Costa Brava & Medieval Village Tour with Lunch
Recommended by 96% of travelers
Badge of Excellence
Barcelona, Spain
- 10 hours 30 minutes (approx.)
- Mobile ticket
- Offered in: English
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Overview
Venture East from Barcelona to Spain’s Costa Brava, and spend the day discovering one of Europe’s prettiest shorelines. Journey along the coast to this famous seaside stretch, known for its rugged cliffs and pine groves, and stop near the lively resort of Blanes. Sunbathe or swim in a tucked-away sandy cove, or choose to stroll through the cliff-edge Marimurtra Botanical Gardens. After a tasty 3-course lunch at a traditional restaurant, enjoy free time to explore, shop, or relax in the charming town of Tossa de Mar.
- Soak up views of pine-topped cliffs and rugged headlands on one of Europe’s most scenic coastlines
- Relax at a sandy cove or stroll through the cliffside Marimurtra Botanical Gardens
- Get free time to explore picturesque Tossa de Mar on your own
- Small-group tour ensures a more personalized experience
Why Travelers Choose This Tour
This tour removes the hassle of travel planning, but also lets you independently explore during free time.
What's Included
- Local guide
- Lunch with a glass of sangria, wine or beer or a soda or mineral water
- Air-conditioned vehicle
- Gratuities
- Hotel pickup and drop-off
Meeting and Pickup
Meeting point
- Explore CatalunyaC/ Palau de la Música, 1, Ciutat Vella, 08003 Barcelona, Spain
All of our tours meet at our office, which is directly across from the outside cafe area of the Palau de la Musica. We advise that you arrive 15 minutes before the tour starts.
End point
- Plaça de Catalunya, L'Eixample, 08002 Barcelona, Spain
Depending on the size of the group and the traffic restrictions on the day of the tour, your tour will finish back at the office, or in Plaça Catalunya, which is an easy 3-5 minute walk from the office.
Start time.8:30 am
Itinerary
Set off from Barcelona on a small-group tour, enjoying the benefit of a more personalized experience than an overcrowded sightseeing bus.
The journey heads east towards Costa Brava and the peaceful cove of Cala de Sant Francesc. Here, you have the flexibility to choose to lounge on the sandy beach or swim in the clear waters. You can also choose to join a guided walk in the Marimurtra Botanical Gardens.
Once you’ve worked up an appetite, lunch at a local restaurant is included, followed by a visit to the Castle of Sant Joan to take in the views over Blanes.
The day culminates in Tossa de Mar, the site of the region's well-preserved medieval fortified town. Wander up to the lighthouse for sweeping coastal views, then stroll through the old town's streets and white houses. After exploring Tossa de Mar, the tour concludes with a return drive to Barcelona.
The journey heads east towards Costa Brava and the peaceful cove of Cala de Sant Francesc. Here, you have the flexibility to choose to lounge on the sandy beach or swim in the clear waters. You can also choose to join a guided walk in the Marimurtra Botanical Gardens.
Once you’ve worked up an appetite, lunch at a local restaurant is included, followed by a visit to the Castle of Sant Joan to take in the views over Blanes.
The day culminates in Tossa de Mar, the site of the region's well-preserved medieval fortified town. Wander up to the lighthouse for sweeping coastal views, then stroll through the old town's streets and white houses. After exploring Tossa de Mar, the tour concludes with a return drive to Barcelona.
1
Palace of Catalan Music
15 minutes • Admission Ticket Free
Eixample (Pass By)
2
Cala de Sant Francesc
30 minutes • Admission Ticket Free
3
Jardi Botanic Marimurtra
2 hours • Admission Ticket Included
4
Blanes
2 hours 30 minutes • Admission Ticket Free
5
Tossa de Mar
2 hours • Admission Ticket Free
Plaza de Catalunya (Pass By)
Additional Info
- Confirmation will be received at time of booking
- Please bring you bathing suit and towel if you plan to visit the cove in Blanes
- Not wheelchair accessible
- This tour operates in English only
- Stroller accessible
- Near public transportation
- Infant seats available
- Most travelers can participate
- This tour/activity will have a maximum of 16 travelers
Supplied by
Cancellation Policy
You can cancel up to 24 hours in advance of the experience for a full refund.
