Barcelona to Sitges Day Trip 2023 - A Complete Guide

About Barcelona to Sitges Day Trip 2023

Sitges is a quaint coastal town 30 kilometers south of Barcelona that is easily accessible by car or train and is a popular day-trip option for a beach town near Barcelona, known as the Jewel on the Mediterranean.

Sitges has and open-minded and chilled vibe, offering a diverse range of activities that appeal to art and culture enthusiasts, shoppers, foodies, beach lovers, party animals, and individuals from the LGBT communities.

Continue reading to find all you need to know about a day trip from Barcelona to Sitges or a vacation stay.

Sitges History

Sitges is a medieval walled costal town. Today little remains of the old city walls and the castle has completely gone. However, there is still a small section of the old wall and moat plus plenty of whitewashed fishermans houses from c1700 or earlier in the medieval quarter.

Sitges is situated between the sea and the mountains of the Garraf Natural Park. The Mediterranean Sea coastline of Garraf with the mountain backdrop create a natural setting for this town.

The origins of Sitges are that of a fishing village and wine trading port. The town has been much favoured by artists, the bohemian crowd and more recently has developed a large LBGT community. Since the 1800s Sitges has been more known as a tourist resort with much more than just beaches.

Sitges Guided Tours

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Visiting Barcelona to Sitges Day Trip 2023

Sitges, has great museums, beaches, and restaurants.

Sitges Beaches

• Platja de Sant Sebastià: a small beach to the north of the church.
• Playa de los Balmins: is a small cove beach north of Sant Sebastià beach and is a nudist beach.
• Platja de Fragata: to the south of the church and next to the marina and is family friendly.
• Platja de la Ribera: is the beach adjacent to Platja de Fragata and has long shallow sand so you can walk out far into the water to swim.
• Platja de la Estanyol: further south and is in front of the modern hotel complexes.

Golf and Luxuary hotels

At the southern end of Sitges is the Club de Golf Terramar and luxuary Hotel Sunway Playa Golf & Spa or ME Sitges Terramar Hotel which has a beach called Platja de les Anquines protected within breakwater.

Where to Eat in Sitges

The gastronomy of Catalonia is rich and varied. In the mountainous regioins typical food is grilled meats, stews and grilled vegetables. In the coastal towns and villages it is the typical Mediterranean diet of fish and seafood with fresh vegetables, olives and olive oil rice and pasta. Paella will be served in almost every restaurant.

My recommended places to look for restaurants are behind Sant Sebastià beach or along passeig de la Ribera which is the palm tree lined boulevard on the beach front from the church going south.

In the centre of town I can recommend the El Nou Rusiñol Sitges restaurant or any of the restaurants in the small passages in this area.

Note: Breakfast is from 08:00 to 10:30 ish, Lunch is from 13:30 to 15:30 ish, Dinner is from 19:30 to 22:00 ish.

Where to Shop in Sitges

Sitges is a tourist town with small botique shops that sell one off items of clothing for that perfect summer holiday as well as some chain stores.

A good starting point is Plaça Cap de la Vila because the main shopping streets of sitges all converge here. Calle Parellades and Calle Jesus are slightly more touristy, with a heavier focus on cafes and souvenir shops, with some clothes shops. However, Calle Major and Calles Sant Francesc are full of clothes stores.

Museums and Historic Buildings

• Maricel Museum: is an art museum with exhibits from the tenth century.
  
  
• Cau Ferrat Museum: founded in 1893 by the modernist artist Santiago Rusiñol Prats (1861-1931) as a home workshop and became public museum in 1933.


• The Maricel Palace: one of the most emblematic buildings in Sitges. it is the former mansion of an American Tycoon.


• Parroquia de Sant Bartomeu i Santa Tecla: is the baroque church that sits above the Promenade.


• Ajuntament de Sitges: or Casa de la Vila, is the townhall and has a very beautiful façade.
  
