During the summer months, we spent 5 days in the South of France for a wedding, followed by a road trip through the Costa Brava in 4 days.
We absolutely loved the Costa Brava! Whilst the Costa Brava has a reputation for being a spot for English party-goers, I found that mostly, the Costa Brava is just a stunning area of Spain to visit and not at all trashy (which is what I expected)!
Things To Know About The Costa Brava
Girona is the Costa Brava Airport (and capital of the Costa Brava!) though you can also get there from Barcelona.
The region is dotted with great small towns with character and beautiful beaches along it’s rugged coastline.
It is known as a party place, so try to avoid towns like Lloret de Mar and you’ll find much more non-touristy places!
Here’s the road trip we took through the Costa Brava in 4 days!
Day One in Costa Brava
Our road trip around the Costa Brava started in the South of France, where we had spent the previous 5 days attending a family wedding. The drive from the Toulouse region takes around 3 hours, making it a very easy option for weekend trips from France, too!
On our way down to Spain, we stopped at the French beach resort town of Argeles sur Mer for lunch. We gobbled down our last ‘steak & frites’ and headed onto the beach. The beach was so windy and so full of people we didn’t hang around for long, opting to get down to Roses earlier than planned!
On To Spain
The drive into Spain on the highway is quite interesting as the terrain changes quite dramatically from flatter inland plains to mountains, cliffs, and a rugged landscape!
We stopped on our first evening in the Costa Brava in the town of Roses. After checking in to our lovely little hotel room, we got ready for dinner and a walk around town. We had heard Roses was a great place to start our trip and I would agree! Though it was much larger than anticipated!
In the evening we found a lovely little tapas bar where we had our first Catalonian beers/sangrias. We also strolled around town for a long while, enjoying the shops, the liveliness of the town, and had a mega ice cream sundae, because – vacation calories totally don’t count!
Day Two in Costa Brava
Our hotel breakfast was a fantastic place to start our day. Along with our extensive breakfast, we also packed ourselves some sandwiches of Spanish hams and cheeses and fruits to take with us for lunch later on the beach! Cheeky I know, but it’s a great way to save some money on vacations. And who wants to leave the beach to go grab lunch?!
Beach Day at Cap de Crues
We jumped in our rental car and headed for Cap de Creus. It is the eastern-most point of mainland Spain, and the coastline is wild, windy and rocky! Due to it being located furthest from the resorts along the sandy coastline, Cap de Creus isn’t super touristy. BONUS!
After arriving and luckily scoring a parking spot, we grabbed our beach bags, our big bottles of water, and headed over to the lighthouse. The views from Cap de Creus are amazing!! Seeing out onto the Mediterranean Sea, with the sun hitting the water like diamonds was just magnificent.
After doing a recky of the different tiny beaches we could spot from up on top of the cliffs, we saw a beach with very few people on it. A 10-15 minute climb down the cliff later and we had made it to our beach for the day.
No sand, just pebbles and rocks, we created a flat surface and put our towels down and got comfortable. When I say there were hardly any people, I mean, there were a total, at the busiest period of the day, a maximum of 10 people.
The water was clear and cool and our day was extremely peaceful. Our hotel breakfast ‘lunch’ came in extremely handy considering the climb back up the cliff for lunch was not something either of us would have been prepared to do!
In the late afternoon, we decided to head back up the cliff to head for aperitivo in Cadaques, a gorgeous seaside town nearby. But first, the 15 minute climb back up the cliff. Once we had made it up to the lighthouse again, we decided to take shelter at the shaded bar and had a delicious beer (my Dutchie had a coke since he was driving).
Afternoons along the water
Cadaques is somewhere I could have stayed for days in a row. After finding a parking spot, we walked around town and along the stunning waterfront, stopping for gin tonic happy hour, perched at the waters edge.
Cadaques, while beautiful it is also small. The restaurants along the water-side were already packed full of people so we went to Empuriabrava for dinner. Empuriabrava is known as the Catalan Venice, with many beautiful canals through the town.
We had a really delicious chicken paella, dessert of creme catalan (catalan version of creme brulee), yummy drinks and great service! Empuriabrava was a very happening town with a huuuuge beachfront! Though not as much cosy charm as I had enjoyed from Cadaques.
Our hotel was booked for Girona the next 2 nights, so after our delicious dinner we drove an hour to the Double-Tree in Girona (highly highly recommend!) and checked-in.
Day Three in Costa Brava
The Hilton Double Tree in Girona serves an epic breaktast! We again took extras to avoid having to leave the beach at lunch time, wrapping up sandwiches of Spanish ham and cheese and taking more fruit with us, too.
OMG Begur
Our destination of the day was Begur, a hilltop town on the coastline 45 minutes drive away. Begur and the surrounds are littered with drop-dead-gorgeous beaches. We found a parking spot grabbed our gear and headed down a long downhill pathway. We found a beach at the bottom and boy was it a stunner!
