The best hotels in Costa Brava

This is the heart of the Costa Brava most people picture when they imagine the region. Begur sits on a hill above a cluster of coves, with Aiguablava, Fornells, and Sa Riera all within 15 minutes by car. The town itself, centred on Carrer Pi i Ralló, has proper restaurants and a castle ruin worth climbing for the view.

Palafrugell is the working town that feeds the tourist villages of Calella, Llafranc, and Tamariu below it. Hotel La Minyona here gives you the local experience. Monday market, good supermarkets, real Catalan tapas bars. without the beach premium. The Camí de Ronda coastal path connects all three villages in about 2 hours of walking.

Hotels range from $72/night in Palafrugell town to $240/night for a cliff-edge room at Parador de Aiguablava. That's an honest spread. The Parador earns its price with position: it's on the headland above Aiguablava beach with views that don't photograph well because nothing does them justice.

Roses anchors the northern Gulf of Roses with a wide, sandy beach that's genuinely good for families and swimmers. Hotel Spa Terraza sits right on Platja de Roses. walk out the lobby and you're on sand in 2 minutes. The town has a proper fishing port and a 16th-century citadel worth an afternoon.

L'Escala is quieter and more residential, built around the Greek and Roman ruins of Empúries which sit at the north end of town, about 12 minutes walk from Hostal Spa Empúries. The anchovies cured here, les anxoves de l'Escala, are a regional obsession. you'll find them at every bar on Carrer dels Enginyers.

Budget travellers should look here first. Hostal Spa Empúries at $55-85/night is the best honest deal we found on the entire coast. The spa is small but functional, the rooms are clean, and you're not sacrificing location. you're 20 minutes by car from the windy drama of Cap de Creus to the north.

Tossa de Mar's Vila Vella. the fortified medieval old town on the headland. is one of the most genuinely spectacular things on the entire Costa Brava. Most visitors photograph it from the main beach and leave. Hotel Cala Llevado does something smarter: it sits on a cliff above its own private cove, Cala Llevado, 3km south of the old town on the GI-682 road.

Platja d'Aro has a reputation as the tacky cousin of the coast, and the main promenade earns that. But Hotel Cala del Pi, 2km south of town at Cala del Pi itself, is a completely different proposition. It's $145-210/night, faces a sheltered rocky inlet, and the nearest other hotel is a 10-minute walk away.

Getting between Tossa and Platja d'Aro is 20 minutes by car on the C-65. SARFA buses connect them in summer but only a few times daily. If you want to explore both without a car, stay in Tossa. it has more going on in town, especially around Carrer Portal and the fishing harbour.

Girona is 35km from the coast and one of the best-preserved medieval cities in Spain. Hotel Arts i Ofici sits in the Barri Vell, with the Onyar river houses visible from the upper floors and the Jewish Quarter of El Call a 4-minute walk. It's a $265-380/night stay, and it's worth it. you're paying for position in one of the most architecturally rich streets in Catalonia.

Hotel Mas de Torrent, 15km south of Palafrugell near the village of Torrent, is a converted 18th-century farmhouse surrounded by vineyards and cork oak forest. The nearest town is Pals, famous for its Gothic quarter on Carrer Major, about 10 minutes drive east. This is the place if you want Costa Brava without the beach crowds. a pool, serious food, and total quiet.

The rural Baix Empordà is best explored by car. The villages of Monells, Peratallada, and Ullastret form a triangle of medieval stone architecture within 20 minutes of each other and worth a full day of driving. Hotel Mas de Torrent can organise wine tastings at nearby DO Empordà producers. ask at reception when you book.

Peralada is a medieval village 15 minutes from Roses and 20 minutes from the French border. The Peralada Wine Spa and Golf occupies the castle estate at the centre of the village, with the winery, casino, and an 18-hole golf course all within the same grounds. Rooms run $310-520/night, and the estate produces DO Empordà wines you can buy directly.

This region also puts you close to the Dalí circuit: the Theatre-Museum in Figueres is 10 minutes by car, and Dalí's house at Portlligat near Cadaqués is 30 minutes. Cap de Creus Natural Park, one of the most geologically strange landscapes in Spain, starts 40 minutes east on the GI-614 road. The wind here is serious. the Tramontane can hit 100km/h in winter and spring.

Cadaqués is worth the winding road but skip the hotels there. they charge Santorini prices for middling rooms. Base yourself at Peralada and day-trip. The drive over the Serra de Rodes ridge into Cadaqués is 45 minutes of hairpin bends that are genuinely spectacular if you're not driving.