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Visit to Pre-1960s Costa Brava

Posted by (Cincinnati, OH, USA) on

Thanks to help on this forum, I've made arrangements with MyDayTrip for a visit to the Costa Brava. I have a 10-10.5 hour reservation for a driver for a group of 4 of us for this visit, beginning in Barcelona at 8:30 am.

Our plan is to make a non-stop drive outbound mostly on the AP-7 to Sarria de Ter where we would exit the highway and head via the C-66 and C-31 toward Pals and/or Begur and stopping at one or both. Before going further, permit me to note our interest in making this visit.

Our interest is in walking cobble stone streets, sitting and watching people, having a beverage or lite-bites at what ever cafes pop up, browsing at shops, chatting with anyone that speaks English [our big regret in not speaking Spanish], photographing buildings and landscapes/shorelines that haven't been developed ["overrun'] with hotels, spas and AirBnB "luxury" villas" [since the era when the Spanish government institutionally began the promotion of tourism, which, I understand this was back in the 1960's]. We'd certainly walk the beaches some, but not for water sports or to sun bathe. When I search on line for photographs of the many towns and villages, the hotels, spas, etc. seem to be taking over the waterfront, and even growing up into the hills at many of the towns along the Costa Brava, but hopefully I can get some advice on this Forum of where to visit and where not to visit. By the way, we have had lovely visits to Girona and Figueres on a prior visit to Spain.

Thanks for bearing with me on this wordy post, and I would welcome any and all comments.

Jon

PS I didn't intend to be sarcastic with the title, but only to get attention to the post. I'm not expecting to go back in time just yet.

Posted by
3897 posts

What is the question? I'm afraid I'm not understanding

Posted by
27092 posts

I think Jon is seeking suggestions for comparatively unspoiled towns/villages north of Barcelona--those that have seen little if any development since the mid-20th century. I'm not sure whether the planned one-day excursion is to be limited to areas on and very near the coast.

Posted by
768 posts

CARLOS: You're right; I described more what we don't want to see than what we do.

ACRAVEN summed up our intent on visiting the Costa Brava pretty well; and in less than 50 words.

Permit me to note 7 points of further clarification, and the question, #8
1. Except for our outbound drive, we'd like to stay within 5-6 miles of the coastline
2. The most distant place [from Barcelona] we're considering, subject to comments we receive, is Pals and Begur where we'll stop for 45 minutes or so at each.
3. The nearest place [to Barcelona] we're considering, subject to comments we receive, is Banes, if we stop here it would be for 30 minutes or thereabouts.
4. We hope to visit 3, hopefully 4, towns/villages between Pals/Begur and Blanes
5. We will remain at most stops for 45 minutes or so, and at one of the stops we'll remain for 1-1/2--2 hours or so, including lunch.
6. When I use the word stop, I literally mean out of the vehicle, I am assuming the outbound travel time will be about 1-1/2 hours, and the total travel time of the inbound segments will be about 3 hours.
7. At the maximum there will be 7 of us, so it won't take much time to get out of the vehicle and back in at each place we stop.
8.What are the best 3 or 4 stops between Pals/Begur and Blanes, and which of these would be best stop for lunch?

Jon

Posted by
3243 posts

I was just about to suggest Pals!

We were on a tour with Spanish Trails that included lunch - and the hole in the wall place in Pals was excellent.

Posted by
3897 posts

Hi Jon, thanks for the extra info, I fear it's a tall order though. Probably your best bet to find a slice of the pre-1960s Costa Brava would be along the Cabo de Creus. As its a Protected Natural Park, the coastline of the Cabo de Creus is still fairly wild and the fisherman's villages are less developed. Cadaqués is the most well known village while Port de la Selva, a little fishing harbour, is less exploited, with good gastronomic options.

Alternatively, you could do what we local Catalans do and head to the mountains. As the coastline has been virtually taken over by foreigners in recent years, we typically now holiday with the family in those picturesque medieval villages in the foothills of the Pyrenees like Rupit, Camprodon, or Queralbs, that are blissfully untouched by mass tourism.

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