Dalí Theatre-Museum in Figueres: a day trip from Barcelona by train, and which ticket

In 1961 the mayor of Figueres asked the most famous man ever born in the town to give a painting to its museum. Salvador Dalí answered that he would give a whole museum, and he chose the place himself: the shell of the municipal theatre, burned out at the end of the Civil War. It was where, at fourteen, he had hung his pictures in public for the first time. The Theatre-Museum opened in September 1974.

Dalí spent his last years in the tower next door and died there in January 1989. He is buried under the old stage, beneath the glass dome. In 2017 a court had the tomb opened to settle a paternity claim. The claim turned out to be false, and the embalmer reported that the moustache was still in place, pointing at ten past ten.

All of this is 140 kilometres from Barcelona, which makes it the classic day trip from the city. It works well by train, as long as you know that Figueres has two stations.

The glass dome over the old stage, and the eggs along the roof. Photo: Maksim Sokolov, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Is it worth a day?

Know what the place is first. It is not a gallery of Dalí's best-known canvases: the melting watches are in New York. It is a single large work that he designed room by room, and he called it a theatre for a reason.

• The courtyard, where the stalls used to be, holds a black Cadillac in which it rains on the passengers.
• One room is a living room when you walk in and the face of the actress Mae West when you climb a few steps and look back.
• A huge canvas on the stage shows his wife Gala from behind, looking at the sea. Step back twenty metres and it becomes a portrait of Abraham Lincoln.
• Among the tricks hang real paintings from every decade of his life, the early ones included.

There are almost no labels, because Dalí wanted none. If you like to understand what you are looking at, that is the argument for a guide in your ear.

Barcelona to Figueres: two trains, two stations

• The high-speed train leaves from Barcelona Sants and reaches Figueres Vilafant in a little under an hour. Seats are reserved and the cheap fares go early, so book ahead. Vilafant station stands in fields on the western edge of the town: the museum is about twenty minutes away on foot, or a short ride by bus or taxi.
• The regional train leaves from Sants and also stops at Passeig de Gràcia. It takes around two hours, costs much less and needs no reservation. It arrives at the old station, called simply Figueres, on the eastern side of the centre. From there the museum is a walk of ten to fifteen minutes, by way of the Rambla.

The two stations are on opposite sides of town and about half an hour's walk apart. Before you leave the museum, check which one your return train uses. A common plan is fast out and slow back, or the reverse.

By car the journey takes about an hour and a half on the motorway, and parking in the centre is paid.

A high-speed train at Figueres Vilafant, the station outside the town. Photo: mike, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0.

What the ticket includes

Entry is for a set time. In July and August, and on rainy days when the whole coast comes inland, the slots sell out, so buy before you buy the train.

The museum ticket also covers Dalí Jewels, a separate set of rooms with its own door around the corner: a few dozen pieces in gold and precious stones that he designed between the 1940s and 1970, among them a ruby heart that beats. Many visitors leave without knowing it was included. Keep your ticket and allow twenty minutes.

It does not cover the other two Dalí sites, which are not in Figueres at all:

• His house at Portlligat, beside Cadaqués on the coast, about an hour away by road. It is visited in very small groups at a booked time, and fills up long in advance.
• The castle at Púbol, which he gave to Gala, in the countryside towards Girona.

Neither is easy without a car, and neither fits comfortably into the same day as Figueres from Barcelona.

The front of the old theatre, and the line for the door. Photo: Jordiferrer, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Reading the partner's listings

• An entrance ticket is timed entry to the Theatre-Museum. The partner's listing names the Jewels as included.
• A ticket and audio tour adds commentary in the partner's app on your own phone, room by room. Bring earphones.
• An audio tour with a town walk comes in two versions with nearly the same name. One includes entry. The other states plainly that the museum ticket is not included. Read which one you have in the basket.

None of them includes the train.

These are the tickets and audio tours our partner sells for the Dalí Theatre-Museum, with today's prices:

• on WeGoTrip Walking Tours Figueres: Dali Museum Audio Tour with a Town Walk 2 hours Book on WeGoTripfrom46 zł
• on WeGoTrip Museum Tickets & Passes Figueres: Dali Theater Museum Ticket & Audio Tour 2 hours4.4 (16) Book on WeGoTripfrom44 zł
• on WeGoTrip Art & Museums Figueres: Dali­ Museum Entry & Audio Tour with a Town Walk 2 hours Book on WeGoTripfrom46 zł

Sold and delivered by WeGoTrip. You book on their site at their price; Viaqui may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you.

A plan for the day

• Morning. A train that gets you to Figueres about an hour before your slot. Walk around the outside of the building first: the red walls studded with loaves of bread and the giant eggs on the roof are half the show, and they are free.
• Late morning. The museum. Allow two hours, then the Jewels.
• Lunch on or near the Rambla, the tree-lined promenade at the bottom of the old town.
• Afternoon. Sant Ferran Castle, an enormous eighteenth-century fortress on the hill above the museum, is a fifteen-minute walk and usually almost empty.

The museum closes on most Mondays outside the summer months. Check the current days and hours on our page for the Dalí Theatre-Museum before you book a train.

The Rambla of Figueres, between the old station and the museum. Photo: Zarateman, via Wikimedia Commons, CC0.

From here

Both kinds of train stop in Girona on the way back, forty kilometres south, and its old town and cathedral are well worth breaking the journey for a couple of hours. If you are staying in the north, see what else is close to Figueres. If you are going back to the city, here is what there is to do in Barcelona, and the attractions map of Spain shows the rest.

Cover photo: Enfo, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0.