zac495

Our plan is to stay in Barcelona for 5 days and then 5 or 6 days in one or 2 coastal towns. We love the beach, so we think a combination would be great. We don't want to go far from Barcelona, as we must meet my family in London.

I have been reading the forum carefully and saving different responses on other threads.

We're thinking we would rent a car and drive somewhere within an hour - probably 2 towns.
What do we like? We like staying at a resort where we can see the sea - we enjoy the beach - we like sitting outside at local restaurants and eating good food and wine. We don't care for night life - we always eat out at a nice restaurant in the evening.

Suggestions?
Thank you.
Ellen

kja

As I noted on your other thread, you might consider Tossa de Mar.
The Cap d'Or is not a resort, but it is a delightful little place.
http://www.hotelcapdor.com
And if you go there, a meal at La Cuina de Can Simon is well worth considering:
http://www.restaurantcansimon.com
It's about 1.5 hours away, though.

zac495

Thank you. I wrote twice here? I'm sorry!

zac495

I see - I wrote when I was thinking of doing South of France. Now that we must be in London, we rethought our plan. I love the look of Tossa de Mar. Thank you Kja. Would you recommend staying just there or staying at another town along the way (there or back)? As I said, we want to do 5 or 6 days along the coast.

I've read the difference between Brava and Dorada. Clearly you think Brava will be more interesting?

kja

I haven't been to the Costa Dorada yet, but not for lack of interest.

Have you consulted the <i>Michelin Green Guide</i>? IMO, it provides excellent coverage of the options.

Alan_CT

Sitges and Tarragona, on the Costa Dorada south of Barcelona, are less hectic and developed than the Costa Brava. There aren't so many resort hotels, but lots of apartments to rent.

HappyTrvlr

Look at Begur and Aiguablava on tne Costa Brava.the latter one also has a parador.

Rindaroy

If you want to stay close to Barcelona, consider Sitges or Tossa as the best options, as some other people have pointed put. If you are up to drive a little bit more, specially to the north (it is far more beautiful), there is plenty of places you can try: Begur, L'Escala, L'Estartit, Palafrugell, etc.

zac495

We're up for a 2 hour drive to stay somewhere more beautiful. I've been researching Tossa de Mar. these others - Begur, L'Escala, L'Estartit, Palafrugell, - how far are they?

My kids like staying in places with nice pools and by the sea. So I'm looking for towns that have both charm and some upscale resorts

zac495

I should add - we're not looking to stay in a place just for a beach. We have the Caribbean for that. When we did Amalfi Coast and Turkey and Greece, we loved being in Europe and seeing the real sights and people. So "just a beach," isn't what we want. Cheaper to go to St. John.

danon

Sitges is mostly about the beach
Tarragona is a nice spot for a day ( an hour by train from BC ) visit.

If you are looking for a longer stay, Valencia is 3 hours by train from BC
...a beautiful city with many attractions.

kja

For distances, use either google maps or viamichelin. I recommend entering the actual address you will use in Barcelona, as traffic in the city could easily add substantially to your time.

I must admit that I am confused about what you are seeking. Barcelona itself has a beach and "real sights and people." There are LOTS of places around Barcelona that offer an incredible array of wonderful options -- depending on what you want. Sounds to me like you would benefit enormously from consulting a few good guidebooks, whether you buy them or get them from your local library.

Good luck!

Egbert

Costa Brava is much prettier than Costa Dorada. How about San Sebastian or Mallorca? You can fly there in about 45 minutes.

zac495

Kja thanks for the tip on clicking on my own name to look back at old posts.

I copied things from this post now too!

kja

Glad to be of help!

daria

Hi! I have not been to Spain yet, but have been looking for the same thing for my family. I've been reading the responses to your posts, and perhaps you've been reading the responses to mine. We will be staying in Barcelona for 5-7 days and also in San Sebastián, and I want to add some small towns. What we like are small, beautiful, relaxing towns from which we can see some other sites, but where we can relax away from the rush. Ideal for us is to be able to take the train or bus, but it sounds like that is not always the best option in this region.

I am almost certain we will go to Sitges. It really looks gorgeous. Check this out: http://www.kaleyann.com/a-weekend-in-sitges/ There are some gorgeous pictures here and a place to stay that I think we will try to book. While there are no major sites here, I read in the Fodors book that there are 3 good museums and that you can possibly visit some other small towns from Sitges.

We might also go to Tossa de Mar. The beaches are supposed to be great here too and I read in Fodors and Frommers there is a castle and a Roman Villa. A friend who visited the area with her kids visited the town of Girona and said it was lovely. That could probably be done from Tossa as google maps says it is 24 miles and takes 47 minutes by car. Figures, where the Dali museum is, is 60 miles from Tossa.

Anyway, I look forward to hearing about what you decide and why!

zac495

I'm leaning toward sticking with my last 2 nights in Sitges for just the sort of thing you said.

My husband wants to go north to Roses and Cadaques which is why Begur is a place my husband wants to go to.

Tossa de mar is a dream to me based on Kja's words to me ages ago - about how magical it is to her.

But then I think if we stay in Begur and spend the whole time driving around like nuts to check off places we won't really get the feel of anything. Just a lot of pictures.

Maybe 4 nights in Begur and 2 in Sitges and visit Tossa de mar from Begur one day.

I'm SO TORN.

Diamantina

If you're looking for a small seaside village with other activities and attractions: apart from its small beaches, Cadaques is home to Salvador Dali's house (at Portlligat).
https://www.salvador-dali.org/en/mus...in-portlligat/
There is also a nearby national park, Cap de Creus:
https://www.inspirock.com/spain/cada...ark-a110954451

We spent two nights in Cadaques. Lovely place. We also spent a night in Girona on the way, used it as a base for visiting the one-of-a-kind Dali Museum in Figueres.
https://www.salvador-dali.org/en/mus...m-in-figueres/

Cadaques has a very South-of-France feel, I think many of its residents are French, though it also has a lot of Bolivians, in addition to Catalans, of course. We stayed at Hotel Playa Sol, which has a great pool, outdoor spa, saunas, tennis court. There's a small beach out front. I think your kids would enjoy it.

We also stayed in Sitges and Valencia on our last trip to Spain. I agree with others, Sitges' main attraction is the beach, though we also enjoyed the food, and visited nearby Codorniu (cava producer).
Valencia is a wonderful place. Your family would enjoy the aquarium 9and many other things about the city, not least the food):
http://www.valencia-cityguide.com/to...anografic.html
We stayed in the old city "Ciutat Vella," and wouldn't consider staying anywhere else for its convenient (near historic sites) and charming location, but the beach is not close by.