natashaglasser9570

Hi. Would be so grateful if anyone could offer some input: I will be traveling with my 13 year old son mid-July through the first week of August. (We will already have done a ton of traveling/ moving around Spain/Portugal every couple days on a 3+ week chorus trip, so would like to keep this part of the trip simple.) We planned to spend a week in Barcelona. We then have two weeks where we would like to go to one place, preferably a cute beach town with some restaurants/shops/etc. (He will have been in a button down, tie and sweater vest (?!)for the duration, so swimming/relaxing close to the beach is definitely at the top of the list!&#128579 It would need to be accessible by train, since we will not have a car, and a fairly uncomplicated trip back to Barcelona/airport to come home. A European friend recommended Puerto de Soller in Mallorca, and that seems lovely, but just wondering if anyone has any other suggestions that might be closer/not involve flying. Also, if Mallorca is the best option, would anyone recommend someplace else as a home base?! SO appreciate any guidance/advice…

Maribel

We're headed to Sóller in mid June but have had those reservations months in advance. We'll have a car to explore the northwestern coast of Mallorca.
But without a car, Puerto de Sóller is a good option if you can find an apartment, as you have the tram up to Sóller and the historic train into Palma.
https://visitsoller.com/en/.

Booking now for a two-week rental in August may be tough, as visitors have come to Spain in droves since Easter.
Spaniards and other Europeans will have booked lots of rentals in those highly coveted beach towns.

The northern Costa Brava beach towns of Calella de Palafrugell, Llafranc, Aiguablava, Tamariú are lovely and would be very relaxing, but they're not accessible by train. (The closest trail station is in Flaça, 31 km. away.).
The best way to reach them from Barcelona is to take the Moventis Sarfa bus from Barcelona Nord station to Begur (limited) or the market town of Palafrugell (bus station, more daily buses), then taxi from there. The bus tickets can only be purchased a week in advance.
https://visitpalafrugell.cat/en/calella/
https://visitbegur.cat/en/.

Begur is a charming town with a great summer vibe but w/o a beach, but in summer there's bus service to take you to the local beaches.
BUS-PLATGES_2017.pdf

There are taxi services to get you back to the Barcelona airport (I've used them).
TAXIS BEGUR - COSTA BRAVA - CAMPASOLS PRESENTATION.
TAXI BEGUR.COM David.Taxibegur Taxi Service English Spoken Airport Transfers Barcelona Girona and Perpignan Airport.

Or reverse your steps via taxi to Begur or Palafrugell and from there on the Sarfa bus, which does go directly to the airport. if your flight home is an early one, the bus from Palafrugell may not work. Here's the schedule-
1_bcn_costa_brava_2021-22.pdf.

Closer to Barcelona, there are the beach towns of S'Agaro and St Feliu de Guíxols.
https://www.visitguixols.com/en/.

Again the Sarfa bus takes you to those two from Barcelona's Nord station.

An even closer option to Barcelona would be busy and bustling Tossa de Mar, and it will be packed to the rafters in August. The Sarfa bus will take you there in 1 hr. 20 min and will take you back to the airport.

Hope this helps.

BritishCaicos

Soller / Puerto de Soller are perfect choices - the small train journey is very scenic. Mallorca has a vast range of resort towns ranging from those catering for teens getting permanently drunk to some of the most exclusive in Europe. Soller is very middle market with good quality shops, cafes and restaurants.