Destination: Costa Brava, Spain
Local attractions: beaches, nature, gastronomy
Accommodation: Hotel Hostalillo, Tamariu (Palafrugell)
Transport: car (rented)
Dates: June 28-30, 2019
After a quick stop in Andorra, we took another bus from Andorra La Vella to Barcelona. From there, we rented a car and headed straight for Costa Brava, an area full of beaches to the North of Barcelona. There, we stayed at Hotel Hostalillo, which was a beautiful 3 star hotel by the beach of Tamariu (Palafrugell commune). The hotel was very nice and offered great views of the beach. Our stay also included their breakfast buffet, which was extra nice on weekends and included cava. There was also a restaurant and snack bar on-site, but we didn’t end up trying either.
Our days were all pretty similar: wake up, get breakfast, hit the beach for an hour or so before it got too hot, jump in the car to go visit another place, have lunch, come back a few hours later, take a nap, hit the beach again and then head out for dinner.
Day 1: Platja Tamariu, Restaurant El Clot del Mussels
We arrived to Tamariu late afternoon on day 1, so mostly just got to check out the beach for a bit before heading out for dinner. The beach is quite nice and very popular on weekends. The main area is quite rocky, but if you go towards the right where there’s a diving board, the rocks get smaller and there’s almost none in the water. For dinner, we chose one of the dozen restaurants that line the beach – El clot des mussels – and enjoyed a nice seafood paella and grilled calamari.
Day 2: Platja Tamariu, Besalu, NOX Restaurant, Pizzeria la Pasta
After catching some rays at Platja Tamariu, we headed out to the village of Besalu about an hour away. There, we checked out the main square first and had an excellent lunch at NOX Restaurant. Alex had a salmon sashimi quinoa salad and I had a nice bowl of seafood pasta for just 8 euros; a real bargain! We wandered around the small town for a bit and then visited the Puente de Besalu, which is a beautiful and enormous medieval bridge at the “front” of the city of Besalu.
For dinner, we opted for Pizzeria La Pasta for dinner in Tamariu, which was very good and more affordable than some of the other seafood oriented restaurants. We had a Caprese salad, arugula and parmesan salad, prosciutto and arugula pizza and a beef escalope.
Day 3: Platja Tamariu, Aigua Blava Restaurant, Platja Fonda, Pizzeria La Pasta
Following our usual morning routine, we headed off towards the Aigua Blava beach, one of the next towns over. When we arrived midday, the parking for the beach was already pretty full so we decided to skip it and head to Platja Fonda instead. We parked the car there (3 euros) and then went to Hotel Aigua Blava’s restaurant for a beautiful terrasse lunch. Hotel Aigua Blava is a 4 star hotel and I can only imagine how much it costs to stay there for a night. Their restaurant was pretty pricey too, but it was a great dining experience. Alex got a salad for lunch, while I opted for the foie gras and truffle eggs Benedict. The sauce wasn’t great, as it mostly tasted like European butter and you couldn’t really taste the truffle, but the foie gras was excellent. Had it been executed a bit better, it would have been a stunner dish.
After lunch, we walked to Platja Fonda, which was a beatiful beach. There are no facilities there – no restaurants, no bathrooms, etc. – so its still very natural, pure and untouched. Therefore, the water is a beautiful turquoise and the beach is lined with small black pebbles.
After an afternoon at the beach, we headed back to our hotel and then out for dinner. We chose the same restaurant as the previous night as we really enjoyed it. This time, we got: arugula and parmesan salad, spaghetti bolognese, mozzarella di buffala pizza and a plate of chicken breast.
