Tossa de Mar - Girona

El Castell de Tossa de Mar

Tossa de Mar is a little beautiful sea side town in Girona.  It is located in La Costa Brava, about 100 Km north from Barcelona.

One of the first things you see when you arrive in Tossa de Mar is a very robust medieval Castle standing on a hill. It was built in 1387 by Abbot Ramon Dezcatlar. It is one of the things you must visit – it is spectacular! You can actually walk over its walls, which surround part of the town, and view some of the old and beautiful houses within and the beaches from above. The town is full of small pebbled streets with loads of boutiques, bars and restaurants visited by tourists and locals too. In fact, the town is lately becoming one of the favourite destinations for Catalán people to go to.  

The closest beaches to town are “Es Codolar”, which is kind of at the back of the town nearby the Castle’s walls. This one is very small and rocky. In front of the town you will find the main two beaches, “Platja Gran” and “Platja del Reig”, normally quite crowded and always with several fishing boats dispersed around. The water is really clean. There is another little beach going further up north called “Mar Menuda”, which is the one I had the pleasure to be at just recently with some friends. It is a very family friendly type of place with loads of kids running around. My friend and I did snorkelling nearby the sea rocks. This was great fun, although we did not see loads of fish. There are two Chiringuitos (bar/restaurants) with terrace where you can sit down under an umbrella and enjoy a few fish tapas and a drink – the sangria is especially good.

In the evening we did a barbeque at my friend’s place, which happens to be on top of the highest hill by “Carrer de la Vil-la Romana, facing the sea. You cannot imagine how beautiful the view at night time is up there – totally stunning, as you can see the whole town and the Castle illuminated and hear the music of the beach parties going on. It was a bit on an effort to go up there as we went by foot because in this town, in summer, it is impossible to find a car park and, if you do, it will likely cost you a little fortune – so we decided to walk.

Bar Kars en Tossa de Mar

After the really nice barbeque and salads prepared by Eva’s family, I undertook a little pub/bar route with my two friends Terry and Joan, to explore a bit further the town. To walk down was much easier, through a little and narrow set of stairs. We stopped first at this bar called “El Trinket” by Carrer de San Josep, right in the centre of town. This bar has got an amazing garden with trees, tables and chairs and enough space to hang out there all night. You can play pool and football table as well and they have a great range of beers and cocktails. Great Gin & Tonics J
The second stop was at this bar called “Mar i Cel” by Carrer Ses Nou Sardanes. Very different place with a nice terrace outdoors too. We found live music here by a local group playing and singing flamenco and people dancing. It was a bit odd but we enjoyed it.

The third and last one called “Kars” in Carrer de Rosa Rissech was more of a cocktail bar but they also sell beers and all types of booze. In this old house one can still see the old wooden beams and in the main entrance there is like a little porch with a roof with roof tiles – really worthwhile popping in for a glass of wine. The crowd seems quite local and young and stays until very late. I fully recommend going there if you go to Tossa de Mar. We managed to get back home quite late and quite happy, enough to be a little fragile next morning.

On Sunday we did a little driving from Tossa de Mar going into Sant Feliu de Guixols and we stopped at this beach called “Canyet” where we spent all day swimming, snorkelling with a few more fish around this time and sunbathing – the highlight here is the “Rosa Mar” restaurant on top of the cliff from where you have an excellent view and the food is good. There is a nice garden where kids spend time running around and play.

Ramon