I love Barcelona. I love the city’s vibrancy and spirit. There’s a certain energy that Barcelona emanates through its people, food, culture, and the million things to do and see. But sometimes, bustling Barcelona is more than you can handle. Sometimes a change of pace or scenery is needed even if it is just for a day.
My advice: head over to Costa Brava, visit Tossa de Mar, and explore the beautiful coast of Catalonia.
Costa Brava is an easy weekend getaway or day trip from Barcelona. Many tour companies can be found on sites like viator.com or getyourguide.com that will help facilitate an easy escape from the city. Alternatively if you’re seeking for a more DIY option, you can also catch the Moventis Sarfa bus from Estacio Nord to locations along the coastline. Read more tips on how to the Moventis Sarfa bus here.
From Costa Brava, you can catch the Dofi Jet boat that makes stops between various islands and beaches. If you’re joining a tour via viator.com or getyourguide.com, then this will most likely already include your Dofi Jet boat ride. However, if you are organizing your DIY tour, be warned that the Dofi Jet boat website isn’t that great and it’s unclear if you can buy your boat ticket online. Your best bet may be to plan to arrive in Lloret de Mar or one of their stops, and then buy your Dofi Jet boat ticket from the sales office there. My sister and I took the Dofi Jet boat from Costa Brava to Tossa de Mar, a walled medieval city.
If you find yourself in Tossa de Mar, I recommend eating at the cute, inconspicuous Restaurant El Celler del Vi. To be honest, my sister and I stumbled upon Restaurant El Celler del Vi serendipitously, but we’re glad we did! After exploring the medieval walls of Tossa de Mar, we headed to the Michelin star restaurant La Cuina de Can Simon, but found that it was closed. This was probably for the best for our wallets and our sense of adventure since we continued to roam the streets until we found a beautiful, sunny table at Restaurant El Celler del Vi. We ordered the menu del día. My sister ordered the spaghetti Bolognese for her starter, and I ordered the mussels. These mussels were amazing - highly recommend them! Then, we shared the fideuà for our entrée which is similar to a paella but is cooked with noodles instead of rice.
My sister and I had left Barcelona for our little getaway at around 8AM and arrived back by 4:30PM. It was an easy day trip that would also make for a relaxing holiday getaway from beautiful Barcelona.
