7 Best Day Trips from Costa Brava 2026 — Dalí, Girona, Barcelona & More
Costa Brava's position in northern Catalonia makes it one of the best-placed resort areas in Spain for day trips. Barcelona is an hour away. Girona is 40 minutes. The Dalí Triangle — Figueres, Cadaqués and Port Lligat — is within 90 minutes. Montserrat, Tossa de Mar's medieval castle and the Camí de Ronda coastal path are all reachable before lunch.
The seven below are the ones worth doing — with real journey times from Lloret de Mar, honest entry prices, and clear advice on what needs to be booked before you arrive.
Quick answer: Best overall day trip is Girona old town — 40 minutes by car, free medieval walls, cathedral from €12, no advance booking required. For culture, Dalí Theatre-Museum in Figueres (€18, book ahead). For the biggest day out, Barcelona (1h by car, book Sagrada Família and Park Güell in advance).
Quick Takeaways
- ✓Book in advance: Dalí Theatre-Museum Figueres (sells out days ahead), Dalí House Cadaqués (no walk-ins in summer), Sagrada Família and Park Güell Barcelona (sells out daily).
- ✓No booking needed: Tossa de Mar castle, Girona medieval walls, Camí de Ronda walk — just turn up.
- ✓Best half-day trip: Tossa de Mar — 20 min by car, 30 min by bus (€4–6), free castle walls, back for lunch.
- ✓Best full-day trip: Barcelona — 1h by car, 1h45 by direct bus from Lloret (€15–18 one way).
- ✓September sweet spot: all seven destinations are quieter, cheaper and cooler than August — Girona and Cadaqués especially.
Quick Comparison: Day Trips from Costa Brava
| Destination | By Car | By Bus/Train | Entry Prices | Book Ahead? |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 🏆 Girona Old Town | 40 min | 40–50 min · €8 | Free–€13 | No |
| 💰 Tossa de Mar Castle | 20–25 min | 30–35 min · €4–6 | Free–€5 | No |
| 🎯 Dalí Museum Figueres | 60 min | 2h · €15–20 | €18 | Yes |
| Cadaqués & Cap de Creus | 90 min | 3–3.5h · €20–30 | Free–€18 | Yes (Dalí House) |
| Camí de Ronda Walk | 35–40 min | 1h05 · €6–12 | Free | No |
| Montserrat Monastery | 90 min | 3–3.5h · €30–35 | Free–€18 | Recommended |
| Barcelona | 60–70 min | 1h45 · €15–18 | €10–26 per sight | Yes (key sights) |
Jump to: Girona · Tossa de Mar · Dalí Figueres · Cadaqués · Camí de Ronda · Montserrat · Barcelona · Tips · FAQ
The 7 Best Day Trips from Costa Brava
Tossa de Mar & Castle
20 minutes by car — the easiest half-day trip on the list
Tossa de Mar is the closest quality day trip from the Costa Brava — 20–25 minutes from Lloret de Mar by car, 30–35 minutes by direct L69 bus. The Vila Vella — the walled medieval town on the headland — is one of the only intact fortified medieval towns on the Catalan coast. The ramparts are freely accessible and the views over Platja Gran and the bay justify the visit before you've spent a euro.
After the castle, the beach is directly below. The lighthouse walk adds another 30 minutes and is free. Platja Gran has clear water and sunloungers available. Back in Lloret for lunch.
Top 3 things to do: Walk the medieval walls and towers of Vila Vella — free, allow 45 minutes. Swim at Platja Gran or the quieter Platja d'es Codolar around the headland. Walk up to the Far de Tossa lighthouse for the best coastal views — 20 minutes from the old town, free.
Take the first L69 bus of the morning from Lloret — arrive in Tossa before 10am and you'll have the castle walls almost to yourself. By 11am the tour coaches arrive and the ramparts get crowded fast.
Dalí Theatre-Museum, Figueres
1 hour by car — the most visited museum in Spain after the Prado
The Dalí Theatre-Museum in Figueres is the most visited museum in Spain outside Madrid — and with good reason. Salvador Dalí designed the building himself, converting the town's ruined theatre into a three-dimensional artwork where the distinction between the building and the collection dissolves. The result is unlike any museum experience in Europe.
Adult tickets are €18, which includes the Dalí Jewels exhibition. The museum is timeslotted — same-day tickets are not available in summer. Book before you travel, not when you arrive in Figueres.
By car it's one hour from Lloret de Mar via the AP-7. By public transport: bus to Girona (40–60 min, €8–10) then train to Figueres (40–50 min, €8–12). Total around 2 hours, €15–20 one way.
Top 3 things to do: Dalí Theatre-Museum — allow 2–3 hours minimum, morning entry slots (9:30–11:00) are best. Dalí Jewels exhibition — included in the ticket, a separate gallery of jewellery Dalí designed. Stroll La Rambla in Figueres after — a pleasant Catalan market street with cafés, free.
Summer timeslots sell out days ahead. The ticket office does not sell same-day tickets in high season. Book at the official site salvador-dali.org before your trip — not on arrival in Figueres.
Cadaqués & Cap de Creus
90 minutes by car — Dalí's village, the most dramatic coastline in Catalonia
Cadaqués requires the most effort of any day trip on this list — 90 minutes by car with a winding final stretch through the mountains, or 3–3.5 hours by public transport via Girona and Figueres. That effort is exactly why it has stayed relatively unspoiled. The whitewashed harbour village, the Dalí House-Museum in Port Lligat, and the Cap de Creus Natural Park — the most easterly point of the Iberian Peninsula — make this the most rewarding full-day trip on the Costa Brava.