Traveler Photos
Featured review
It was a lot of walking; wear shoes, and bring sunscreen. The gardens were beautiful if you are in to plants, but the views were better. Our guide, Alex, was great! And so was our driver David. I would do another tour with Alex in a heartbeat!
Reviews
4.8
based on 590 reviews
Sort by: Most insightful
It was nice to get out of the city and escape to the Mediterranean coast. Absolutely gorgeous! Tour guide was informative and I liked the diversity of being able to visit botanical gardens, monuments, the beach, and a quant town. Plenty of free time to do what we wanted. A great escape that I highly recommend.
We had a nice time on the tour. It seemed a little backwards. The tour should start at Tossa de Mar and finish at Cala de Sant Francesc. You don’t get the beach to yourself. It was a very pretty beach. Where they took us for lunch ( don’t remember name) was a wonderful meal.
Sergi was our tour guide! He was extremely kind and provided us with lots of information about the places we visited!!
Berta was a great guided very knowledgeable. Informed the group even while in the bus passing different areas.
Fantastic and guide was extremely helpful and patient. She made everyone feel welcomed. Small group so easy to coordinate.
Believe me when I tell you, this tour is a must!!!! it was amazing. Pablo the tour instructor was phenomenal!!! I really enjoyed this tour and it was a solo tour for me
The company Explore Catalunya was well organized. The excursion was as described. Arnau was an excellent guide. Our bus driver, David, was great. The lunch was outstanding. During the busy season a weekday would be a better choice.
The stunning beauty of Costa Brava is one of its kind.
Recommended by a tour guide from a tour operator based in Spain, I ensured never to miss this one.
While in a small group, my companions were fantastic as well.
The most valuable part of this experience was, SERGY, our tour guide. He'd go the EXTRA MILE everything is well taken cared of.
It was a really fun day, a great chance to see some beautiful places w/o having to worry about logistics!
Not the best tour we took. Too much free time at the garden/beach at the first stop. The guide did not count heads when we left from the first stop and 2 people were left behind (we did go back and get them). The lunch was huge in quantity but lacking in quality. The afternoon stop, however, made the day worthwhile. It was worth the day spent.
My husband and I really enjoyed this day trip to costa brava. Alex was our tour guide and he was incredible - hilarious, friendly, helpful, and teaching us about Catalan culture and the history of costa brava. The bus we traveled in was very comfortable and the itinerary of the day was perfectly spaced out. If you’re looking for an unforgettable day trip from Barcelona or a beach experience that blows Barceloneta out of the water, I highly recommend this tour. The two main areas we visited - Blanes and Tossa de Mar - we’re honestly the most beautiful beaches/coastal towns I have ever been to.
It was a lot of walking; wear shoes, and bring sunscreen. The gardens were beautiful if you are in to plants, but the views were better. Our guide, Alex, was great! And so was our driver David. I would do another tour with Alex in a heartbeat!
With a good guide this is a very good day tour. Our guide Alex was excellent and was very knowledgeable over the course of the day. He communicated well with the group and brought just thr right amount of humour.
Pablo our tour was fantastic, humorous and super nice. Told us a lot of information of the places we were going to visit and made our bus ride fun and energetic.
Guide was very informative and personable and the lunch was excellent. Overall an enjoyable day. Unfortunately, due to heavy rain the itinerary was modified which is obviously not the fault of the company.
Amazing tour, great scenery and delicious food. Our tour guide was knowledgeable, friendly and accommodating.
We were very much looking forward to this tour, but it was canceled the day before. We were extremely disappointed. Fortunately we were able to book the same tour through another company and had a lovely day. We couldn’t believe that we almost missed out on the opportunity to do this tour because this company canceled and did not help us to reschedule. I will not use Viator again!
The scenery was beautiful and relaxing. I live getting to know more about Costa Brava and Catalan culture. It was winter, so not much tourists in the areas we visited.
