest of the day. As with the shorter versions of this itinerary, the city gets one deliberately light day; the full Barcelona guide is where the depth this one skips actually lives.

Day 2: Montserrat

FGC R5 from Placa Espanya to Monistrol de Montserrat, about an hour, then the Cremallera or Aeri cable car for the climb, combined ticket EUR 15.90 one-way. The monastery holds the Black Madonna; the Sant Joan trail above it is the better use of your time once you’ve seen her. Book a guided Montserrat day trip if you’d rather not sort the tickets yourself.

Day 3: Girona and Figueres

Girona, 40 minutes from Sants for EUR 9-17, covers a medieval old town and the Jewish quarter El Call in a morning. Figueres, on the same corridor, adds the Dali Theatre-Museum, EUR 18, 40 minutes to under 2 hours away by service. A combined Girona and Figueres day tour covers both stops in one booking.

Day 4: Sitges

R2 Sud to Sitges, 35-40 minutes, EUR 4-5, a beach town with Modernisme architecture and a major LGBTQ-friendly and Carnival scene. Treat it as a half-day; there’s less here than the other trips on this list once the seafront and old streets are done.

Day 5: The Costa Brava

This is the one day trip on the entire itinerary with no train option worth taking. Tossa de Mar, Cadaques, and Begur sit along a rugged coastline the rail network never reached, and public transit between the towns themselves is thin at best. Pick up a rental car in Girona , the closest city with its own airport and the most rental availability, rather than trying to arrange one from central Barcelona. Book weeks ahead if you’re travelling in July or August; the coastal lots run short on cars during peak season.

Do You Need to Book a Costa Brava Rental Car Well in Advance?

In summer, yes. Girona’s rental lots see heavy demand from both Costa Brava day-trippers and travelers using Girona’s own airport, and July and August bookings can run out days ahead rather than the same morning. Outside peak season, a day or two of lead time is usually enough.

Is the Costa Brava Worth Adding if You’re Not Comfortable Driving Unfamiliar Coastal Roads?

Skip the rental car and book a guided day tour instead rather than dropping the Costa Brava entirely; the coastline itself is worth the extra day, the driving just isn’t mandatory to see it. A tour handles the narrow, winding roads between towns for you.

Fill the tank before returning the car near Girona’s airport rather than in town; airport-adjacent stations charge less per liter than the ones closer to the old center.