Costa Brava?

Petri

Petri

Senior Insider
Looks like it won't be Italy but Barcelona again, most likely towards the French border and the various small villages and like in the Costa Brava (not the most tourist spots). Plenty of interesting small villages, small accommodation options, and beautiful beaches.

Any recommendations for anything between Barcelona and the French border?

El Bulli is there but it's gone now.
 
It's been many years since I was on the Costa Brava, and I wouldn't recommend the town we went to, regardless....however, I've heard nice things about Tossa de Mar from a friend who went a few years ago. Here's a bit from Frommer's

"Costa Brava, the so-called "Wild Coast," is a 153km (95-mile) stretch of coastline -- the northernmost Mediterranean seafront in Spain -- beginning north of Barcelona at Blanes and stretching toward the French border. Visit this area in May, June, September, or October, and avoid July and August, when tour groups from northern Europe book virtually all the hotel rooms.

Undiscovered little fishing villages along the coast long ago bloomed into resort towns. Tossa de Mar is the most delightful of them. Lloret de Mar is immensely popular but too commercial and overdeveloped for many tastes. The most unspoiled spot is remote Cadaqués. Some of the smaller villages make excellent stops."


Read more: http://www.frommers.com/destinations/costabrava/1178010001.html#ixzz20LJdcxtr
 
Yes, I'm very familiar with splendia.com. One of my favourites and have booked quite a few hotels through them -- tablethotels.com used to be my favourite but splendia.com wins now hands down. Splendia.com's private sales are also great although I've yet to have an opportunity to actually book anything .

A funny coincidence -- we sometimes get mail for one particular address on the other side of the island. Today we got his Golf magazine and it had an article about Costa Brava. The article was photographed and written by a friend of ours..

The germans do colonize southern Europe in August so we're just wishing for good luck and trying to stay away from the busiest places.. That's also one of the reasons why I was looking into more B&B type of places -- the local owners know how to avoid the crowds and the most touristic spots.
 
Best of luck! I can relate to avoiding the German tourists....do report back! I'm glad to hear you like Splendia also...I stumbled on it several months ago, somehow, and it has some decent spots in Munich and Belgium I didn't know about.
 
Flights booked.. damn the accomodations look busy!

Thinking about renting either VW Up or Fiat 500.
 
I love how the rental agencies twist the world around..

If I rent a car as a spaniard, the VW Up is being offered. As a finn it's not available.

As a spaniard something like an Audi A3 is pretty expensive. As a finn, it's about 30% cheaper.

To get a full picture, one needs to check the aggregators and each individual rental agency as both spaniard and finn, perhaps even as an american as americans tend to expect cheap rental cars and sometimes this is reflected in the prices.

Record, the company that gave us the car for 7.40 euros in Mallorca, doesn't change the prices based on your nationality.
 
Decided to rent a Mini Cooper instead. The price from Hertz US was just 176e ($215) for the week while Hertz Spain is charging 263e and Hertz Finland 352e.

We'll establish our base in Begur which is pretty far away from the busiest Costa Brava cities. Tourists for sure but with just 20 hotels there, it's hopefully not that busy.. A few km from the coast.
 
Sounds great! Interesting how much the prices vary. I have noticed that some hotels (especially in Spain--like I had looked at hotels in Mallorca & Ibiza) won't give me availablility or pricing---I wonder if it's because my IP address is in the USA.

Have a wonderful time! The Mini will be fun to drive on those roads. Begur is up nearer to the place I went---can't remember the name, but it was very touristy and not a charming town---it was directly on the coast ( A cheap package deal from Germany got my girfriend and me there!). Begur looks nice! Will love to hear what your experience is.
 
We stayed at Hotel Aigua Blava in Agua Blava, near Begur, and liked it quite a bit. We drove from Barcelona, stopeed in Tossa for a stroll, then continued on to the hotel. Made for a nice day along the magnificent coast. Tossa is much more built up than Agua Blava, but with pretty fort to hike around. The hotel AB was a bit institutional, but still quite good value and quality overall. Beds were only decent, but pool setting was charming and property's direct location on a beautiful inlet was spectacular. Great hiking along the shore as well super clear water for swimming. Watched Spain win the Euro 2008 in the main village hill top square of Begur. Don't miss Pals, too.
 
Looks quite nice! If you have the time and interest, Dali's town and museum are in Cadaques. We missed this and regret it.
 
This is the reason for the trip :)

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