Costa Brava Guide: Coves, Cadaqués, Girona and the Wild Coast

The Costa Brava — “the wild coast” — is the rugged northern stretch of Catalonia’s shoreline, running from Blanes to the French border. Instead of the long sandy resorts of southern Spain, it offers pine-clad cliffs, hidden coves and whitewashed villages, with the medieval city of Girona and Dalí’s Cadaqués close at hand. Here is an honest, grounded guide to where to go, what to eat, and what tends to disappoint.

South and centre: Tossa de Mar and the Palafrugell coves

Tossa de Mar is the postcard of the southern Costa Brava, its walled medieval quarter — the Vila Vella — rising straight from the sea above a curved beach. Further up the coast, the villages around Palafrugell (Calella de Palafrugell and Llafranc) are whitewashed former fishing settlements turned low-key resorts, linked by the clifftop camí de ronda. Calella is also the heart of the havaneres tradition: each July, crowds gather on the shore for the famous Cantada d’Havaneres, sea shanties sung over glasses of flaming rum cremat.

North: Begur, Cadaqués and Cap de Creus

Around Begur lie some of the coast’s most celebrated coves — Sa Tuna, Aiguablava and Fornells — upmarket and strikingly pretty. Push further north, beyond that twisting road, and you reach Cadaqués. For centuries it was easier to reach by boat than over the mountains, and that isolation helped turn it into an artists’ haven in the 20th century: Salvador Dalí kept his home at neighbouring Portlligat (now a museum you book ahead to visit), and the village drew the likes of Picasso and Miró. Behind it, the Cap de Creus natural park forms the wild, rocky easternmost point of mainland Spain; marked trails cross its bare headlands to a lighthouse at the tip, past the wind-eroded rock formations that fed Dalí’s imagination.

Inland: Girona, food and the Greco-Roman past

Just inland, Girona is a highlight in its own right. Its remarkably preserved medieval old town climbs above a colourful riverfront and takes in one of Europe’s best-kept Jewish quarters, the Call, where the Museum of Jewish History records a community that thrived until the expulsion of 1492. A cathedral crowns the centre, reached by a sweeping flight of steps. The city is a serious food destination too, home to El Celler de Can Roca, and each May its Temps de Flors festival fills courtyards and monuments with flowers. Near the coast at L’Escala, the ruins of Empúries preserve a Greek and Roman town right beside the sea.

Getting around once you’re here

Girona–Costa Brava Airport is the closest gateway, but it is a small regional airport with a limited route map, so many visitors still fly into Barcelona and drive up, or take the AVE high-speed train to Girona and hire a car from there. Once you arrive, a car is genuinely close to essential: the coast road twists constantly, public buses between the small cove towns are infrequent, and several of the best calas are only reachable by a short walk from the nearest parking area. If you want to stay car-free, base yourself in Girona itself and treat the coast as a series of day trips rather than trying to move between coastal villages on local transport.

Related on Costamap

Open the interactive map for this coast to see every destination as a pin, filtered by beaches, coves, viewpoints, castles, museums or natural parks.

Immediately south, the Costa Barcelona covers the Maresme, the Garraf cliffs and the Penedès cava country either side of the city.

Every town guide on the Costa Brava

31 towns on this coast have their own guide on CostaMap. They are listed alphabetically, with what each one is actually for.

• Alella — a small wine town just north of Barcelona
• Arbúcies — bus-building heritage, chestnut forests, hiking trails, local food, and how to get there
• Arenys de Mar — a Maresme coast town with the area’s biggest marina
• Banyoles — The Estany de Banyoles is the biggest natural lake in Catalonia and hosted
• Begur — medieval hilltop village above Costa Brava’s finest coves: Sa Riera, Sa Tuna, Aiguablava
• Besalú — one of Catalonia’s best-preserved medieval towns
• Bescanó — a quiet Ter-river town just west of Girona
• Blanes — where the Costa Brava begins: Sa Palomera rock, Marimurtra botanical garden, long beaches
• Cadaqués — the white fishing village Dalí called home: Portlligat, Cap de Creus, slate coves
• Caldes de Malavella — Roman thermal baths, Vichy Catalan water, golf at PGA Catalunya
• Canet de Mar — Domènech i Montaner’s modernism, Castell de Santa Florentina and a summer music festival
• El Masnou — golden beaches, a lively marina, maritime heritage and easy trains from Barcelona
• Escala — the Greek and Roman ruins of Empuries, salted anchovies
• Figueres — the Dalí Theatre-Museum, the vast Sant Ferran castle
• Girona — a walled medieval old town, the widest Gothic cathedral nave
• Hostalric — medieval walls, castle and old town between Girona and Barcelona
• Lloret de Mar — Lloret de Mar is the Costa Brava’s biggest, busiest resort
• Malgrat de Mar — history, the Cathedral of the Coast and how to visit
• Olot — capital of the Garrotxa volcanic zone, dozens of dormant volcanoes
• Palafrugell — gateway to Calella de Palafrugell, Llafranc and Tamariu: cork heritage, havaneres
• Palamós — a working Costa Brava fishing town famous for its prawns
• Pineda de Mar — long Maresme beaches, a Roman aqueduct and direct trains from Barcelona
• Premià de Mar — a Maresme beach town 30 minutes by train from Barcelona
• Roses — sweeping bay beaches, the Ciutadella fortress, boat trips to Cap de Creus, food
• Salt — a dense, multicultural mill town on Girona’s doorstep
• Sant Antoni de Calonge — a long Costa Brava beach, quiet coves
• Sant Feliu de Guíxols — Costa Brava harbour town with a Benedictine monastery, Sant Pol beach
• Santa Coloma de Farners — Full guide to Santa Coloma de Farners
• Tordera — an inland town on the Costa Brava’s southern edge, its river delta
• Torroella de Montgrí — medieval planned town under the Montgrí castle
• Tossa de Mar — Tossa de Mar on the Costa Brava has a walled medieval old town

See the full Costa Brava region guide for the interactive map of every beach, town and historic site along this coast.

Frequently asked questions