Which is better: Calella or Blanes? Blanes, Lloret de Mar, Calella and other resorts in Spain

When buying a tour to Spain for the first time, many first-time tourists are puzzled - where to go to the sea in Spain? Most often they are offered inexpensive tours on the Costa Brava. Let's see which resorts are located in the Costa Brava and what features they have holidays in Costa Brava.

Costa Brava means “wild, rocky coast” and, in fact, geographically, the Costa Brava is considered to be part of Mediterranean coast in the northeast from Blanes and to the very border with, and from Barcelona to Blanes the coast is called Costa del Maresme.

However, travel agencies have long secretly included more southern (and less wildly rocky:)) resorts such as Calella, Pineda de Mar, Malgrat de Mar, etc. in the Costa Brava. Well, let’s not break traditions and include them in the review.

Costa Brava Map

In the photo: map of the Costa Brava and Costa del Maresme

Calella (Calella) – an area of ​​rational recreation

In the photo: tourists love the wide beaches in Calella, Spain

Playa de Aro - the rising star of the Costa Brava

In the photo: tourists are increasingly choosing Playa d'Aro in Spain for their holidays

Spanish resort Playa de Aro (Platja d'Aro) is becoming an increasingly popular holiday destination in Catalonia. And it’s not surprising - very quickly the fishing village turned into a picturesque tourist centre.

Playa de Aro and its surroundings have everything you need for excellent beach sports and excursion tourism: the clearest azure sea, a two-kilometer strip of beaches and excellent trekking routes, city entertainment and colorful ancient monuments.
The only problem in Playa d'Aro is that it is inconvenient for tourists to get to Barcelona on their own.

Peaceful holiday in Roses

In the photo: Roses on the Costa Brava is not yet covered by Russian tourism

Resort town Roses practically unknown to the Russian tourism industry. This quiet and sunny abode is for wealthy European pensioners and lovers of a sedentary multi-month holiday at sea. Do you want to go on holiday to Roses? Go there on your own, especially since

Calella (Calella) - like a smooth pebble rolling in your mouth. Since childhood, I have brought these black pebbles from the sea. Therefore, this association makes you feel comfortable and a smile spreads across your lips like the warmth of the sun.

Calella is located on Costa resort de Barcelona-Maresme. This town began to be built in the 12th century, when the first fishing huts began to appear in this area. Calella has many charming old but well-preserved houses from the Middle Ages and Renaissance. Therefore, walking around this town is very pleasant and interesting.

View of Calella beach

Church of Santa Maria and San Nicolau main square cities. Double consecration because in Catalonia double patronage of saints is customary

Church sculptures

Calella railway station. The station platforms were located directly opposite our hotel, but strangely enough the noise did not interfere with sleep

link

The sea is great! clean and deep, half a meter from the shore.

Seaside Boulevard Manel Puigvert

Along the boulevard, with their facades facing the sea, there were low, but very different and cozy houses, each decorated in its own way - tiles, stucco, mosaics, fancy sculptures.

People in Spain, it seemed to me, are very friendly; if a person has a problem, they will definitely try to help. Here I couldn’t shake the feeling that I was part of one big family.

A cactus house accidentally discovered on the streets of the city

In Spain, it’s customary to say hello - and everyone (no matter who you know or not) greets everyone: “Hola!” And because We are used to saying hello only to people we know; there is a feeling that in Spain everyone knows each other.

The balcony caissons are made with tiles. Ceramics - one of the folk crafts of Catalonia

Such a big, friendly group all over the country. And if you add that the Spaniards smile a lot, then you soon begin to feel very cozy, warm and really friendly. The children here are happy and unafraid, very appetizing, similar to olives - just as black, round, smooth and oily. And their almond-shaped eyes can also be compared to olives. There are a lot of dads walking alone with their children. And Spanish women are not beautiful, but rather sweet and charming.

Immediately upon arrival in Calella, on the first evening, we attended the festival of lamps.
A wooden stage was built on the seaside boulevard, around which long wooden tables were placed, and a “camp cafe” was located nearby, which deserves special mention. Desk-type tables were lined up in a large square, into which frisky old men and women climbed. They cut small loaves of bread and rubbed them with garlic and tomatoes to prepare a traditional Spanish dish. This is where sausages were fried, beer was sold, and sandwiches were made. And all this was done with such simplicity and friendship that it seemed to me that these were not volunteers, but one big family, or a warm company that often gathers like this - the whole city - in someone's kitchen.

link

Meanwhile, the orchestra rose to the stage and began to play national melodies. How did I know it was them? Yes, everyone around just started dancing. What amazed me was that even the children, just not the babies, all knew the movements and, at the first familiar rhythms, they quickly organized themselves into circles, some of them just two, others numbering 10 people.