  
• A walk in the old part of the town: and the shopping streets. The buildings are very old whitewashed houses with cobbled pedestrianised streets. It is here you will find many fashionable boutiques and small art galleries.

Notable Events in Sitges

• late February/early march: The Sitges Carnival is one of the oldest in Catalonia. A wild and merry atmosphere, with two main events: the street parades on Sunday and Tuesday.
  Sitges carnival 2023 runs from Thursday 16th of February till Wednesday 22nd of February.


• Mid March: The Barcelona to Sitges International Vintage Car Rally is an enormous social spectacle which has been held since 1959 and brings together classic cars and motorcycles from before 1924, the majority of which belong to private collections. The drivers and their passengers, in period dress, arrive in Sitges from Barcelona via the Garraf coastline. More than 15 motorcycles and 60 cars, all of them vintage, took part in the last rally.


• 23rd April: is Saint George's Day (Sant Jordi). This is the traditional Catalan day for couples and the tradition is that women give men a book and men give women a rose so Passeig de la Ribera is full of book stalls and florists.


• Beginning of June: is Gay pride Sitges. This international festival which, in 2019, held its tenth annual edition, has become one of the most important in the Mediterranean. Open to everyone and set among the town and its beaches, this occasion offers concerts, parades and parties by the sea.
  Gay Pride Sitges 2023 is from June 14th to June 18th. Renfe put on additional trains to return to Barcelona late in the evening.


• End of June: is Corpus Christi. where the streets are lined with carpets of flowers on Corpus Christi Sunday. The town's main streets wake up covered in carpets of flowers made by the local neighbours after working tirelessly through the night. In the afternoon, the flower carpets serve as a guide for the religious procession led by giant figurines.
  Corpus Cristi 2023 in Sitges is celebrated From the 8th of June to the 18th of June 2023 with the flowers in the streets on the 11th of June 2023.


• Fiesta major de Sitges. This is a big street party in the town, held in celebration of the town's patron saint, Sant Bartomeu (Saint Bartholomew).
  Fiesta major de Sitges 2023 is celebrated 18th to 27th of August 2023 with the fireworks display on 23rd of August


• Beginning of October: is the Sitges international film festival. and takes place in the Melia Sitges hotel. This is like a mini Cannes film festival and it focuses on fantasy films.
  Sitges film festival 2023 takes place from Thursday 5th October to Sunday 15th October 2023.


• End November-mid december: is Sitges Christmas Market. Selling arts and crafts goods and Sitges Christmas market selling traditional Catalan Christmas goods and decorations. At La Fragata beach and at the foot of the Sant Bartomeu (Saint Bartholomew) Church.

Accessibility, mobility & Clothing for Barcelona to Sitges Day Trip 2023

Access to Sitges Renfe station is step free with an elevator interchange between platforms.

Small 30L Hiking Rucksack

Includes high visibility fog and rain waterproof cover in zip compartment at bottom of rucksack.

Phone Case for watersports

IPX8 waterproof floating and submersible case & Lanyard. Permits photos and touchscreen use.

0.8L water bottle

Reusable, refillable 1L water bottle.

Beach Umbrella

UV blocking Compact Beach umbrella with carry bag.

Beach Towel

Large Cotton beach towel

Beach Sandals

Beach Sandals to protect against hot sand

Mid layer Top

Light weight cotton quick dry T-shirt

Trail shoes

Lightweight comfortable trail shoes

Convertible Trousers

Lightweight convertible trousers that zip down to shorts

High Factor Sun Cream

factor 50 non-polluting sun-cream to protect the oceans, lakes and rivers.

Getting to Barcelona to Sitges Day Trip 2023

Address: Platja de la fragata, Sitges. 08870

The R2 RODALIES and R2 Sud RODALIES lines go to Sitges from barcelona-Passeig de Gracia and barcelona-Sants. Trains are every 20 to 30 minutes and journey time is 35-40 minutes. See the documents section for train maps.

Documents for Barcelona to Sitges Day Trip 2023

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