Costa Brava is the beach region of Catalonia in Spain’s north-eastern county of Girona. It’s an area with many beach towns, good hotels and night life. The more mountains part of the region holds many small, charming villages and the beautiful city of Girona.
Costa Brava is the perfect location for a relaxing vacation, as well as trips with amazing views. It’s an area suitable for everyone, Youngsters, families and adults. The region also has an intriguing history and many activities and attractions.
Where to stay at Costa Brava?
You can stay in any beach town or in Girona, and those looking for a quiet and peaceful experience can stay at a small village in the mountainous area.
We stayed at Hotel Delamar in Lloret de Mar. Lloret de Mar is a beach town (Detailed post about our experience at hotel Delamar). Beyond the beach and night life, it also offers a museum, gorgeous gardens, a vantage point offering a view of the entire area, walking tracks and more.
How to reach Costa Brava?
We arrived at Costa Brava from Barcelona, in a car we had rented.
It’s possible to reach Costa Brava by train or bus from Barcelona, and there’s also an airport in Girona. If you’re planning to do a lot of traveling, I’d recommend renting a car/motorbike/ATV, but if you do decide to stick to public transport – You’ll have an easy time, as there are busses to every major area.
What did we do during our three days in Costa Brava
Day 1 – Lloret de Mar (Hotel), Tossa de Mar
Day 2 – Girona (Including a tour of the city), a small village by Girona, tour of Lloret de Mar
Day 3 – Lloret de Mar: Vantage point and coffee, Gardens and an amazing beach.
Detailed itinerary of Costa Brava
Day 1 – Arrival at Costa Brava, Hotel pool, Tossa De Mar, Evening stroll on the boardwalk and along the streets
Arrival from Barcelona
We arrived at Hotel Delamar in Lloret De Mar around lunch by car (We rented the car in Barcelona’s airport, through the Rentalcars website).
The hotel has paid parking, or you could park for free further away from the hotel.
Check in and pool
We received our room on the 6th floor, then came down to the pool in time for cheese tastings and wine (Every day at 17:30 the hotel offers cheese tastings and a glass of wine, free for hotel guests).
Tossa De Mar
We drove our car to the nearest town, called Tossa De Mar. Tossa De Mar is a beach town as well, with beautiful beaches, restaurants, bars and a castle on a hill with a beautiful view of the sea.
We parked the car about 15 minutes from the beach (We saw free parking and preferred not to drive on to a busier area), but there’s also a parking lot by the castle (Costs 3 euros an hour). We walked around town (Among all the shops), then decided to get takeaway coffee and pastry and go sit on the beach.
We spread the towels we’d brought with us and sat in front of the sea, enjoying the coffee and pastry and a good book :).
Afterwards, we went up to the castle, Vila Vella. (Map)
Tip: It’s recommended to go all the way to the end, to the lighthouse, there’s a café there with a beautiful view.
The climb up takes about 15 minutes by foot, and there’s also the option of taking a train going up and down the hill (At a cost).
Lloret de Mar
We came back to the hotel in Lloret de Mar, ate dinner there, then went for a stroll in town and on the boardwalk.
Day 2 – Girona, a small village and tour in Lloret de Mar
Girona city
After breakfast at the hotel, we drove our car to Girona (Approximately a 45-minute drive).
There’s a free parking lot, but it was full, so we parked at an underground parking lot which cost 3 euros an hour (The price is by minutes). Map.
We met Anna for a tour in the city, and it was a fascinating two hour tour. We then kept strolling around town and had lunch, and for dessert we had popsicles made out of sorbet in the shape of a lion and a nose. Here’s an extended post about all the things we saw and did in Girona.
Charming village
After Girona, we drove on to Santi Mari Vell village (About half an hour away from Girona). Map.
It’s a local village and there aren’t many attractions there, it’s simply green and beautiful there. We parked our car, headed up the stairs we found and toured the area.
Tour of Lloret de Mar
We went back to Lloret de Mar in the afternoon and went on a tour of the town with Martha the guide. It was a really interesting tour of the town and its history. I’ve written more information about this tour in the post about things to do in Lloret de Mar.
Cocktail at the hotel
We decided to stay at Hotel Delamar for a relaxing evening of cocktails by the pool.
Day 3 – Beach, vantage point with coffee, gardens and gorgeous beach
On the third day we were exclusively in Lloret de Mar. I’ve summarized our itinerary here, but you may read the detailed version in the post about Lloret de Mar.
Beach by the hotel
After breakfast we went to the beach closest to the hotel. We brought towels and a book.
Vantage point with coffee
One of the recommendations we got from the guide on our Lloret de Mar tour was to visit a hotel on the mountain (A 20-minute drive), where you can sit and have coffee while enjoying a view of the town and the sea. The hotel is called Sant Pere Del Bosc. Map.
Visiting the gardens
After the coffee and view we drove to Santa Clotilde Gardens, beautiful gardens with statues and a lot of greenery. Map.
One of the most beautiful beaches
The gardens are by a beautiful beach. We sat down for a meal at a restaurant on the beach first, then took a rest on the beach (On our towels). Cala Boadella beach. Map.
