Where things stand
Do these next
- Sagrada Família is booked for Mon Nov 23: guided tour at 12:00, Passion tower at 13:30. Saturday is Tossa then MNAC; Sunday starts at Montserrat at 8:00. Booked
- Pick a plan and your Barcelona night at the top of "Plan your days". Plan A is the one you chose. Decide
- Ask your Terrassa friend two things: whether they can meet you at the airport on Thursday, and whether they can drive you there on Tuesday. Verify
- Ask your Barcelona friend if you can stay on Mon Nov 23. Verify
- Book a rental car in Barcelona, Friday evening to Monday morning (Expedia had good prices). Collect it around 18:00 Friday after Park Güell, drive it to Tossa on Saturday and Montserrat on Sunday, and return it by 9:00 Monday before Sant Pau. That covers both 7:30 starts. Put your quote in the budget so the total uses it. Verify
- Then book the rest on the official sites: Park Güell (Friday 16:00 slot), La Pedrera (Monday 16:00), Casa Batlló, the Palau tour and the free MNAC Saturday slot. The checklist lists them for your plan. Before you go
- Skim "What Reddit says" for the restaurant shortlist and the scams locals warn about. Before you go
What the research found
- Take the FGC S1, not the R4. In October only 42% of Rodalies R4 trips ran on time and 7% were cancelled. The FGC S1 runs from Terrassa Nacions Unides, your nearest station, to Gràcia and Plaça de Catalunya in about 1 hour, every 10–20 minutes.
- Tossa and MNAC fit one Saturday. Tossa is about 1 h 10 from Terrassa and about 1 h 15 from Barcelona (est.), so a morning there and lunch at 13:00 (leave by 13:45) gets you to MNAC when its free window opens at 15:00.
- Three museums are free on your weekend. MNAC on Saturday from 15:00 (book online), and the Museu Marítim and MUHBA Plaça del Rei on Sunday from 15:00. MNAC isn't free on Sun Nov 22 and closes at 15:00 that day.
- Official tickets are usually cheaper. Sagrada Família is €26 on its own site versus US$37.78 on GetYourGuide. Park Güell is €18 versus US$24.03. Casa Batlló is the exception to check: GetYourGuide starts at US$32.42, the official Blue ticket is €35.
- Montserrat needs no ticket. Entry to the monastery is free; the Black Madonna's chapel is open 8:00–10:30 and 12:00–18:25, and on Sundays the boys' choir sings at 12:00. Only the 11:00 Mass takes online bookings. The car park is paid (about €6.50 a day, per one guide) and fills on weekends, so arrive early.
- The Bunkers del Carmel close at 17:30 in winter, and sunset is around 17:20. Be up there by 16:45.
- You'll just miss the Christmas markets. Santa Llúcia and the Port Vell market start around Nov 27–28. The 2026 lights date isn't announced yet (2025's was Sat Nov 22).
- Hiking is restricted. African swine fever has kept Collserola (the Tibidabo trails) closed, with reopening expected around year end. Terrassa's own countryside has been in the high-risk zone, so check before planning La Mola.
- Reddit's top warnings: buy Sagrada tickets only on its own site, skip photo-menu restaurants, and keep phones off café tables and out of your hand on the metro.
Your days, hour by hour
Read each day as a timeline, then tap Edit to change times, move things between days or swap in other options.
Every activity is offered on each day its venue is open. Use "Move to…" to shift a pick to another day, or edit its start and end times ("Reset time" puts the suggested times back). Red means two things overlap; amber means there isn't enough time to get between places, or a time is outside opening hours. The pink band on Thursday and Tuesday is the 2-hour buffer around your flights, and nothing is offered inside it.
See your days on the map
Pick one or more days. Stops are numbered in order and coloured by day. Lines follow the real streets and tracks: walks in the day's colour, metro and bus rides in their line colours with dotted walks to the stops, the S1 in teal and drives dashed. Drag to move, zoom with + and − or by pinching, and tap a stop for its time and a Google Maps link.
Street map from OpenStreetMap (Protomaps build of Nov 1, 2026), stored with this page so it loads without outside services. Streets are most detailed in central Barcelona and around your friend's place in Terrassa, and simpler further out. Use the Google Maps links for directions. Your friend's house is placed along Carrer de Tarragona, not at the exact number.
The street map couldn't load here, so this is a simplified drawing from approximate coordinates. Use the Google Maps links for directions.
