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Best beaches of Catalonia

Catalonia is full of beaches since it is located in the east side of Spain and at the border of the mediterranean sea. By coming at Barcelona, you are only at 25 minutes of the beach by walking from plaza catalunya. I will add that I don’t like much its beaches particularly the Barceloneta area because it is dirty (sand and sea) – you can swim but it exists a high probability that you cross over a plastic bag in comparison to other ones.

I always prefer to go out of Barcelona to enjoy a beach day but if I have no choice, I will go to Barceloneta just to take a sun bath or I will go to the area near the forum llevant/nova mar (bella beach) or near the mare nostrum (sant miquel/sant sebastià beach) because it is more clean.

If you want to know more about its beaches, read my topic Beach of Barcelona. Normally you can swim in any seasons and in my case, I prefer to enjoy it during summer time because I have cold feet - I will say that you can start to swim from may to october.

The Catalonia coast is divided in 2 sections – up from Barcelona, la Costa Brava, down from Barcelona, la Costa Dorada and each one hides beautiful beaches. The water of la Costa Brava is colder and clearer than la Costa Dorada, even in august if you are sensitive to the cold, you may not swim !!!

If you rent a car, it will be easier to move and quicker, if not, you can still use the train but take note that after you may need to walk or take another public transport before to reach your destination.

If you can’t move in the outskirts of Barcelona for x reasons, be aware that its beaches are full of thieves so keep very well your belongings and unfortunately, there are no secured boxes. In fact, majority don’t have and I will say that this rule also applies to the other beaches although there is less chances to be stolen – better to be preventive. On the other hand, if you can move, below my list of best beaches of Catalonia.

Outskirts of Barcelona:

  • Cala Morisca beach at Sitges (Barcelona, virgin and gravel type)
  • Castelldefels beach at Castelldefels (Barcelona, semi urban type)
  • Mataro beach at Mataró (Barcelona, urban type)
  • El Masnou beach at El Masnou (Barcelona, urban type)

Costa Brava:

  • El Castell beach at Palamós (Girona, rural type)
  • Cala Morisca beach at Tossa de Mar (Girona, virgin and gravel type)
  • Canadell beach at Palafrugell (Girona, urban type)
  • Canyelles beach at Llançà (Girona, semi urban type)
  • La Palma beach at Tossa de Mar (Girona, urban type)
  • Sabanell beach at Blanes (Girona, urban type)
  • Santa Cristina beach at Lloret de Mar (Girona, semi urban type)
  • Cala Murtra beach at Roses (Girona, virgin and gravel type and you may encounter nudists)
  • Sant Pere Pescador beach at Sant Pere Pescador (Girona, rural type)
  • Les Muscleres beach at L’Escala (Girona, rural type)
  • Cala Estreta beach at Palamós (Girona, virgin type)
  • Cala de Sa Futadera beach at Tossa de Mar (Girona, virgin and gravel type and you may encounter nudists)
  • Cala Rostella beach at Roses (Girona, virgin and gravel type)
  • Can Comes beach at Castelló d'Empúries (Girona, rural type and you may encounter nudists)
  • La Boadella beach at Lloret de Mar (Girona, rural type and you may encounter nudists)

Costa Dorada:

  • Waikiki beach at Tarragona (virgin type and you may encounter nudists)
  • Migjorn beach at Sant Jaume d'Enveja (Tarragona, virgin type)
  • Els Trabucador beach at Sant Carles de la Ràpita (Tarragona, rural type and you may encounter nudists)
  • El Serrallo beach at Sant Jaume d'Enveja (Tarragona, rural type)
  • El Torn beach at Vandellòs i l'Hospitalet de l'Infant (Tarragona, rural and gravel type and you may encounter nudists)

Virgin type means that there are no buildings around, urban type means that there are buildings around... Gravel type means that the whole beach is gravel instead of sand or a mix of sand and gravel, if I don’t specify the type it means sand.

The best is to use an interactive map like google map or via michelin to visualize the road, just put in origin Barcelona and the closer destination the town because normally, you have to park your car and use your feet to go to the beach – for instance “El Castell beach at Palamós” so origin Barcelona and closer destination Palamós.

In some places, you can take the RENFE train to reach the destination like Sitges so you don’t need to have a car and it is a direct line – for more information, check out its official website.