Waterproof Horse Blanket

You can reach Lloret de Mar on the Costa Brava by flying to Barcelona or Gerona airports. Gerona is about 40k from the coast and takes about 40 minutes to get there but Barcelona is around 90k away and the transfer takes about an hour to Lloret.

The main coastal resorts near Lloret de Mar are Roses, Tossa de Mar, Santa Susana, Calella, Pineda, Malgrat and Blanes.

What are the hotels like? There is every kind of hotel and apartment complex you could imagine in Lloret. All-inclusive hotels, self-catering apartments, a hostel, small tent city and probably many other places as well.

We stayed at the Blau apartments half way up Lloret high street and, the hotel Rosamar, which is on the opposite side of all the shops and narrow streets, near the beach.

Our room at the Blau was quite nice, fridge and TV, balcony and good-sized bathroom but rather noisy though being above the high street. The staff at the apartments not too friendly and the facilities substandard. There is a tiny roof pool full of kids and the laundry facilities consist of a washing machine in a room, which was always flooded.

A major plus was having a supermarket right next door. The supermarket had everything we needed as we went self-catering, and what we couldn’t get we only had to take a short walk up the high street.

The hotel Rosamar was quite different though. The room was very basic and the whole ambiance of the hotel was depressing. My wife and I chose to go half board this time, thinking we would save on washing up, cleaning the apartment etc.

Bad mistake! The food was terrible and very poor quality for the whole two weeks but because it was so cheap to eat out, we did have many evening meals out and even some breakfasts we skipped and went to our favourite pizza restaurant for brunch near the hotel. Sat watching over the beach, sun beating down, large jug of sangria, aaah yes, paradise in Lloret.

Anyway, the Rosamar had a nice big pool, plenty of umbrellas and sun beds, Jacuzzi, gym, sauna and activities for the kids. The evening entertainment in the hotel was varied and lively. We met a great couple called Graham and Rosemary, we spent many nights with them sat in the corner of the entertainment lounge drinking and talking until the small hours.

How about the nightlife? The nightlife of Lloret is wild! There are plenty of pubs and clubs run by English people, the most popular probably being The Queen Vic, Texas and The Seven Seas. There was a great pub called the white Horse but this is now closed down.

You can even find a few theme bars in Lloret. A rock bar, disco place, clubs open until 4 or 5 in the morning, Rockafellas is one and don’t go to the Flamingo hotel unless you want to see a little more flesh than you normally would in a public place. There are burger places and kebab houses open all night long not too mention all the fast food restaurants open all the time.

And the daylife…? The day life is quite relaxed. The Costa Brava might have a reputation for being the wild and rugged coast of Spain, but remember, this is Spain and in Spain everything goes slow and no one misses an afternoon siesta. If you have kids, take them to the Water Park at Lloret, it is fantastic and you could easily spend a whole day there. There is a marine life centre, and there are some fantastic bays and beaches to visit all around Lloret.

Best way to reach all the bays and coves is by very reasonably priced water taxis. You won’t regret your little trips up and down the coast, the coastline is amazing! Tossa de Mar, Santa Susana, Santa Christina, Blanes and a few others. Our favourite? Santa Christina, there can’t be many places in the world where you have a sandy beach, restaurant and bar and fast food all in one place, with not too many people? Sounds to good to be true, but its not!

As you cruise up and down the coast you will see old castles, rugged cliffs and churches you can see for miles. They have the glass bottom boats so you can visit the uninhabited islands off the coast where there is plenty of marine life to watch under the boat, fish, octopus etc… or you can sit on the top deck, see everything, and have an ice cream or soft drink.

If you find yourself with a spare morning or afternoon, the old church right in the centre of Lloret is beautiful. See if you can get inside. They will not let you take pictures but it is worth the hassle of talking to the person in charge to get a peep inside.

We took a trip on the little train that does the rounds on the streets. Thinking it was a way to kill an hour and would be a good chance for an afternoon kip, we were pleasantly surprised. After about 5 minutes we were heading out of Lloret and up into the hills. The little train carried us past stunning villas and the view from the top of the hill was breathtaking. There is a man who takes a camcorder and you can buy a video of the whole experience, great souvenir to bring home.

If you want to get out of Lloret for a day, try, Montserrat, Andorra, Barcelona, Vic and one or two other places away from Lloret but near enough away for a day trip. I recommend all the above, especially Barcelona. If you go there, visit Goudy’s church, the football stadium and the kids will love the zoo. Whilst you have lunch at the café in the zoo, you can watch the giraffes up close and very personal.

At the bottom of Lloret high street there is a children’s carousel and up the top of the high street there is an adult’s carousel. You could probably take the kids on both but the one at the top of the street is double decked and has a very cozy Cinderella’s coach.