One of the most beautiful coastal areas of Spain is found in Catalonia, where the Costa Brava (Rough Coast) stretches through more or less 200 km, starting in Blanes (around 60 km to the Northeast from Barcelona) and ending at the border with France. This part of Catalonia has so many façades, which makes it a very complete tourist destination. In the Costa Brava you can find wonderful hidden places; secret beaches and coves (called calas), either secluded ones where you can be alone or those beaches of coastal towns where you can have fun and enjoy many activities.
Other hidden places in the Costa Brava are the charming small villages on the coast with interesting historical and architectural heritage, and the whole Costa Brava area is covered with hiking trails, where you can walk for a few hours or even several days following the “Camino de la Ronda“, a long-distance footpath that follows the coast. The Costa Brava means something different to everyone, we want to show you some of those magical and secret places close to our heart, spots where we feel amazed by the beauty of nature, the color of the sea and the wonderful rocky formations, every time we go there. We will take you on a journey through our photos to some of the hidden places on the Costa Brava, in particular what we consider to be the best beaches and during this journey we will follow the coast from South to North. Sit back and enjoy the pictures!
1. Cala Sant Francesc (Blanes)
2. Cala Sa Forcanera (Blanes)
3. The view of Tossa de Mar
4. The beautiful colors of the sea (close to Tossa de Mar)
5. Rocks in the sea (between Tossa de Mar and Sant Feliu de Guixols)
6. Cala Giverola (between Tossa de Mar and Sant Feliu de Guixols)
By the way, if you like beaches as much as we do, you will enjoy this read by another beach lover, Wander With Jo.
7. Platja de Belladona (close to Palamós)
8. Calella de Palafrugell
9. Cala Aiguablava (close to Begur)
10. Fornells (close to Begur)
11. Sa Tuna (close to Begur)
12. The view of Estartit and Medes Islands from the Castle of Begur
13. Illa Roja (close to Begur)
14. The view of the Gulf of Roses
15. Cala Murtra (close to Roses)
16. Cala Canadell (close to Cadaqués)
18. Cala Jugadora (close to Cap de Creus)
19. The white village of Cadaqués
20. The view of El Port de la Selva
Useful Information about the Costa Brava
Where is the Costa Brava located?
The Costa Brava is found in the Northeast of Spain, in the autonomous community of Catalonia. It stretches between Blanes in the South and Portbou in the North, just on the Spanish-French border. The Costa Brava is located at less than a couple of hours by car from Barcelona, so if you visit Barcelona in the warm months.
How to get to the Costa Brava
The Southern end of the Costa Brava (Blanes or Lloret de Mar) is easily accessible by train from Barcelona. It takes around 90 minutes to get to Blanes in a commuting train. It’s much more complicated to get to the rest of the Costa Brava by public transport. From Barcelona there is bus service to most of the larger towns, but the communication between the towns on the coast is quite scarce, especially on the weekends. Moreover, the more beautiful, hidden places and the best beaches of the Costa Brava are found several kilometers from coastal towns and villages, so in order to get the most out of your visit, we highly recommend you to rent a car.
What to do in the Costa Brava
The best experience to explore the area is renting a car and following the coastal scenic route. You can stop at the coves with secluded beaches and enjoy an infinite tranquility even during the summer months, since most people tend to stay closer to the areas where more services (restaurants, etc..) are provided. If you want to enjoy the nature and get to some of the hidden places of the Costa Brava that are not accessible by car, there are loads of trails you can follow. The main long-distance trail (GR 92) called Camino de la Ronda is very well indicated by the international sign of a white stripe above a red stripe. The less frequented trails to get to some of the hidden beaches are not so well indicated and sometimes you have to follow your instinct and do a bit of a climbing to get to them, but usually it’s worth the effort. You can do snorkeling and diving in many points along the coast, the most famous area is in Estartit, where the marine life around the Medes Islands is quite spectacular.
Wow, these beaches look incredible!
Thank you!
What to say except that the photos you captured are stunning. The different blues and greens are very cool and if I could get myself on a plane to Spain tomorrow I would.
Thanks Tim! I hope you can get to visit this lovely coastal area soon!
Looks amazing!
So glad we came across this post! We’ve been researching the Costa Brava area – we’d really like to visit soon (maybe in the fall?). Looks exactly like we want it to be :-).
Sounds great! If you visit the Costa Brava, don’t hesitate to contact us for further info!
Wow, these are some really beautiful photos of a gorgeous place. Made us want to jump on the plane right away!
Thanks so much!
You traveled to all these places? They look nice, but Cadaques is jaw-dropping beautiful!!!
Thanks for your comment! We live in Barcelona, so we got to visit all these wonderful spots during the years! The Costa Brava is really amazing!
Everythinf looks magical! Great spot for the summer holidays!
Sigh. This water is just incredible. This looks fantastic, especially since they are hidden and relatively off the beaten path! Need to go here so bad! Ahh, I can hear the sound of the waves lapping the shore from here 🙂
Thanks Alli! If you come to visit the area, feel free to contact us, we live here and can give you great tips!
So beautiful all of them! My favorite ways to see a places are the city and beaches!
Thanks so much!
WOW! It looks amazing! This is the perfect getaway!
Thanks Megsy!
gorgeous scenery (and pictures of course). I spent 2 weeks in Costa Brava 14 years ago (boy, I am not that old!) and loved it. visited many of the places you highlighted.
I am glad you liked the pictures! 14 years seem to be a long time ago, maybe it’s high time you came to visit again:)
Great list, never heard of any of these if I am honest but it looks like there is so much more to the area than many people realise. That water looks just amazing! I just want to jump right in!
We will be traveling France and Spain in February 2017. what kind of weather and water temperatures could we expect in this costa brava area during that time of the year?
In the Spanish Costa Brava the weather can be very mild even in February (between 10-15 Celsius), but of course the water is too cold for bathing (not for extreme sport lovers). I have just checked it up, the average water temperature in February is around 12 degrees centigrades.
Wow, great photos…We will be traveling to Coasta Brava in 2 weeks, but will only be spending 2 days there…..What is the best secluded cove that you would recommend with such a tight timeline?
Dear Brian! It’s very hard to pick just one, but even if you have just two days, I would recommend you to rent a car and go along the Coast to explore some of them. My favorites are the coves to the South from Begur (Fornells or Aiguablava, the first is much calmer, the second can get quite busy since it’s probably the most picturesque beach on the coast) or any of the coves between Tossa del Mar and Sant Feliu de Guixols (La Cala Senyor Ramón for example is beautiful and not very crowded even in high season). Then probably the area you will find the most secluded coves is on the coastline between Roses and Cadaqués, although this part is the farthest from Barcelona, I would definitely recommend you to check out this area (there are several smaller and larger coves with basically nobody even in summer) My favorite is Cala Canadell, which is a rocky beach not sandy, but it’s extremely calm and the water is amazing there, you can do snorkelling, etc.. I hope I was able to help! If you need more information, write us a message and I will happily give you more details.
Hello!
We spend 2 weeks in Barcelona in August. We rent a car and we want to go costa brava several times to discover this beautiful part!
My question would be that we can park the car easily? Do we find a parking lot? Are they paid? What should we expect?
Thanks for the reply!
Hi, Anita
Hi Anita! Thanks for your message. The Costa Brava is beautiful, I totally agree with you, it’s also quite busy in August, especially on the weekends. The most frequented beaches have parkings where you have to pay (they usually charge you a daily fee of 5-10 €). If you want more information, don’t hesitate to write me an email through the contact form, you can write me in Hungarian;) Best regards, Gábor