Hotels in Costa Brava

Costa Brava

The Costa Brava, the "wild coast", is the Mediterranean shoreline of the province of Girona in north-eastern Catalonia, running for more than 200 km from Blanes to Portbou on the French border. The name was coined by the journalist Ferran Agulló in the newspaper La Veu de Catalunya in 1908 and became the official tourist brand in 1965. The coast spans three comarques: La Selva in the south, the Baix Empordà in the centre and the Alt Empordà in the north. In the south, Blanes, Lloret de Mar and Tossa de Mar are the classic beach resorts; Lloret is the largest on the coast, while Tossa keeps its walled medieval Vila Vella on a headland above the beach. In the Baix Empordà, Sant Feliu de Guíxols, Platja d'Aro and the fishing port of Palamós give way to the coves and old fishing villages of Calella de Palafrugell, Llafranc, Tamariu and Begur. Further north, L'Estartit faces the Medes Islands, a protected marine reserve known for diving, and L'Escala lies beside the ruins of Empúries, a Greek colony founded in 575 BC. The Gulf of Roses brings long sandy beaches, the Aiguamolls de l'Empordà wetlands and Empuriabrava, one of the largest residential marinas in the world. Beyond Roses, the Cap de Creus peninsula, the easternmost point of mainland Spain, shelters Cadaqués with Salvador Dalí's house at Portlligat, while his Theatre-Museum stands inland in Figueres. The climate is Mediterranean, with hot, dry summers; the beach season runs from June to September, and spring and autumn suit the coastal footpaths, the camins de ronda. Girona-Costa Brava Airport is about half an hour by road from Lloret de Mar and Barcelona airport about an hour from Blanes, and lodging ranges from large family resort hotels and campsites to small boutique hotels in old stone farmhouses.