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Ideas for day trips from Barcelona

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gazthomas

gazthomas

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Hi all

I am at a conference (not a jolly honest :D) based in Barcelona from Monday 24 February - Thursday 27 February. My original plan was to return on the Thursday evening as I'm not that keen on Barcelona having been there before but I am now looking at options for a bit of RENFE or other operator bashing from Barcelona on the Friday and the weekend. My flight will be back from Barcelona on Sunday evening (flexi Easyjet which I need to change) so I am flexible on where to stay Friday and Saturday evening.

I have been to Monseratt and Sitges before by train, so I'm looking for more interesting options, possibly some high speed rail?

Cheers

Gary
 
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30907

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Nuria rack line? iirc through fares from B.
Rail museum Vilanova del Geltru beyond Sitges if open.
Coast route North of B?
If high speed then Madrid.
 
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ChiefPlanner

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The monastery at Monserrat - excellent run out on the Catalonian suburban system - well worth a visit - enjoyed a superb lunch there.

Else as someone said - a trip out to either Sitges or Gerona. Surprised - as Barca has a lot of interesting things to see and experience.
 
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As it is winter I would head up to the Pyrenees on the La Tour de Carol line, including as someone has already suggested the rack railway from Ribes de Fresser to Nuria (Swiss type stock). You could even include the Petit Train Jaune in France. I was going to suggest a circular tour Barca - La Tour de Carol - TRain Jaune - Perpignan - Barca but have just noticed the TRain Jaune doesn't have many trains on the upper section to La Tour de Carol at present. However, If you were to stay the night you could work it in. Perpignan - Barca could be done on high speed train



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anme

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Mobile World Congress? I think that was the hardest week of my life. Have fun!
 
fowler9

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Get the Ave to Zaragoza. Takes about an hour and a half I think. Zaragoza is an interesting city and is a bit off the normal tourist trail.
 
fowler9

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gazthomas said:
Spot on - well guessed!

Thanks for everyone's suggestions so far. Zaragoza sounds interesting.
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I would definitely recommend Zaragoza. Like I say, it is somewhere a bit different. The historical centre of the city is lovely and the Cathedral is beautiful asa is the entire area around it. If you are going in the next few months the river should be in full flow as opposed to the slight trickle it was when I was there for 3 days in a September. Ha ha. Plenty to keep you occupied for an afternoon if you have already been to Montserrat or the Pyranees if you have already been there. Lots of nice food, plus a high speed train that should easily get you there and back in a day.
 
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fowler9 said:
Get the Ave to Zaragoza. Takes about an hour and a half I think. Zaragoza is an interesting city and is a bit off the normal tourist trail.
Click to expand...


Just shows how much has changed in Spain.

I travelled from Zaragoza to Barcelona in 1969 (aged 9). We left Zaragoza Arrabal (no longer exists!) at about 0800 in the morning and arrived in Barcelona at 8pm at night!

To be fair we could have got a faster Talgo but my dad couldn't afford the fare for a family of 4.

The benefit of the slow train ( an all stations Correo (postal)) was that it was more memorable - hence why I can recall the tale now I'm 53...

The two most memorable aspects were the traction -
It was hauled by a RENFE 141F 2-8-2 - and the fact that it stopped for an hour for lunch at Lerida (now Lleida) - a throwback to Victorian rail travel pre dining cars!



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fowler9

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Gordon said:
Just shows how much has changed in Spain.

I travelled from Zaragoza to Barcelona in 1969 (aged 9). We left Zaragoza Arrabal (no longer exists!) at about 0800 in the morning and arrived in Barcelona at 8pm at night!

To be fair we could have got a faster Talgo but my dad couldn't afford the fare for a family of 4.

The benefit of the slow train ( an all stations Correo (postal)) was that it was more memorable - hence why I can recall the tale now I'm 53...

The two most memorable aspects were the traction -
It was hauled by a RENFE 141F 2-8-2 - and the fact that it stopped for an hour for lunch at Lerida (now Lleida) - a throwback to Victorian rail travel pre dining cars!



.
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Ah brilliant mate. Now that sounds like a proper experience as opposed to just catching a train.
 
johnnychips

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I totally agree with everyone else that Zaragoza is a great place to visit. It must have held some great exhibition in the not-too-distant past as there is a cablecar from the station that doesn't operate, and a lot of modern unused buildings on the site. But the city centre is nice and the historic buildings in and off the main square are great to visit. Wish I could remember the name of a great all-you-can eat buffet.

To save opening a new thread, has anyone visited Lleida (Lerida)? Worth a day trip? I'm off to BCN again in July.
 
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fowler9

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johnnychips said:
I totally agree with everyone else that Zaragoza is a great place to visit. It must have held some great exhibition in the not-too-recent past as there is a cablecar from the station that doesn't operate, and a lot of modern unused buildings on the site. But the city centre is nice and the historic buildings in and off the main square are great to visit. Wish I could remember the name of a great all-you-can eat buffet.

To save opening a new thread, has anyone visited Lleida (Lerida)? Worth a day trip? I'm off to BCN again in July.
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They held Expo 2008 in Zaragoza hence the buildings and other things you saw. I passed through Lleida and stopped briefly and it looked a very nice city to visit, sadly we were a bit time constrained.
 
johnnychips

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Good choice. Just remembered, if you like fish, the aquarium is very good.

Also, at the start of the journey on the AVE, the staff will go round offering 'auricolares' (or something - pardon my Spanish). Even if you don't want to watch the film (and you will miss half of it anyway), the earphones access nice music channels as well.
 
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Gordon said:
As it is winter I would head up to the Pyrenees on the La Tour de Carol line, including as someone has already suggested the rack railway from Ribes de Fresser to Nuria (Swiss type stock). You could even include the Petit Train Jaune in France. I was going to suggest a circular tour Barca - La Tour de Carol - TRain Jaune - Perpignan - Barca but have just noticed the TRain Jaune doesn't have many trains on the upper section to La Tour de Carol at present. However, If you were to stay the night you could work it in. Perpignan - Barca could be done on high speed train



.
Click to expand...

One thing to note is how (at least in 2010) the single fare from Barcelona to Ribes de Freser was exceedingly cheap, given it's about 125km: around 6 euros if I remember correctly.

Definitely worth visiting in the summer, I guess the weather might be iffy this time of year but if it's clear I would recommend it.
 
30907

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gazthomas

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Hi all

Well I've tried to book tickets on the RENFE site, bit over complicated. Accept when it takes payment I get a "U010-F024" error so I will try again tomorrow!

I will take an ALVIA one way and an AVE the other to compare and contrast.

Any recommendations when I get to Zaragoza - train to Madrid or to the North. I will have a day and a half to wander.
 
gazthomas

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Hi all

As I write this I'm sitting in a nice Taberna enjoying a Cervesa having travelled to Zaragoza by train from Barcelona yesterday. The Alvia was quite quiet for a 15.30 departure and amazingly advanced first tickets where still available at Sants for sub €50 Preferente class on the day. Damn! The first class lounge was out of service for rebuild. Zaragoza is pleasant if not outstanding. I decided to clear the whole tram system, not really a challenge - 1 line at the moment taking 1.5 hours round trip but impressively smooth and good gradients at the north side! Home tomorrow - AVE then Easyjet!
 
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