aussiedreamer

So, the trip is going very well (still 2 months to go). We are in Barcelona, bit of a 'side trip' to catch up with DD who is doing the Tomato Festival in Valencia & then joining us here for a couple of days, then we are all off to Monpelier for a week.

It is SO hot, we feel like getting away from the heat & crowds of the city. We have a car and have no problem being away all day and into the evening. We will take our swimming gear, but a scenic drive along the coast and a nice place for lunch and maybe a swim would be perfect. Remembering we will be back in France on Saturday, if that makes any difference to the direction you may suggest.

Thanks as always,
AD

bobthenavigator

We liked the beach at Tossa de Mar, but that was 22 years ago.

lincasanova

Have you been to close by sitges?

Please advise your daughter to be careful at the tomatina.. it is very crowded, lots of happily intoxicated guys like to try to rip off the wet t-shirts sometimes.. at least those are the scenes the news always likes to give us every year.

alg

we went to the beach at Llafranc a few years ago...liked it very much although I don't recall how far it was from Barcelona.

jubilada

Sitges

aussiedreamer

Thanks as always. And DD is with her 'very aussie' boyfriend..........she'll be fine. but thanks so much.

lincasanova

..glad to hear that! Let us know where you finally went for the day.. wit this heat I am surprised you even feel like getting out of your hotel room. It was 44º in Valencia the other day.

SOCALOC

Another one for Sitges.

aussiedreamer

You're gonna be so surprised as to what we did!!!!! Well we decided to go to Valencia tomorrow and collect Dd & Bf so felt we should spend the day here. SO..........we braved it. We spent nearly 7 hours on the open top bus........yep I kid you not. We felt like we hadn't given Barcelona a chance, so thought we should see more. Too damm hot to walk so we bought ourselves a couple of very 'cool' hats a big bottle of water and we had a great day.

So much so that we are now looking forward to spending Friday here with DD, will probably head to the port area.

As for Stiges, maybe dinner on the way home from Valenca?

Cowboy1968

Sitges is not too much fun with a car.
Parking can be a major PITA.

The central/ Old Town part of Sitges has two parking facilities when you get into town (right after the railway underpass) when you use the Sitges exit #30 from C-32.
If you find those parkings free, you should take them - even though the costs are on "downtown BCN" level (appr. 5c/min).

Another option would be to use already exit #26, follow old C-31 into Sitges and turn right after the railway line until you hit Passeig Maritim. Turn left towards the central section of Sitges and look for a place to park on the Passeig (can't remember whether or what kind of time limits apply to on-street parking there).

If you look for miles and miles of empty beaches, you can tour the Ebro Delta - halfway between Valencia and Barcelona.

lincasanova

I would stop in Peñiscola if you are driving to/from Valencia. This is where El Cid was filmed with Charleton Heston. He used to come for the film festivals here.

Have a meal there or a snack. You may even catch the birds of prey show at the castle.