Nuria was our extraordinary guide and driver for the day, and navigated the perfect itinerary. She began be explaining some interesting historical facts about the city as we exited through the Eixample district. After an informative hour that passed very quickly, we arrived in the costal town of Blanes, and began with a stunning panoramic photo opp, then proceeded to the town and had the perfect amount of free time to explore the main street and the beach with its small farmer's market. We then visited the Marimurtra Botanical Gardens, a spectacular experience. Nuria gave us an orientation of the grounds, then we had ample free time to explore the wonder. We then went to a charming (an understatement) restaurant, Pruna, in Tordera. The "farmhouse" lunch was both tasty and satisfying. As Nuria had pre-ordered our meals (from a very extensive list of menu choices) we were served three courses shortly after being seated. Great time management! Our final stop was the amazing coastal town of Tossa de Mar with its gorgeous beaches and hillside fortification. Nuria walked us through the fortification, then allowed us an hour of free time to explore it in detail, as well as walk the main shopping streets before our return drive to the city. Thank you, Robert and Explore Catalunya for another terrific excursion with a superb guide!
Its an all day tour but it is broken up so very easy. We loved that we were free to roam and enjoy. Highly recommend it.
Our tour guide was wonderful! He asked what we were interested in (art, history, architecture, etc) and gave us a mixture based on what the group liked. We had also a child on our tour, and the guide was wonderful with her!
We went on this tour in mid November and it was chilly for this type of activity and many of the beach town shops were closed. We did enjoy the beautiful views and our guide was great.
Excellent trip! Our tour guide, Rod, was very friendly, talkative and knowledgeable.
We visited a Botanical garden with fantastic views of the coast. We had lunch in a restaurant which was a former farmhouse. Food was plentiful and delicious! We visited a medieval village by the sea. Well preserved and beautiful spot! All in all a great day! Highly recommend.
A wonderful day trip from Barcelona to a beautiful area of Spain. Our guide Nuria and driver Lydia were knowledgeable and always making sure we were understanding the information about the locations as well as ample free time to wander.
It was a lovely trip. Our guide, Nu and driver, Nadia were wonderful. Only issues...2 hours at the botanical garden was too long and being post season, most shops and such were closed. Still, a beautiful area!
This tour was a let down right from the start. Nothing was real bad, except for the lunch and all of the flies at lunch....more later on that. The tour just seemed to be unorganized. And a lot more of a self-walk tour than anything else. We had to walk to the bontanical garden, walk thru the gardens, then walk back to either the beach or town. Our guide did share some information about the Medieval city when we went there...but that was all of 15 minutes. Then it was another self walk tour.
On to the lunch deal..... Talk about unorganized!! We were given the menu via text, with no explanation about the menu items to know what it was that you could order or about how the items were being served (the ones that stated "2 or more people"). It seemed that 2 or more people in our group needed to order that item (paella dishes) and we would share them. When in fact it was the whole group sharing for these items. So if the paella you ordered was at the other end of the table, you had to go there and reach between people to serve some. And people were reaching in between you to get their food. The seating arrangement was terrible. Up against a corner with one side of the table tight against a wall in a row with no way for anyone besides the end person to get out without having to have everyone else also get up. And the flies were everywhere.....and soo many of them .... So many that they were flying into your eyes, hair, ears ...we were constantly swatting at them .. and they were all over the food. It was absolutely disgusting. It was honestly the worst tasting food that we had during our whole trip to Spain.
Overall just a disappointment.
The visit to Costa Brava was very beautiful. My cousin and I chose the Botanical Garden option. We traveled in mid October and would be a little chilly for me to swim in the Mediterranean. The Garden was very pretty but not many flowers, more lush leafy species, cactus, succulents and such. The time of year depends on what is growing I would assume. The lunch was OUTSTANDING. So much food, many choices, and delicious. Tossa del Mar is a very nice beach town. The castle and village inside were so interesting and nice to explore. The cliffs and beaches that can be seen on the other side of the castle were just lovely. There is also shopping in the beach town and many places to eat. You won't need to though, the lunch was very adequate. Giam, our tour guide was friendly and a great guide. The only negative for me is that it is a long day. I wouldn't let that deter you from the experience though. Wonderful day all around.
This was an amazing tour! Our guide was knowledgeable and welcoming and did a fantastic job! Tossa Del Mar is absolutely beautiful!
This tour was incredible. The botanical gardens are beautiful and the beach and old fort were so much fun to explore. Our tour guide Berta was very informative and a joy to have as our guide.
Very informative tour without being information overload. Xavi, our guide, took us through a beautiful botanical gardens. Showed us the way to some of the best views you’ll ever see and touched on some of the history. He also made it very clear that if you wanted to break off and do your own thing you are more than welcome to do so. (I would advise against it, you will miss some things)
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per personWas $133.24
up to 24 hours before the experience starts (local time)
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