This could be one of the best-looking beaches I’ve ever laid eyes on. We had not purchased any shade for our beach days on this trip which was a rookie mistake! This beach has no shade! However, after finding a spot on this beach, we went for a swim to cool down, followed by swim after swim after swim. The sand was SO HOT from the beating sunshine that we could barely lay down on our towels from the sand burning us!
After a few hours we could take no more of the heat and decided to pack up and head for Begur town, in search of ice cream or something cold! A short stop for mango smoothies and we were blasting the car rental’s air-con as we headed back to Girona.
Girona
The Hilton Double Tree has a great rooftop pool, so after we arrived back in Girona it was straight to the rooftop bar for a glass of wine/beer and a swim! I’ve become a real hotel w/ pool snob since our trip to Portugal where we had a rooftop pool. I never thought I was much of a hotel pool person, but we swam every day at our pool in Portugal. And again, having this pool in Girona was a welcome addition!
After our afternoon swim, we checked out Girona. Girona has a really nice vibe to it. It’s got quite some lovely architecture and the older part of the city has narrow streets and laneways with funky bars, great little restaurants and friendly people. Our dinner along Las Ramblas, one of the main shopping streets, was fantastic.
Day Four in Costa Brava
Waking up on our last day in Girona meant one thing – having a morning dip in the rooftop pool! Luckily we had the pool all to ourselves! HOT TIP: You’ll generally always get the pool to yourself if you go for a swim in the morning 7-8:30am!
We decided since it was our last morning we would head into Girona for breakfast and great coffee! After a little google search, we decided on Espresso Mafia, which did not disappoint! If you are hunting for the best of the best coffee in Girona – this is your place! We had 2 exceptional flat whites, 2 ham and cheese croissants and a choc-chip banana bread which satisfied our tummys and tastebuds.
GoT
Girona has gained fame in recent years due to its participation in Game of Thrones. This was one of my motivations behind checking out Girona. But Girona is beautiful in its own right, no wonder Game of Thrones chose to film in this city! The old centre has a lot of beautiful buildings to visit, including the very impressive Giorna Cathedral.
Whilst walking around the charming streets, we all of a sudden saw the wolf logo of Game of Thrones. Blinking, I looked again and also spotted the Iron Throne from Game of Thrones! We paid €2 to sit on the throne in full costume & took our own photos. How about this for your queen?!
Salvador Dali
After my crowning moment, we jumped in our car and drove towards Figueres, which houses the Salvador Dali museum. If you want to visit the Salvador Dali museum in Figueres, make a booking online for a specific time slot. Please make sure you arrive with ample time prior to your booked entry. Parking is VERY difficult in Figueres!
With great difficulty and a long walk from our parking spot to the museum, we stood in a long queue to get in. 15 minutes later, we got inside this remarkable museum. The museum itself is very unique, not only housing some of Dali’s great works (and strange but interesting works never seen before), but architecturally it is a fantastic building to be inside.
Although we enjoyed the museum, I have two negatives. Unfortunately, even while ticketed with time slots – the museum allows too many people inside. The whole museum was just as packed as when you view the Mona Lisa in Paris. Which made for a slightly frustrating experience. Also – with so many of Dali’s artworks all across the world, most of his well-known art is not inside this museum.
Once we had seen everything inside the Dali museum and had eaten lunch nearby, we jumped in our rental car and headed towards France. We had rented our car in Toulouse, and it was time to head back! We stopped at a lovely beach-side town in France called Grousson Plage for dinner, and continued on to Toulouse airport in time for our flight.
The end of the roadtrip
We spent 4 days in the Costa Brava, seeing just how much this region has to offer! Two days on two fantastic beaches and we visited many beautiful towns and cities. We enjoyed art from a famous Catalan, and ate some truly incredible food! Our four days in the Costa Brava were perfect. I hope this blog post has sparked your interest in also visiting the Costa Brava!
Booking your trip to the Costa Brava? Let me help you!
Make sure you get the cheapest flights via Skyscanner!
Need accommodation? Get your hotel booked on Booking.com! Or more of an Airbnb person?
Prefer an organised tour?
Here are some options I recommend if you prefer to take it easy and have a guide for your trip!
Let me know if you are heading to the Costa Brava and if you have any questions for me!
Feel free to share your adventure with me via social media – too!
And above all – have fun!
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Australian expat, married to a Dutch guy, living in Amsterdam. Previously lived in London for 3 years, too! Lover of travel, coffee, brunch, beaches, fresh flowers, and family. Now a new mum, navigating life with a baby!
5 thoughts on “How To See The Costa Brava in 4 Days”
Extremely well written post, as someone who’s been Spain lots, it seems I’ve seen little, well done
Thanks John! Appreciate your generous feedback! Hopefully you’d get a chance to see the Costa Brava again & see some of the places I’ve highlighted in this post!
Very enjoyable read. I want to do this trip also
Thanks mum! Let’s add it to the Bucket List!
Costa brava was amazing – it has so much more to offer than what I remember from Lloret de Mar. Highlight for me was beach on Cap de Creus!