Four ways to do the five days
Each plan fills Friday to Tuesday in the day builder. Pick one, then fine-tune by hand. Costs are per person for the activities and meals in the plan.
Plan A is your plan: Tossa and free MNAC Saturday, free museums and dinner in Barcelona Sunday
Friday covers the market, the Gothic Quarter and the Picasso Museum, then Park Güell at 16:00 for sunset, the rental car around 18:00, and the facades of Passeig de Gràcia before tapas at Cerveseria Catalana. The car stays with you until Monday morning. Saturday: leave at 7:30 for Tossa de Mar, lunch there, then about 1 h 15 into Barcelona for MNAC's free afternoon (15:00–18:00, sunset from the terrace) and pintxos in Poble-sec. Sunday: Montserrat at 8:00 by car, the boys' choir at 12:00, then Barcelona for a Barceloneta lunch, the Museu Marítim and MUHBA (both free from 15:00) and dinner in El Born. Monday: return the car by 9:00, then Sant Pau, your booked Sagrada Família visit, and La Pedrera's rooftop at sunset. Plans B to D are kept as alternatives: B has few bookings and later starts, C trades Saturday for Girona and Figueres, D does Montserrat by train on Friday and Tossa on Sunday.
Getting around from Terrassa
Terrassa is in fare zone 2, so you need 2-zone tickets for every trip into Barcelona. Ask your friend which station is nearest the house.
Terrassa ↔ Barcelona
- FGC S1 from your nearest stations, Terrassa Nacions Unides or Terrassa Estació del Nord, both a short walk from Carrer de Tarragona, to Gràcia, Provença and Plaça de Catalunya. About 1 hour from Nacions Unides. Every 10 minutes most of the weekday, every 20 at weekends.
- Ticket: each of you needs your own pass. For five days, a T-usual 2 zones (€30.55 + €1 card, unlimited for 30 days, bought with your passport) usually beats a T-casual 2 zones (€25.50 for 10 trips). Either includes a change to the metro or bus within 1 h 30. The budget works out which suits your picks.
- Last S1 home: a Terrassa local on Reddit says trains run until about 01:00 on Fridays and Saturdays. Plan on about midnight other nights and check the FGC app. The day builder flags evenings that run past that.
Airport and Montserrat
- Aerobús A1 between Terminal 1 and Plaça de Catalunya: €7.75 one way, €13.30 return, about 35 minutes, every 5–10 minutes.
- Metro L9 Sud to both terminals: €5.90 airport ticket (T-casual isn't valid there). The R2 Nord train only reaches T2, with a free shuttle to T1.
- A taxi from central Barcelona to Terrassa is about US$55–70 (Rome2Rio estimate).
- Montserrat from Terrassa: about 25 minutes by car. By train, R4 to Sant Vicenç de Castellet, R5 to Monistrol de Montserrat, then the rack railway (€15 return): about 1 h 15 in all.
- Tuesday: bring your bags into the city in the morning and leave them near Plaça de Catalunya, then take the Aerobús at about 18:15.
What getting around costs (2026 fares)
| Ticket | Price | Per trip | Good for |
|---|---|---|---|
| T-casual 2 zones | €25.50 · 10 trips | €2.55 | Terrassa ↔ Barcelona on the S1, including one change to the metro or bus within 1 h 30. One person per card. |
| T-usual 2 zones | €30.55 + €1 card | Unlimited, 30 days | Beats T-casual cards once you pass about 12 train trips, or a mix of trains and city rides. Personal: you need your passport to buy it. |
| T-familiar 2 zones | €21.75 · 8 trips | €2.72 | The one card the two of you can share (valid 30 days). |
| Single ticket | €4.15 (2 zones) · €2.90 (1 zone) | — | One ride, no changes. |
| T-casual 1 zone | €13.00 · 10 trips | €1.30 | Metro and bus rides inside Barcelona. |
| Hola Barcelona 5 days | €43.60 | Unlimited | Barcelona only (zone 1), including the airport metro. It doesn't reach Terrassa, so it's poor value for you. |
| Aerobús A1 (Terminal 1) | €7.75 · €13.30 return | — | Plaça de Catalunya ↔ T1, about 35 min, every 5–10 min. Passes aren't valid. |
| Metro L9 airport ticket | €5.90 | — | Metro to either terminal. T-casual isn't valid at the airport stations. |
| Montserrat rack railway | €15 return · €9 one way | — | From Monistrol de Montserrat. From Barcelona, the FGC + rack railway pack is €20.80–32.60 depending on zones. |
| Sant Joan funicular | €17.50 return | — | Above the monastery at Montserrat. |
| Bus to Tossa de Mar | ~€16–21 each way | — | Moventis from Estació del Nord, 1 h 20 (Rome2Rio estimate). |
| Taxi | €2.80 + €1.35–1.66/km | — | +€4.60 to or from the airport. Central Barcelona → Terrassa is about US$55–70 (Rome2Rio). |
Fares from Mapa Metro Barcelona and Barcelona Secreta (2026 ATM fares), Barcelona Urbana (airport), Turistren (Montserrat) and Rome2Rio (estimates).
