Cadaqués

Thanks to its pebbled beaches and Dalí connection, Cadaqués has long been a favorite summer day trip or weekend getaway destination from Barcelona. Many guided day trips combine visits to Cadaqués and Salvador Dalí’s house in Port Lligat with a stop at the Dalí Theatre-Museum in Figueres, the artist’s birthplace. Fans of the surrealist can complete the so-called Dalí Triangle with a visit to the Gala Dalí Castle in Puból, though such a trip typically requires an additional day.

• Cadaqués is a popular destination for art lovers and photographers.

• Don’t forget to bring sunscreen, sunglasses, and a hat; the whitewashed buildings in town can be very bright.

• Costa Brava day trips that include Cadaqués typically last upwards of 12 hours, so prepare for an early start and a long day.

There's no direct train service between Barcelona and Cadaqués, a distance of 22 miles (36 kilometers), but many guided tours from Barcelona include the convenience of round-trip transfers. To make the trip by public transit, you can take the metro from Barcelona as far as the city of Figueres, then switch to a bus for the hour-long trip to Cadaqués. There are also direct buses from Barcelona.

The best times to visit Cadaqués are in the spring and autumn shoulder seasons. Summers get extremely busy, so plan to book ahead if you plan to travel during this time. Things slow down significantly from mid-October through early spring, with fewer amenities available to visitors.

Spain’s famous surrealist often spent holidays with his family in Cadaqués as a young boy. Later in life, he had a home in the neighboring village of Port Lligat, now the Dalí House Museum and one of three stops in the Dalí Triangle (along with the Dalí Theatre-Museum in Figueres and the Gala Dalí Castle in Púbol).