The Dalí Castle: Púbol, the Strangest Place We Visited All Month
- Jul 10
- 3 min read
Updated: Jul 26
We almost skipped this one. A friend wanted to see a castle, so we went, with no idea what we were actually walking into.
It turned out to be the most unusual place we visited in our entire month in the Costa Brava.
Not Salvador Dalí's Castle, His Wife's
This is Castell de Púbol, and here's the twist most people don't expect: it isn't Salvador Dalí's castle. It belonged to Gala, his wife, muse, and business partner, a gift from Dalí to her, with a strange condition attached: he could only visit if invited, in writing, in advance. If you want to understand Dalí the artist, Cadaqués is the better stop. If you want a genuinely odd, genuinely human love story along with a castle, a garden, and something you won't have seen before, this is the place.
The castle is well-preserved, real furniture, real rooms, Gala's actual belongings still in place, which puts it in a different category from the ruins you visit at most old castles in Spain. The gardens aren't large, but they're beautiful, and easily enjoyable in an hour or two.
The Part Nobody Warns You About
Here's the thing I wish someone had told me: this is not an accessible visit. Strollers aren't allowed inside, and there are a lot of stairs. I hadn't planned for that, which meant doing the entire tour with a loose toddler I was not prepared to be chasing through a historic building. If I'd known ahead of time, I'd have brought a baby-wearing harness, or had my friend and I trade off who was inside versus outside. If you're visiting with a toddler or a stroller situation, plan for this before you go, not after.
The Bonus Nobody Expects
After the tour, we got lucky: a taco food truck parked outside a nearby craft brewery. As Texans several weeks into a trip abroad, missing real Mexican food more than we expected to, this was borderline emotional. A completely unplanned, genuinely fun way to close out a strange and memorable stop.
The Strangest Coincidence
I visited this castle in 2019, with a friend, years before I'd even met my husband, let alone moved to Spain. Fast forward to 2023, when we actually made the move, my daughter's best friend at school turned out to be a little girl named Gala. Her mom was part of the same coffee group I joined most mornings. It wasn't until much later that we put it together: her daughter was named after Gala Dalí, after her mom had visited this very castle years earlier. Small world, even smaller when Catalonia's involved.
Do You Need a Car?
Realistically, yes. Getting to Púbol without a car isn't practical. If you're basing yourself in the Costa Brava for this trip, we stayed a full month in L'Estartit and it made a genuinely convenient base, close enough for an easy day trip out to Púbol without needing to relocate just for this one stop. Worth knowing what to expect driving in Spain before you go.
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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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