These are not pioneer dances at all, sardana

Sardana is an ancient Catalan folk dance. The Catalans, by the way, in every possible way distinguish themselves as a separate people and very carefully preserve their traditions. All signs in public places are duplicated in two languages: Spanish and Catalan.

Night Church of Santa Maria and San Nicolau

And yet, despite minor (from my point of view) differences, the Catalan language sounded very clear and pleasant. Slightly more inclined towards French pronunciation.
Finding myself in the whirlwind of Catalans, from the abundance of Spanish-sounding speech, I suddenly suddenly began to feel like I was in a TV series. And this strange, very funny feeling haunted me the entire trip! It was as if I was traveling to the country and came to watch TV.

Meanwhile, the celebration entered its climax: the stage was empty, and chairs for the jury were placed at an equal distance from each other on the central platform of the boulevard. Participants of the competition: children, teenagers, parents with infants - and the whole other motley crowd lined up in one long snake. Everyone lovingly lit their lamp, and behold, the procession began.
Strict and important judges evaluated all 80-odd lamps made by children and their parents.

Ah, Don Pedro! What kind of a man was this!

From among the judges, I especially liked the elderly man with a mustache and a red shirt. Like a strict but kind judge, he carefully assessed all the lamps passing by him, which the children carried in their hands, as if guarded by their parents as if they were angels behind their backs. This judge, whom I silently dubbed “Don Pedro,” did not miss a single, even the smallest and most uninteresting lamp. Thoughtfully, he stopped overzealous contestants to examine their act. A line of adults and children of all ages walked by, rejoicing, not at all embarrassed and even proud of their simple crafts. And the parents - it was clear in their views - were proud of their children. And for every child - be it a baby or a teenager - there was at least one lamp: fish, jellyfish, lighthouses, a catalon with castanets, cartoon characters and God knows what else!

There were even these: mothers carried their already tired and sleeping baby, and with their free third hand they held a lamp made for him; but the girl, who is still so small that she cannot fully coordinate her movements, waves a stick with a lamp attached to its end, knocks her “house” on the ground; but two teenagers are carrying a cunningly constructed beacon almost their height with a power supply hidden in a backpack.

Towers (Les Torretes) and lighthouse (Far de Calella)

Of course, neither the lighthouse nor the towers are something extremely attractive in terms of tourism, but the road to them is very beautiful - and it just goes past those wonderful coves.

And although we had to climb a lot uphill to get to the towers and by that time the sun was at its zenith and justified the name of the country by all 35 degrees, our path ran under the spreading branches of trees - cedars and pines, whose needles strewn the ground around. It was pleasant and soft to walk on, even in light flip-flops there were no problems. And the air around acquired that unforgettable smell that we all remember from our childhood and trips to Crimea. When fresh sea ​​breeze mixed with the completely indescribable smell of pine needles - while alchemy creates a magical aroma that I thought I would never smell again. And according to such a fairy tale (though with a noticeable upward slope), we came to the towers, where the Observation deck to the city.

The Les Torretes towers were built in the mid-19th century and were part of a communications system that stretched all the way to the French border. Information was transmitted using optical signals, flags and lights, so with the advent of electricity, the towers lost their relevance and were abandoned.

Unlike the lighthouse. The little white lighthouse is now a real beauty surrounded by green palm trees. It was built a decade later than the towers in order to prevent attacks by pirates from North Africa. At first the lighthouse ran on oil, then on paraffin, and finally on kerosene. After 1927, with the advent of electricity, it was modernized - electric lamps were installed and optics were replaced.

Now it not only functions remarkably well (the beam of light from the Calella lighthouse reaches 35 miles), but is also one of the official symbols of the city. That is why at the festival of lamps there were so many crafts in the form of this lighthouse.

Dalmau Park

We read about Dalmau Park “with tropical vegetation” in the free city guide.

The park greeted us with silence, coolness, a sunny web of shadows and light, the same amazingly sweet “Crimean” air and that state when absolute joy and uncontrollable happiness just like that, for no reason, spills into the soul - remember, like in childhood when you walk to the point of self-indulgence in the yard and all the swings and horizontal bars seem more and more interesting every time.

