One Day in Sitges: Beaches, Food & Art in This Coastal Gem

Sitges is a coastal city located 45 min south of Barcelona. It is what you may imagine when thinking of Spain: white houses in front of a yellow beach, many local stores, restaurants specialized in fish. I do like visiting Sitges whenever I return to Barcelona. Sitges is not a big place, but it absolutely deserves a visit – it has enough to see and it’s great to chill, whether you’re a local or a tourist. Check out this one day in Sitges guide to feel inspired about visiting this coastal city! It’s the perfect one day trip from Barcelona, too.

How to reach Sitges?

While Sitges is easily accessible by car, the parking situation is difficult. Currently, many spots are reserved for neighbours or are paid. Thus, going by train is recommended. You can take the R2 from Rodalies Renfe at Barcelona-Sants to start your trip to Sitges and also other cities in Catalunya. The trip takes around 50 min. Not gonna lie, it can get really crowded in summer or during the weekend, so plan accordingly.

What to see in Sitges?

Morning: enjoy the beach while it’s not that hot

Go to the beach

I never understood why people go to the beach after lunch. It’s unbearably hot and the sun is at the strongest, increasing the risk of sunburns. As someone who has very fair skin, I am not risking it. Therefore, my recommendation if you like the beach is to start your day there. There’s still not many people, so you can get a good spot, you don’t need to bath yourself in sunscreen, and the water feels cleaner. During peak of summer, the water will be warm enough at any time of the day, so that shouldn’t be an issue.

There’s basically two beaches in Sitges closer to the city center: the Platja de Sant Sebastià, which is smaller, and the Platjes de la Fragata and de la Ribeta. In this case, there’s several beaches combined, and you can just walk from one to the other. There are several more further away from the city center, which feel like a continuation of the Platja de la Fragata. Just choose your spot and enjoy the morning.

Once you’ve had enough of meditative sea viewing, head back to the city center. The city is quite small, so you’ll be able to visit all the highlights quite quickly. Walk through the nice streets and look for wall decorations and cute streets. The church is one of the highlights. Located up a small hill, it’s a great viewing point. You can visit the church inside too, it is quite interesting to see, with barroc art inside.

Afternoon: hide from the heat in museums and shops or visit a winery

The museums of Sitges

After having some lunch, you can start the cultural program. If you’re visiting in summer, it’s going to get hot, so visiting stores or museums is the best activity. There are not that many museums in Sitges, but you can visit the Palau Maricel, located behind the church. This palace’s name, Maricel, literally translates to sea and sky. You may notice that on the photo it’s labeled as Marycel, but on the official website is Maricel. Not sure what’s the history behind. This palace is gorgeous inside and well-worth a visit. It was first built between 1910 and 1918, and is where many events take place, including concerts, exhibitions, and weddings. Nearby the palace, there is the Maricel Museum, which features multiple art works.

Other museums to visit if you have the chance are the Cau Ferrat Museum, which was the house of Santiago Rusiñol, an important Catalan artist; the Romantic museum, which shows beautiful decorations and many art pieces, and the Fundació Stämpfli, which is a modern art museum. All these museums are also located in the city center, so they constitute an easy visit if you want to learn more about Catalan culture and art.

Visit one of the wineries

I must admit wine (and alcohol in general) is not my thing, so I’m not the person to ask for advice here. However, Sitges (and Catalonia) have excellent wineries with prices and experiences for everyone. Most of the wineries are a bit further form the town, since you need quite some space to culture the grapes. You need to book them in advance and choose the ones that offer a tour on the day you’re available.

If (like myself) you didn’t plan, but still want to bring a friend to enjoy some wine, I can recommend the Centre d’Interpretació de la Malvasia de Sitges. It’s located behind the station, so you don’t need a car, and they offer tours in Spanish, Catalan, and English six days a week. We dropped by the tour right before it started and it was a really interesting experience. The guide showed us the old hospital, which is currently a center for elderly people, and an old church. We also saw a small grape field located in the city center, and learned about it’s history, as well as the history of the Malvasia wines. Even as a non-alcohol drinker I enjoyed the experience, and the prices are good, so you don’t feel like you’re wasting money if you don’t drink the wine. But no worries, no wine was wasted – my friend was happy to get a second glass for herself.

Where to eat in Sitges?

I have two favourites to visit when I am in Sitges:

• Casa Sevilla. This small restaurant not too far from the station offers typical local foods at good prices. The place is nicely decorated with very fitting maritime decorations. I usually got for the menú del día, a menu that includes two main dishes and a dessert, and changes every now and then.
• Komokieras. This restaurant has more of a fine dining feel to it – therefore, the prices are a bit higher and you often need a reservation to get in. They have the standard menu and usually a few new specialties. Last time I went, I tried the tender oven-baked octopus, and the scallops in a sauce – delicious!

Special events

Spanish cities are fun in summer, when many celebrations take place. Sitges is no exceptions. Two of the very cool festivals that take place are:

• Corpus Christi: It took me years before I finally had the opportunity of visiting the Corpus Christi in Sitges. It’s a religious festivity that brings the community to create beautiful flower carpets on the streets. Different communities meet during the night and early morning to decorate the streets. Then, they have a competition of the best flower carpet, and in the evening, after mass, the traditional figures gegants walk over the flower carpets, followed by a procession. Another tradition taking place during the Corpus, is l’ou com balla (“how the egg dances” in Catalan). It takes place in the Palau Maricel, and you can see an egg on a fountain.

• Festa Major de Sitges. All Catalan cities have the “city day” (or week), where multiple events take place to celebrate. Originally, the celebration revolved around the saint patron of the city, but currently most events are unrelated to religious practices. Theatres, concerts, talks, exhibitions, dances… The festa major is a big deal! These events change year by year, so check them out if you are coming. The highlight of the Festa Major de Sitges are the fireworks. I’ve only seen them once, because coming from Barcelona requires of some logistics, but they were absolutely impressive!

LGTBQ scene in Sitges

If you’re looking to expand your queer scene or just want to visit an LGTBQ-friendly place, Sitges is the place to be. What may look like a traditional Catalan town during the day, transforms into a party town at night. There’s plenty of drag queen shows, gay bars, and stores oriented to homosexuals (have you ever seen a sexy underwear store oriented to men? Well, here you have it!). The Pride Parade is also very famous and fun.

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