Costa Brava Itinerary Planning: How to Actually Structure Your Days
- Jul 14
- 4 min read
Updated: Jul 26
The Costa Brava has a rhythm to it once you've spent real time there: inland mornings, beach evenings. The medieval hill towns are best walked in the cool of the morning before the heat sets in, and the coast comes alive as the afternoon turns golden. Once you build your days around that instead of fighting it, the whole region clicks into place.
Getting There and Renting a Car
You need a car for this region if you want to explore the wonderful small towns and secret spots. You can fly into either Barcelona or Girona, or come by train from Madrid, based on our experience, the car rental pickup process is smoother in Barcelona, worth factoring in even if it means a slightly longer initial drive.
One real piece of advice: don't plan to arrive at night. The drive into this region, hills, stone villages, that first glimpse of the coastline, is genuinely beautiful, and arriving after dark means missing all of it, plus tackling unfamiliar rural roads in the dark on top of jet lag. Time your arrival for daylight if you possibly can.
Choosing Your Base by Vibe
Where to stay depends entirely on what kind of trip you're after:
Traveling with small kids: L'Estartit
Couple wanting romance: L'Escala
Nightlife: Lloret de Mar
Want a bit of everything: Tossa de Mar
Chill, art-focused vibe: Cadaqués
Exploring by boat: Empuria Brava
Inland Mornings
Peratallada — Extremely cute, fantastic for walking around, and honestly, that's the whole visit. There isn't much beyond one or two restaurants, so this is a quick morning stop, not a destination to build a day around. Wander the medieval streets, grab a coffee or lunch, and move on.
Pals — Similarly tiny and charming, doable in an hour or two, a perfect morning coffee stop before heading toward the coast. Out of 16 towns visited with my mom on our first trip to Costa Brava, this is the one she still talks about 7 years later.
Púbol, the Dalí Castle — Not a quick stop like the others, budget a few hours here. Genuinely interesting and the most unusual thing we did in the whole region- inside a well-preserved castle with gardens. Note that it's not accessible for strollers, and you'll need a car to get there. Read the full story here.
Beach Evenings
Tossa de Mar — Our favorite town on the entire Costa Brava. Worth the August crowds if that's when you're there. Full post here.
L'Estartit — A great family base, central to the rest of the coast, with a beach built for small kids. Full post here.
L'Escala — Fantastic for strolling the seafront and stopping at restaurants along the way, about 15-20 minutes from L'Estartit. There's a hike up to Roman ruins here we haven't done yet ourselves.
Cadaqués — We only had one evening here, but it earned it: beautiful at sunset, the harbor cove full of little boats, the white village glowing in the last light.
Roses — My husband's favorite town in the whole region (though he hasn't been to Tossa yet), with beautiful views and a genuinely nice beach.
Lloret de Mar — One important caution: we wouldn't recommend the beach here for small children, it's short, and the drop-off just past the waterline is sharp. The town itself, though, is wonderful to walk, with a striking castle over the water (privately owned, not open to visit) and a nice trail leading out that way. It's more touristic, and parking is genuinely difficult even in shoulder season.
Also Worth Knowing
Blanes Botanical Garden — Wonderful in September, essentially inaccessible in August due to parking. Time this one carefully.
A Simple Way to Think About It
Pick an inland town for your morning walk and coffee, Peratallada or Pals both work well, then head to the coast for the afternoon and evening. Tossa de Mar and L'Estartit are strong beach-evening anchors, and Cadaqués is worth specifically timing for sunset if you can manage it.
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Written by Sherri: an American who spent years traveling solo, including time living in Peru, before settling into a full-time digital nomad life with her husband and young kids for over four years. She's now been in Europe for 3.5 years, most of it in the Valencia area of Spain. Everything on Travel-Casa is written from firsthand experience or knowledge picked up along the way.
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