Dalmau Park itself is small, and the main plant species in it are pine trees (that’s why the smell is so delicious), but it is also an arboretum, so during our wanderings along the paths we periodically came across signs with the names of plants.
If you walk through the park, going up, and turn your gaze to the sea, you can see a nice view of the city with its dominant feature - the bell tower of the Church of Santa Maria and San Nicolau.

Overall a very pleasant place, of course.

A little trip to Blanes with fireworks

Our time coincided with the annual fireworks festival in Blanes. This was very convenient since Blanes is very close to Calella.

The resort town of Blanes is the oldest of all the towns on the Costa Brava. There is information that on the site of the current city there were settlements already in the era of Romanization of the Iberian Peninsula (after 218 BC), one of them was named Blanda or Blande. The first mention of Blanes proper, or Forcadell Castle, dates back to 1002. From the 12th to the 14th centuries, the city came under the rule of the aristocratic Blanes family.

The sea licks the shore clean

And in this city of Blanes, since 1906, a traditional International festival fireworks display, which coincides in time with the main holiday of Blanes - in honor of St. Anne (the holiday itself is very popular throughout Spain).
For a whole week, every evening in Blanes one of the best world-famous teams shows their art of pyrotechnics. And all week the city has had a terrible situation with transport and accommodation.

According to established tradition, fireworks are launched from a platform located on the rock of Sa Palomera protruding into the sea, dividing the bay of Blanes into two parts, from which the Costa Brava originates. Therefore, we chose a pleasant boat trip with a codea in the form of watching fireworks from the water (all my life I dreamed of seeing flashes of fire scattered in the velvet sky and reflected in the black surface of the sea).

In the soft rays of the setting sun, we were one of the first to take our places on the pleasure boat. And, blown by the still warm breeze, they smoothly set off to gather spectators in all the other towns.
I must say that especially for this boat trip I bought myself a feeling of lightness, in the sense of a dress – long and loose. And what a lot of work it took to stay on your feet and not fly off the upper deck!

View of the Blanes promenade

Meanwhile, the sun was hiding behind the mountain, and the waves were caressing towards sandy shore. However, the romantic idyll soon came to an end. At one of the stops, the upper deck of the boat was filled with a crowd of extremely active Catalan pensioners. It was like an invasion of jackdaws and Brownian motion at the same time. How loud they are, they all said something to each other, walked back and forth, waved to each other, sang songs! And when they saw someone they knew on a neighboring boat, the whole crowd rushed to one side so eagerly to convey air greetings - that I thought we would end up somersaulting. They were so cheerful and so full of life that I involuntarily envied them on behalf of our pensioners. And in general - there is so much energy - anyone can envy here!

Those same lively pensioners

Meanwhile, we had already sailed to the place, stood in a cove next to Blanes, and treated ourselves to champagne and cake from the organizers. And they took a strategically advantageous position for observations.
However, oddly enough, as soon as the fiery extravaganza began, the talkative pensioners fell silent as if on cue. And all the passengers on our yacht gazed in fascination and admiration at the fiery flowers blooming in the night sky.

Let's just take a look.

link

As we later found out, it was a Polish team. But I never found out who won the festival.

Technical information
We bought tickets for the boat to Blanes to watch the fireworks from our guide at the hotel. Although, in principle, they could do it themselves. True, we would have to worry about this much in advance, because... All seats on these flights are sold out very quickly.
In general, any tickets for boats can be bought at Dofi Jet Boats booths. They are easy to identify by the corresponding emblem - here’s how it is on the website (you can also see the routes there). In Calella, I noticed two of them - both stood on the beach, one is closer to the beginning of the city (from the Barcelona side) - this one is called Calella, the other is at the end of the city (just near “our cemetery” and the beach we loved;) and it is already called Poblenou .
The boat stops at both stations - so, carefully study where it is more convenient for you to get on and off, so that you don’t have to walk through the whole city.

Photos are mine and

For several years now, Spain has rightfully occupied an honorable place among European countries, where Russians prefer to go on a beach holiday. Spain has a lot of advantages: clean, wide beaches, the possibility of not only a beach holiday, but also an educational holiday with sightseeing and trips to nearby towns, a Schengen visa for six months, which is usually given to all tourists who buy a package tour. Still thinking about which resort town in Spain to choose for your holiday? In this article I will tell you about the popular Spanish resort towns in the province of Catalonia, where I visited, and show you their beaches.

I want to say right away that spanish beaches Most of them are public; for renting a sunbed and umbrella you will have to pay from 4-6 Euros per day. The so-called hotel beaches, of which there are many in Turkey, are not here.

