Costa Brava Travel Guide: Where to Eat, Sleep & Explore

The Costa Brava is a region in Catalonia home to jaw-dropping beaches, fairytale towns, and a great restaurant scene.

I’ve been visiting the area for over ten years. I first started going at university and I’ve been back pretty much every year since. Since moving to Barcelona four years ago, I’ve been going multiple times a year.

I’ve written this guide to make it easy for you to plan your trip to the Costa Brava. It includes my favourite towns and beaches, where I’d recommend staying, where to eat, how to get around and my tips for planning the perfect trip.

Getting to the Costa Brava

There’s two airports near the Costa Brava – the first is Barcelona which is obviously an international hub with loads of flights to choose from.

From Barcelona airport, you can either hire a car and drive to the Costa Brava, which takes around 1.5-2 hours depending on where you’re going, or you can take a bus.

The other airport is Girona–Costa Brava Airport. It’s much closer but there aren’t as many flight options.

Getting around the Costa Brava

If you want to explore lots of different towns and beaches, I’d recommend hiring a car. The Costa Brava is quite spread out and many of the smaller coastal towns and beaches aren’t connected by train, so having your own car gives you much more flexibility.

You can travel around by public transport, with trains connecting some places, and buses serving many of the smaller coastal towns.

However, you’ll often need to combine trains and buses depending on where you’re going, and services can be infrequent outside the main tourist areas.