Opening hours on your dates
From each venue's site where available, otherwise a guide citing it. Casa Batlló's daily hours weren't published on the page I checked, so pick a slot when you book.
Booked, and what your picks need
Flights and the Terrassa address come from your Wanderlog. The list below follows your picks, with the venue's own site first.
What's left to spend
Per person, from your current picks plus transport, other meals and extras. Excludes flights and anything already paid. "est." means my estimate.
Booking checklist
Built from your picks; it changes when you swap activities.
Open choices, with my pick
Nothing here is decided for you. Each card shows the options, the trade-off, the price difference and what to confirm first.
Locals and recent visitors
From r/AskBarcelona, r/Barcelona and r/catalonia threads, mostly from the past year, read Oct 31, 2026. These are opinions, not checked facts; restaurant names need a hours check before you go.
Sights
- Sagrada Família: buy only on sagradafamilia.org. Look-alike sites at the top of Google charge about 3× (one couple paid €135 for €42 of tickets) and some never delivered. PSA thread, Oct 2025, 71 votes
- The towers are hit and miss: small windows, crowds and a long spiral stair. Those who liked them say Nativity side, mornings. Jun 2026
- Casa Batlló splits opinion: "the most beautiful Gaudí house" versus "the facade is the best part". Several point to Sant Pau and the Palau de la Música as cheaper, equally striking visits. Oct 2025, 50 comments
- Sant Pau is a local favourite ("I take all my visitors"). Some would skip Park Güell for its crowds and suggest Palau Güell or Casa Vicens instead. Mar 2026
- Park Güell books a few days ahead. If the official checkout fails, use a computer and allow your bank app's notifications. Aug 2026
- Bunkers del Carmel close at 17:30 in winter time. Oct 2026
- Montserrat is "one of a kind"; half a day is enough without hiking; it's cold up top. The choir is "enchanting but not a must-do". Dec 2025 · Sep 2026
- Flamenco is a tourist show here, locals stress. Tablao Cordobés (and El Duende, same owner) get the most praise for quality. Mar 2026
Scams, safety and getting around
- Phones: not on café tables and not loosely in hand on the street or metro. Zip crossbody bags; watch snatching has risen. Jun 2026
- Restaurants to avoid: photo menus, "sangria and paella" boards, English names, cocktails-and-nachos bars. One visitor was billed €99 for a ~€30 meal at a "tapas y cocktails" bar. Aug 2026
- Google ratings run high in Barcelona; filter for places with hundreds of reviews.
- La Rambla: walk it if you like, but don't eat there. The metro is fine at any hour. Mar 2026
- Terrassa: locals call the FGC "excellent and reliable" (40–45 min to the city, until about 01:00 Fri–Sat) and Rodalies prone to delays. Terrassa itself is practical rather than pretty: Vallparadís park, mNACTEC, old textile mills. r/catalonia, Jul 2025
- Hiking: Collserola has been closed for African swine fever since March 2026, with reopening expected around year end. r/Barcelona, Mar 2026
Where to eat: names locals keep giving
- Catalan classics: Can Culleretes (old town; touristy now, ask for the menú del dia), Bar Bodega Gol (informal; "my favourite place to take visitors"), Cal Boter (Gràcia), Bodega La Palma and Ca l'Agut (old town), Bodega La Puntual (El Born), Ca l'Estevet, Can Cortada, La Clara (Gran Via). Oct 2026
- Vermut: La Guapa La Mala (Comte d'Urgell 146), Dalt de Tot (Carrer de Saragossa 66). Oct 2026
Where the facts come from
Checked Oct 31, 2026. Ratings and prices are from the listing pages and change often. Price labels: official = the venue's own site; listed = a guide or reseller; est. = my estimate.