First I want to tell you about the towns, popular among our tourists, located on Costa del Maresme. I think almost everyone who has ever traveled with package tour to Spain, I heard about these towns, which over the past few decades have turned from fishing villages into popular resort destinations. For clarity, I am attaching a plan for the placement of towns on the coast.

Calella

Calella is located 55 km from. Calella beach stretches over 3 km. This beach is regularly awarded the Blue Flag, which is awarded environmentally clean beaches Europe, where water meets high quality standards. Behind the city beach, nudists often sunbathe in the rocks. You can easily walk along the beach to the neighboring town of Pineda de Mar. There is plenty to do in Calella besides beach holiday: the city has a very large embankment, many shops, including shops with Spanish leather goods, cafes and restaurants for every taste. IN free time You can go to the City Museum of Calella, whose 12 exhibition halls are dedicated to the history of the city. In the summer, a tourist train runs around the city every half hour, where you can take your children for a ride. This is my favorite city on this coast, we vacationed here in good hotels Hotel Kaktus Playa and Hotel Volga (using the links you can book hotels at competitive prices).

Pineda de Mar

Pineda de Mar is located approximately 60 km from Barcelona. The beach of Pineda de Mar is sandy, very wide and long, like most resort places on the Costa del Maresme. Not far from the beach there are hotels, cafes, terraces and restaurants. Among aquatic species Sports highlights include kayak racing and bodyboarding. In Pineda de Mar there are a lot of cafes with chairs right on the sand, where it is very nice to sip a cocktail and watch the sunset. Pineda de Mar is not like that large resort, therefore, mostly Europeans vacation here, while compatriots are very rare.

Santa Susanna

Santa Susanna is a convenient point for visiting both Barcelona and Girona. This is a large tourist center with all the ensuing consequences: noisy discos until the morning, souvenir shops open late, crowds of tourists. Party-goers will love it here, because compared to the quiet “pensioner” Pineda de Mar next door, Santa Susanna is a party place. The beach is in no way inferior to the beaches of Pineda de Mar or Calella, but in some places getting into the water is problematic due to the high shore: you literally have to slide down a sandy hill into the water. In 2003, the Santa Susanna resort was awarded the title of resort for family vacation. The city has several parks; a separate attraction is the embankment, along which you can even walk to the neighboring city of Malgrat de Mar. You can also visit Marineland water park, which is served by free buses from other nearby coastal towns.

Blanes

Starting from Blanes, the Costa del Maresme becomes Costa Brava, which continues all the way to the Spanish border with France in the north. Blanes is home to several botanical gardens, one of which, called Murimurta, covers an area of ​​15 hectares and is home to more than 4,000 plant species. By the way, from the territory of this garden there is a stunning view of the Costa Brava. The largest of the city's beaches stretches for 3 km and its width is 60 m. The beach has areas for playing Beach volleyball. The city hosts a fireworks festival every July. Blanes is much larger resort towns, which I talked about earlier, here on the beaches you will see not so many tourists, but the local population.

Lloret de Mar

Popular far beyond Spain, Lloret de Mar is located 76 km from Barcelona and 42 km from Girona. This resort is very popular among English and German youth, parties here in summer time continue literally around the clock, and often it is impossible to sleep. The beach in Lloret de Mar is considered one of the most popular beaches on the Costa Brava, its length is 1630 m, width – 45 m. It has pleasant fine white sand. One of the symbols of the resort and its calling card is the legendary castle on the coast of Lloret de Mar. On the beach you can ride a banana boat or go on a boat tour around the surrounding towns. The city is located in a bay, protected from the winds. Recommended for relaxing with friends and wild parties.

Tossa de Mar

The town of Tossa de Mar is located 100 km from the French border near Girona in a cozy bay. From here it will be convenient to go on an excursion to the Dalí Theater and Museum in Figueres. You can sail to Tossa de Mar by pleasure boat from Lloret de Mar. Old city located inside the 14th century fortress walls, within which there is a castle. This is the only walled city in Catalonia. The beach offers snorkeling and diving. This resort is designed for families. Marc Chagall loved to visit Tossa; there is a museum with his paintings in the city. Previously, Tossa de Mar was famous for the production of corks for sealing expensive wines.

In conclusion, I want to say that a railway passes through Calella, Pineda de Mar, Santa Susanna, and Blanes, along which you can easily reach Barcelona within an hour and can walk around the city of Gaudí on your own without overpaying for excursions. In Lloret de Mar and Tossa de Mar there are bus stops, from which you can get to Blanes, and then transfer to the train to Barcelona. I also advise you to choose a resort for your vacation according to your needs: family relaxing holiday or hanging out with friends to avoid disappointment upon arrival. There are pleasure boats between all these cities, some of them with a transparent bottom, I advise you to definitely take a ride.

