Hi everyone...I'm trying to plan a long weekend holiday in early September to get my lovely husband to the beach, which he loves so dearly. We live in Brussels, and after digging around on the low cost airline sites I've found some reasonable prices for flights to Barcelona (well, Girona) for the weekend of Sept. 9th, arriving early morning on Friday 8 Sept, leaving early morning on Monday 11 Sept.

I've been reading websites, message boards, etc trying to get a handle on where everything is in Barcelona but I'm having hard time wrapping my head around it.

I've heard rave reviews about Barcelona as a city, so I would like to experience some of whatever it is people are raving about. But I also want us to be able to hang out on a pretty sandy beach. I get the impression that these two things are both available in the area, but I don't know how far away they are from each other.

Should I be looking for a hotel in the city of Barcelona and plan on a day trip somewhere on the Costa Brava, or the other way around?

Is getting between Barcelona and Costa Brava beach towns convenient/inexpensive via public transport? Or is it possible to have a nice fun beach experience just in Barcelona without arranging to travel to a different town?

I'm really sorry, I'm quite geographically challenged; maybe with an actual guidebook in front of me I'd be better off but won't be able to get one until *after* i've made the basic flight/accommodation plans.

Thanks in advance,
Carrie

While I've never experienced the beaches in Barcelona itself, for a daytrip we drove south to Sitges and had a good time at the beach. There are lot's of nice restaurants along the beach and chanced by a churrascaria (owned and operated by an Argentinian) who gave us freeby tastes of different cuts of meats and the liquors/wines that go along with them. Quite an experience.

I suspect one of the easiest beaches to get to other than the one that is IN Barcelona without a car would be Sitges..trains run the route frequently and the trip takes about 30 minutes.

I'm not saying it is the BEST beach to go to but it certainly is one of the closest.

Aaah, in my continued remedial lessons on this area I am now realizing that the Girona airport is NORTH of Barcelona, which actually makes the Costa Brava area much more convenient to the airport than I had previously thought.

So now I'm thinking a Costa Brava based weekend, with maybe a day trip into Barcelona might be the best way to go.

Suggestions for the best Costa Brava beach town for a couple of car-less, middle aged (30) flabby beach lovers who are not particularly interested in discos, wet t shirt contests, etc?

LOL....I understand but just to add some fun to this and to top it for you I still think you should go to Sitges just to bring them back to reality!

Hope it works out for you.

hehehe, show those youngsters what the future holds in store for them, eh?

I'm assuming that it's not all that difficult to get a bus or something from the Costa Brava towns down to Barcelona?

Carrie

This whole business of the best places on the Cb has come up before so I'm going to keep topping it.

BTW have you done a search here for it?

Actually, that "reality" I was speaking of was that the disco dynamos are not the only people who go to the beach and have a great time.

Yes, I've been reading threads, and lookign at pictures of the beaches etc but was wondering about the "feel" of the different towns, as well as accessibility without a car...thanks!