The Dalí House-Museum is where Salvador Dalí actually lived and worked — not a museum designed around him, but his actual home, largely unchanged. Tickets are €15–18 and must be pre-booked. No same-day walk-ins in high season.
Top 3 things to do: Wander Cadaqués old town and seafront — free, allow an hour before the day-trippers arrive. Dalí House-Museum in Port Lligat — book before travel, no same-day entry in summer, €15–18. Kayak or boat tour in Cap de Creus Natural Park — €30–60 per person depending on length, book the day before in summer.
Dalí House-Museum has strict daily capacity limits — book at salvador-dali.org before your trip. In July and August it sells out weeks ahead. No walk-in tickets available.
Girona Old Town
40 minutes by car — the best day trip on this list for most visitors
Girona old town is the strongest all-round day trip from Costa Brava — 40 minutes by car, 40–50 minutes by direct bus (€8 one way), free medieval city walls, a cathedral that was used as a filming location in Game of Thrones, colourful houses reflected in the Onyar river, and the best-preserved Jewish quarter in Spain.
No advance booking required for individual sights. The cathedral and Sant Feliu combo ticket is €12–13. The Museum of Jewish History is €6. The city walls are free. An afternoon in Girona — arriving around 3pm for the golden light on the Onyar houses — is the easiest and most rewarding day trip on this list.
Top 3 things to do: Walk the medieval city walls — free, the best overview of the old town and the surrounding landscape. Cathedral and Sant Feliu combo ticket — €12–13, allow 90 minutes. Onyar river bridges and the Jewish quarter (El Call) — the most photographed part of Girona, free to walk.
Arrive in Girona around 3–4pm — the light on the coloured Onyar houses is best in the late afternoon, and the tourist groups from Barcelona have mostly left by then. Stay for dinner: Girona has excellent restaurants at lower prices than the coast.
Camí de Ronda Coastal Walk
35–40 minutes to the trailhead — Costa Brava's best coastal path, free
The Camí de Ronda is the ancient coastal path that runs the entire length of the Costa Brava — originally used by customs officers patrolling for smugglers, now one of the best walking routes in Spain. The section between Sant Feliu de Guíxols, S'Agaró and Platja d'Aro is the most accessible from Lloret de Mar (35–40 minutes to the trailhead) and one of the most scenic — rocky headlands, pine forests, coves for swimming stops and views that don't repeat themselves.
The walk is completely free. Wear proper shoes, bring water, and start before 9am in July and August to avoid the midday heat on exposed sections.
Top 3 things to do: Hike the Sant Feliu–S'Agaró–Platja d'Aro section — allow 3–4 hours for the full stretch with swimming stops. Swim in the coves along the route — Sa Conca and S'Agaró cove are the standouts. Post-hike lunch in Platja d'Aro or Sant Feliu de Guíxols — both have good seafood restaurants on the waterfront.
Montserrat Monastery
90 minutes by car — the most dramatic monastery setting in Spain
Montserrat is a different type of day trip from the others on this list — a Benedictine monastery built into the face of a dramatic serrated mountain range 50km west of Barcelona. The Black Madonna inside the basilica is one of the most visited religious sites in Spain. The rack railway from Monistrol to the monastery (€17.50 return) and the Sant Joan funicular for mountain viewpoints are the two experiences that make Montserrat worth the 90-minute drive.
By public transport it's a 3–3.5 hour journey from Lloret: bus to Barcelona (1h45, €15–18), then train from Plaça Espanya to Monistrol with the rack railway (1–1.5h extra, €11–18). Total around €30–35 return. Long but doable for a full day.
Top 3 things to do: Visit the basilica and Black Madonna — free entry, arrive early to hear the boys' choir on select days (check schedule at escolania.cat). Rack railway Monistrol → monastery — €17.50 return adult, the most dramatic approach to any religious site in Catalonia. Funicular de Sant Joan for high viewpoints and hiking trails — €7 return or included in some combined tickets.
Book combined transport and rack railway tickets in advance in July and August — the rack railway has limited capacity and summer queues without a timed ticket are long. Buy at montserratvisita.com.
Barcelona
1 hour by car — the biggest day out from Costa Brava
Barcelona is an hour from Lloret de Mar by car or 1h45 by direct Sagales bus (€15–18 one way from Lloret bus station). It's the obvious big-city day out and it earns its place — Sagrada Família, Park Güell, the Gothic Quarter and Barceloneta beach are all genuinely world-class. The issue is crowds: Sagrada Família and Park Güell both have timed entry and sell out daily in summer. Book before you travel.
A well-planned Barcelona day from Costa Brava: Sagrada Família at opening (9:00), Park Güell timed slot mid-morning, Gothic Quarter and La Boqueria for lunch, Barceloneta beach in the afternoon, bus back in the evening. That's a full day and requires pre-booked tickets for the first two.
Top 3 things to do: Sagrada Família — €26 with audioguide, book the earliest slot available. Park Güell timed entry — €10–13, book same day as Sagrada Família. Gothic Quarter and Barceloneta — free, best explored after the paid sights.
Both attractions operate timed entry and sell out daily in July and August. Same-day tickets at the door are not available in peak season. Book at sagradafamilia.org and parkguell.barcelona before your trip.
Practical Tips
For guided tours that handle transport and entry tickets together — particularly useful for Figueres, Cadaqués and Barcelona — GetYourGuide has the full Costa Brava tour selection.
For accommodation near these destinations, the Costa Brava areas guide covers Girona, Tossa, Cadaqués and Lloret in detail. The large group villas and family hotels guides cover bases for your stay.
FAQ
Journey times and prices are approximate and subject to change. Verify current schedules and ticket prices directly with operators before travelling. Links verified March 2026.
For more on where to stay while exploring Costa Brava — start at our Costa Brava hub. Part of the Spain travel guide.
