10 Best Costa Brava Secret Gems!
July 07, 2009
The best way to experience the beauty of "the wild coast" just north of Barcelona is to skip the package tour hell and high rise resorts, and get on the tiny roads that lead to places hard to build on due to nature's stunning cliffs. Just like the over development that has ruined much of the Costa Blanca, Costa Del Sol and so many of the spectacularly beautiful coasts of Spain, Costa Brava has also been plagued by such. If you have a beautiful coast somewhere, it seems everyone wants a piece of it.
It is not that these places are so hard to find, but most visitors don't look as many are satisfied to never leave their resort and come just for sun holidays. Most who come to Barcelona, miss these great jewels, many are just a little over an hour away. Even in high season, we knew most of these secret hideaways would not be crowded and didn't book anything ahead. There are still wonderful, hidden delights, beaches & pretty postcard perfect villages to be found on all of these coasts. One just has to look and have a desire to find the authentic beauty that is far from the crowds.
We have enjoyed some of Costa Brava before ( including Dali's amazing museum), but rented a small car this fourth of July week, to dig deeper for beauty and unique experiences. We were not disappointed!
Our motor home is too heavy to get into some of these tiny spots that we were interested in seeing and we prefer skipping curvy, hilly roads in it, if at all possible. We carry a lot more in our RV than most (lots of books, can goods and full digital piano weigh us down) so vertiginous mountain roads are not our favorite, although we did see some RV's in some of the places we went to. We could have done many in our RV, but the 30-euro-a-day little rent-a-car granted us more leeway.
I will be writing more about these individual places with tons of photos and details, but wanted to get this top 10 list up for those who might be interested in exploring them too. They are in no particular order. Which ones have you seen?
Cap Roig
Calella de Palafrugell Beach
Aiguablava
Pals
Tossa Private Beach
Begur
Llafranc Beach
San Sebastian Lookout
Timarui Beach
Gala Dali House Museum
The best way to experience the beauty of "the wild coast" just north of Barcelona is to skip the package tour hell and high rise resorts, and get on the tiny roads that lead to places hard to build on due to nature's stunning cliffs. Just like the over development that has ruined much of the Costa Blanca, Costa Del Sol and so many of the spectacularly beautiful coasts of Spain, Costa Brava has also been plagued by such. If you have a beautiful coast somewhere, it seems everyone wants a piece of it.
It is not that these places are so hard to find, but most visitors don't look as many are satisfied to never leave their resort and come just for sun holidays. Most who come to Barcelona, miss these great jewels, many are just a little over an hour away. Even in high season, we knew most of these secret hideaways would not be crowded and didn't book anything ahead. There are still wonderful, hidden delights, beaches & pretty postcard perfect villages to be found on all of these coasts. One just has to look and have a desire to find the authentic beauty that is far from the crowds.
We have enjoyed some of Costa Brava before ( including Dali's amazing museum), but rented a small car this fourth of July week, to dig deeper for beauty and unique experiences. We were not disappointed!
Our motor home is too heavy to get into some of these tiny spots that we were interested in seeing and we prefer skipping curvy, hilly roads in it, if at all possible. We carry a lot more in our RV than most (lots of books, can goods and full digital piano weigh us down) so vertiginous mountain roads are not our favorite, although we did see some RV's in some of the places we went to. We could have done many in our RV, but the 30-euro-a-day little rent-a-car granted us more leeway.
I will be writing more about these individual places with tons of photos and details, but wanted to get this top 10 list up for those who might be interested in exploring them too. They are in no particular order. Which ones have you seen?
Cap Roig
Calella de Palafrugell Beach
Aiguablava
Pals
Tossa Private Beach
Begur
Llafranc Beach
San Sebastian Lookout
Timarui Beach
Gala Dali House Museum
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Cool photos. Only been to a couple of them many years ago
Posted by: Graham | July 07, 2009 at 07:35 AM
Wow! I didn't know Costa Brava was this beautiful. I wish I had known and we would have paid a visit to the coast while we were there in Barcelona.
Posted by: Jen Laceda | July 07, 2009 at 06:49 PM
It's nice to see these photos. My wife, daughter and I have been going to Begur in the summer for years now, lately in Sa Riera on the coast.
I love the Costa Brava for lots of reasons, not least of which is you can get great food to cook, the coastline is beautiful, you've got lots of cultural options in the smaller towns and Girona. I could go on and on!
Don't get caught there in September and afterwards, though. The tramontana winds will pursue you!
Posted by: Miguel Marcos | July 08, 2009 at 12:29 AM
Great post and so true, it really is not hard to get away from the touristy parts and discover something truly memorable along the Costa Brava and inland Girona too.
See my website for other ideas: http://discovergirona.net
Posted by: Jack | July 08, 2009 at 04:30 AM
Northern Spain, stretching from the Costa Brava to Cape Finistere in Galicia is one big string of beautiful little villages, undiscovered towns and amazing scenery. Your pictures are amazing and bring back wonderful memories of our travels there. But beware of the Calella and Llafranc beach on a sunday in august. They get soo crowded it is hard to find space to put down one towel. It was a great day though as it was so crowded it became funny. We were once there in december though and all these villages and beaches seemed deserted. It was amazingly beautiful.
Best regards
Nika
Posted by: Nika | July 08, 2009 at 08:53 AM
these are GORGEOUS! wow!! it sure makes me want to go. mozart looks so happy on the beach.:)
Posted by: jessiev | July 11, 2009 at 08:44 AM
these are GORGEOUS! wow!! it sure makes me want to go. mozart looks so happy on the beach.:)
Posted by: jessiev | July 11, 2009 at 08:44 AM
Graham-Thanks! Lovely area, isn't it?
Jen- Thanks! Yep, that is why I wanted to post it as I think many miss it when they come to Barcelona!
Miguel-Lucky you! Funny, but we first came to the Costa Brava in late October & some how missed those winds!
Jack- Thanks!
Nika- So true...last year we did Northern Spain from Galicia to France. Good to know about August, but it is hard to find any beach place not crowded in August in Europe.Galicia is probably fine then, but few others.
Jessie- Thanks! Mozart did have a blast...did 3 beaches and a pool one day! ;)
Posted by: Soultravelers3 | July 11, 2009 at 10:13 PM
It looks like such a pristine and beautiful place. How long did you stay there and where did you stay?
Posted by: Janet Davis | October 12, 2009 at 07:37 AM
Great pictures, thanks for sharing.
The Costa Brava is a really beautiful part of Catalonia, worth exploring! Just as much as the local culture, the art and architecture, the language and the gastronomy! There are so many beautiful villages to see a little bit inland too!
I would reccommed anyone to stay in a rented private home. It's best way to discover and sink into the local way of life.
Check my webiste for some beatiful Catalan villas:
www.charmingvillas.net
Posted by: Sara Marti | November 03, 2009 at 03:19 AM
What beautiful photos! I really enjoyed reading about your experiences! Someday we'll definitely have to go back and see what we missed when we were in Barcelona!
Posted by: Wendy Sewell | January 12, 2010 at 02:56 PM