Rent a car.

Three simple words, yet you will be thankful you followed the advice.  When you rent a car you have more flexibility, and you can drive through more of the smaller villages in the area.  It’s amazing what you can see in one day with a car.  Through the Costa Brava region, the drive was manageable up until we started going up the mountain.  The roads were slim.  Cars were speeding by because I was driving slow.  There were some parts of the mountain road that had no guard rails (why I was driving so slow).  The roads were so windy it was making me nauseous.

Cap de Creus National Park

Coastal view

The first stop was the Sant Pere de Rodes Monastery in Cap de Creus National Park.  The Monastery was constructed on the side of the Verdera mountain.  Around the monastery there are ruins of the castle of Sant de Verdera and a medieval town.

Sant Pere de Rodes Monastery

The view from the monastery is absolutely stunning.  The Mediterranean sea to the northeast of the mountains.  Small villages sprinkled throughout the coast.  It’s one of those moments you take in and don’t say anything.

Down the road from the monastery, you will turn the corner and see the Pyrenees mountains.  We don’t live in an area where you can see snow on mountains and the beach.  All I could think was how lovely would that be, to spend a morning skiing and an afternoon swimming!

The next stop Platja Castell near Palamós.  This beach is the only undeveloped sandy beach in Costa Brava.  There are beautiful coves in this area, the reason to go to this area.  It was truly amazing, the nature, the colours and the weather.  It took us some time to find the coves.  After sledging through mud in the farm field, and walking through the flowing sea water to cross the beach, we found the coves.

Our day trip to Costa Brava was nothing short of amazing!