My husband and I were on holiday in Calella and decided to go to Blanes for one day. The purpose of the trip was to visit a local botanical garden.

Botanical sad

And I wanted to take a walk along the beaches along the city embankment.

Beaches of Blanes

Getting from Calella to Blanes is convenient for tourists with any budget. Buses and trains run between cities. Those who like to travel more comfortably can rent a car or use a taxi.

By bus

Blanas can be reached in one hour by bus. Several flights of the transport company Sagales depart from Calella:

• Line 603. There are eight departures daily (at 10:03, 11:33, 12:33, 15:03, 16:33, 18:23, 19:53, 23:58).
• Line 622. Between 23 June and 11 September there are daily services at 09:00, 11:00, 13:00, 15:00, 17:00 and 19:00. At other times of the year these flights are on Saturdays, Sundays and holidays are not implemented.

Here is the schedule for flight No. 603.

These buses can be boarded at any of these stops:

• St. Jaume - Mar – benzinera;
• St. Jaume - St. Josep - Mercat;
• St. Jaume - Pl. de les Roses.

Here is the stop St. Jaume - St. Josep – Mercat on the map. My husband and I went on our trip from here.

And this is the schedule for line 622.

Departure and arrival times at the station are highlighted in yellow. Flight 622 boards from these stops:

• Hospital de Sant Jaume;
• Sant Jaume - Sant Josep – Mercat;
• Sant Jaume - Plaça de les Roses.

Here is the Hospital de Sant Jaume stop on the city map.

Before planning your trip, be sure to visit the official Sagales website and check the schedule, as changes may be made by the carrier.

Ticket prices

Tickets for bus lines No. 603 or 622 cost 12.80 euros.

Where to buy tickets

Tickets can be purchased at bus station ticket offices or on the carrier’s website.

By train and by bus

You may ask why this route is combined? After all, Blanas has its own Train Station and the city can be reached by rail. Yes, there is a train station in Blanas.

But as you can see on the map, it is located beyond the line settlement, and the city center is more than two kilometers from the station. You can cover this distance on foot in half an hour or in a couple of minutes by bus.

Now, in order. On a small railway station In Calella you need to take the train line R1 to Blanes or Maçanet-Massanes.

Entrance to the station

About thirty flights are carried out in this direction every day. The first train leaves at 06:56, the last at 24:06. You will reach your destination in 16-20 minutes. Here is a fragment of the schedule of these trains.

A more detailed schedule can be viewed. I recommend reading the story. You will learn a lot useful information O railways in Spain. After purchasing your tickets, go to the platform.

Platforms at the station

There are only two of them at Calella station. From one train leaves in the direction of Barcelona, ​​and from the second in the direction of Blanes. Follow the signs :).

Arriving at the Blanes station, you need to transfer to the Pujol bus, which runs along the route station-bus station-station. The detailed schedule can be viewed. In ten minutes you will already be at the city bus station. You can also take flights from this company that fly from the station to Lorette de Mar or Tossa. They also go through Blanes. See the schedule of these flights on the carrier's website.

Ticket prices

• Train ticket – 5.90 euros;
• Bus ticket – 1.85 euros.

Where to buy tickets

• On the train. Tickets can be purchased at the station ticket office or ticket sales terminals.
• On the bus. Tickets can be purchased from the driver, at the station ticket office or on the carrier’s website.

By taxi

You can get to Blanes by taxi in 15-20 minutes. You can use the service in one of the taxi services in Calella. There are not many of them here:

• Parada de Taxis;
• Jesús Segura Liarte;
• Taxi Calella Rm.

The trip will cost 25-30 euros. Traveling by taxi alone is not profitable, but for two people the price is quite reasonable. Two bus tickets will cost more than 25 euros. To travel by bus you will need to go to the bus station, buy a ticket, wait for the bus to depart and drive for an hour. And you can take a taxi at any time and for the same money you will be in Blanes in half an hour.

By car

There is only one car rental company in the city. The office is open daily from 09:00 to 20:00. You can rent a car in more famous transport companies. For example, in the neighboring town of Pineda de Mar there is an office of the company Avis.here), so it is better to choose a second road for the trip.

other methods

There are no air or sea connections between the cities.

Finally

It was I who described to you all the possible options for a trip from Calella to Blanes. If you are going to travel to this city from Barcelona or Girona airport, I recommend reading the history. All possible options for such a trip are interestingly described here.