# May long weekend from Barcelona: getaways for 1 May, Labour Day Five getaways with a night away and three day trips from Barcelona for 1 May, chosen for what spring brings: daily balloon flights, newly planted rice fields, waterfalls and the first sea. Fuente: https://www.geocalia.com/en/spain/catalonia/barcelona/getaways/may-long-weekend · Revisado: 2026-11-13 Origen: Barcelona - [A weekend in the medieval Empordà, based in Peratallada](https://www.geocalia.com/en/spain/catalonia/peratallada/itineraries/medieval-weekend-peratallada-emporda.md) (2 nights, Peratallada): From May the Colomers balloon flies every day at 6:30, not just at weekends, so the holiday is also good for flying. Book the flight before the room in Peratallada: if the wind blows, the company moves it to the next day. - [A weekend in Carcassonne: the Cité, the Canal du Midi and a Cathar castle](https://www.geocalia.com/en/france/occitanie/carcassonne/itineraries/weekend-cite-from-girona.md) (2 nights, Carcassonne): 1 May is also a holiday in France, and the Cité fills by day; sleeping inside you have it empty at dusk. The Canal du Midi boat is already sailing, as its season runs from April to October, and the lists can be walked free first thing. - [Two nights at Terra Dominicata, the winery hotel beside the Escaladei charterhouse, with tastings across the Priorat](https://www.geocalia.com/en/spain/catalonia/priorat/itineraries/two-nights-between-charterhouse-and-vineyards-priorat.md) (2 nights, Priorat): The Priorat vines have just sprouted and the heat is not yet oppressive, the best time to walk to the Escaladei charterhouse. From 1 May it opens until 19:00 on working days; on the holiday, only from 10:00 to 15:00. - [A night in the Montsec from Barcelona: the Parc Astronòmic, a Starlight masia and the Congost de Mont-rebei](https://www.geocalia.com/en/spain/catalonia/montsec-and-ager/itineraries/night-of-telescopes-from-barcelona-montsec.md) (1 night, Montsec and Àger): La Masieta, the entrance to the Mont-rebei Gorge from Lleida, is open at weekends and on public holidays with a booked parking space, and in spring the path does not have July's heat. The space can be booked until 23:59 the night before. - [A getaway to Rupit and the Collsacabra cliffs](https://www.geocalia.com/en/spain/catalonia/rupit/itineraries/rupit-collsacabra-cliffs-one-night.md) (1 night, Rupit): After the spring rains the Salt de Sallent carries more water than at any other time, and the Sant Miquel bell tower opens on holidays from 11:00 to 15:00. On a long weekend the only car park fills by mid-morning: arrive before eleven. - [Pals: rice fields, Gothic quarter and beach](https://www.geocalia.com/en/spain/catalonia/pals/itineraries/pals-rice-fields-gothic-quarter-and-beach.md) (Day itinerary, Pals): In spring the Pals rice fields are newly planted and green, and the El Xiulet little train goes down to the mill with a 10:00 departure on the days in its calendar. From the viewpoint in the old town you see the fields with the Montgrí behind. - [Garraf: coves and rice by the sea](https://www.geocalia.com/en/spain/catalonia/garraf-coves/itineraries/garraf-coves-and-rice.md) (Day itinerary, Garraf Coves): In May lifeguarding begins on les Casetes beach, with short hours, and the water is still cold for most people: it is a day of coastal path and rice. With the R2 Sud you arrive in half an hour without looking for parking. - [Montseny: easy beech forest and grill](https://www.geocalia.com/en/spain/catalonia/montseny/itineraries/montseny-beech-forest-and-grill.md) (Day itinerary, Montseny): In May the Santa Fe beech wood is light green and almost empty, unlike in autumn, when access is regulated. The loop around the reservoir is flat, works with a pushchair and at 1,080 metres it is cool if the coast is already stifling. ## A fixed holiday that does not always make a long weekend 1 May, Labour Day, is a holiday every year in Catalonia, but whether you get a long weekend depends on the calendar: if it falls midweek, you have a single day; if it falls next to the weekend, three days in a row. In Barcelona there is also