Hotels in Palafrugell

Palafrugell

Palafrugell is the largest town of the Baix Empordà on the Costa Brava, with some 24,500 inhabitants, and the inland heart of a municipality whose coast is made up of the seaside villages of Calella de Palafrugell, Llafranc and Tamariu. It lies in a corridor between the eastern foothills of the Gavarres and the hills of Begur, a few kilometres from twelve kilometres of rugged coves with crystal-clear water. Once a fortified medieval town, it grew rich in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries on cork, exporting stoppers all over the world, and the tower of the old Armstrong cork factory still stands. The Cork Museum tells that story, and the town also has the Josep Pla Foundation, devoted to the writer born here, the Cuixart Foundation and the Can Mario contemporary sculpture museum. Narrow streets lead out from Plaça Nova, a large square full of bars, restaurants and shops, close to the church of Sant Martí, founded in the late eleventh century. The municipality also includes the village of Llofriu at the foot of the Gavarres and the hamlets of Santa Margarida and Ermedàs. Palafrugell is a lively place all year round, with markets, concerts and traditional sardana dances, and its population almost triples in summer. It suits travellers who want a real Catalan town with shops and restaurants as a base for the beaches and coves of the coast. Buses link it to Calella, Llafranc, Tamariu, Girona and Barcelona, and Girona airport is about 45 kilometres away.