Tarragona For a Day

We have a full day in Tarragona in May on Azamara Quest. Can anyone advise if we should spend the day in Tarragona or head off for Barcelona? Any advice on local tour operators? Many thanks!

Tarragona is definitely worth visting, you could walk the city on your own, visiting the colleseum, the circo, the arqueological museums and the other roman ruins, of which there are lots for such a small city.

On the other hand, Barcelona is about an hour and a half on train or longer, so whether you visit Barcelona or not I think would depend how much time you have.

There is a 'traditional' tourist train that offers a tour of the main tourist sites, it stops at the Port and visits the Cathedral, Roman Amphitheatre, Rambla Nova - the main shopping street - which has a fantastic view of the Sea and Port.

Tarragona is a traditional/historic city, with lots to see from Roman ruins, a shopping centre plus newly (about 2/3 years if I remember correctly) Corte en ingles department store, plus there are art museums.

It is not on the same scale as Barcelona nor does it have the same activities but if you have visited Barcelona before and fancy something a little less touristy yet with still lots to see - which can be seen on foot, as they are pretty close together.

Having visited Tarragona I would spend the day in/around Tarragona. It is quaint and would be a more relaxing day as the Port is central to the main sites.

The 'standard train station is very close to the port and trains stop every hour to/from Barcelona and it takes just over an hour - but the train stop for siesta which usually means no trains between 2pm - 3.30pm (ish). Ticket prices are reasonable. Take a look at Renfe website if you look at train times/prices - not sure if you can pre-book but non-rush hour should be fine even if you decided on the day.

There is a high speed train (AVE) that stops at Camp Tarragona - not the same station as the standard train. However, in a car from the 'port area' it would take up to 20/25 minutes. the trains run hourly - but stop for a siesta period, and takes between 30/40 minutes depending upon which train selected.