another holiday nearby, Whit Monday (Segunda Pascua), which is a local holiday in the city and falls at the end of May or in June: if this one does not suit you, save the longer getaway for then. With three days, two nights give the best return: Carcassonne, a little over three hours away, or the Priorat from Escaladei. With two, one night is enough for Rupit and the cliffs or the Montsec. And if you only have the 1st, Garraf and the Montseny are less than an hour away. ## What spring sets in motion May is the month when many things start working daily. The Empordà balloon, which in winter flies only at weekends, goes up every morning at 6:30; that is why it is worth sleeping in Peratallada and not leaving Barcelona before dawn. In the Baix Ter, the rice fields at Pals are newly planted: not the sheet of water of winter, but a new green that can be seen from the wall. Inland, water rules. The Salt de Sallent, in Rupit, drops about 115 metres and in spring it carries most water; in August it can be a trickle. And in the Montsec, the Mont-rebei gorge is walked at just the right temperature, before the sun heats the rock wall. ## Without a car: Rodalies and the coast Barcelona has the advantage of the train. The R2 Sud drops you at Garraf in half an hour, next to the white huts and the coast path: no need to fight for the village's few parking spaces. The Santa Fe beech wood is reached by the R2 Nord to Sant Celoni and the Bus Parc 573, which runs at weekends; if the holiday falls midweek, check its timetable first. The rest of the page needs a car, except Carcassonne, which has a train with a change at Narbonne and the station in the Bastide, a twenty-minute walk from the Cité. ## With children: little train, cold beach and reservoir The little train at Pals appeals at any age and the way back to the village is on a flat path. At Garraf, the sand at les Casetes is good for playing even if the water does not yet invite a swim. The loop around the Santa Fe reservoir is short and flat. Children can fly in the balloon from age 5, and in Rupit the Joc d'en Rupes treasure hunt goes round the village to the Soler viewpoint. The Priorat hotel, on the other hand, does not admit under-14s. ## The order of bookings On a spring long weekend what sells out first is whatever has small numbers of places: the balloon, the 26 rooms at Terra Dominicata, the Starlight farmhouse in Àger and the night pass at the Astronomical Park, which fixes the time of the night. Then the La Masieta car park, which can only be booked up to the day before, and the rice route, which publishes its departures in the El Xiulet calendar. In Rupit, the Fonda Marsal is closed on Wednesdays; if your long weekend falls on that day, eat at the Hostal Estrella. ## The way out and back on the AP-7 and C-32 The exit northwards on the AP-7 and the return on the last day on the C-32 from Garraf are the two traffic jams of the long weekend. Leave before nine or after lunch, and come back early on the last day or at night. In the Cité of Carcassonne, at midday you will coincide with the groups: do the lists and the ramparts first thing. Leave for another date the golden beech woods of the Montseny, which are for October and November, and the flooded rice fields of Pals, which can be seen from November to February. ## Preguntas frecuentes ### Is 1 May a holiday in Catalonia every year? Yes. Labour Day is a holiday across Spain and Catalonia does not move it. Barcelona also has Whit Monday (Segunda Pascua) as a local holiday, which falls between the end of May and June. ### Which May getaway can be done by train from Barcelona? Garraf, on the R2 Sud; the Santa Fe beech wood, with the R2 Nord and the Bus Parc at weekends; and Carcassonne, by train with a change at Narbonne. ### Can you swim in May? At les Casetes in Garraf lifeguarding starts in May, with short hours, but the water is usually cold. The good months for swimming are June and September. ### Does the balloon fly on the holiday? In May, the Empordà balloon goes up every day at 6:30. It depends on the wind: if it cannot fly, the company changes the date.