The Costa Brava's Best Kept Secret.... (Tossa de Mar)

Member Name: mythdata

Product:	Tossa de Mar
Date:	08/11/08 (296 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: plenty of sightseeing tours and entertainiment for everyone,

Disadvantages: None for me, nos exsitant nightlfe for others.

ABOUT TOSSA DE MAR

Tossa de Mar is very up and coming as it appeals to couples and families, although it does not really cater for youngsters or those looking for a 18-30 clubbing holiday, there are bars and clubs situated all around Tossa de Mar so you can also go and have a good drink, without having to cope with young drunk teenagers everywhere.

Tossa consists of 150 meters of fantastic beaches and stunning scenery, Tossa de Mar also boasts that it is one of the only coasts in the world, which is surrounded by nice green forests, this therefore makes it very desirable for visitors from all over the globe.

This resort is situated in the Costa Brava and 95 kilometres north of Barcelona and 100 kilometres away from France, So trips to Barcelona water fountains or football stadium is possible.

Tossa de Mar is an old historic town with cobbled streets, so if offers many attractions for you to visit while you are in Tossa.

BARS & RESTURANTS

Tossa de Mar is a family orientated resort with enough to either entertain adults and children, It offers good entertainment through local run bars and restaurants, this entertainment is often very basic.

Much of the entertainment is catered by hotels but this is all done and dusted by midnight, so you will have a few early nights although some of the lively Spanish beach bars do stay open until 2am.

During the peak season March - October the beach bars and restaurants can be very crowded and are very popular with tourists, as they offer traditional Spanish and European food along with local wines and beers at very cheap prices.

For the Spanish cuisine I would recommend you try the local family run Spanish restaurants, as these offer fresh traditional Spanish food, and I have to say it is a lot tastier than many basic eateries, so it is worth while walking into the side streets to find these places.

This is basically home from home for food, if you want it to be, as they also have takeaways like McDonalds, wimpy and even kebab and pizza shops.

BEACH

Tossa is also home to 14 kilometres of beach, which is broken up into smaller beaches and sandy coves, some of with consist of nice fine sand and others being made of little stones, similar to cat litter, this makes the beaches very hard to walk on bare foot so a pair of beach flip flops are essential.

Tossa de Mars central beach Platja Gran, is semi circle in shape and over looked by the stunning historic castle. Here you can fine many facilities such as public toilets, showers, life guards and it is also surrounded by beach bars and food resturants.

This is currently the main boat beaching area, so if you are relaxing in the sun you can see many boats come and go. This does not affect swimming in the sea as the boating lane is cordoned off so swimmers are unable to get into the boating lanes way.

On the right hand side or the beach, directly under the castles walkway you can catch a glass bottomed boat, to see the reef, sea life and other areas of the Costa Brava. This boat trip can be done for as little as 15 Euros and I would advise this to anyone visiting Tossa de Mar.

Tossa de Mar beaches all offer a full range of water sports and are very popular for scuba divers and snorkelers, this is due to the waters being crystal clear and stunning in colour.

When I went I did not do anything to strenuous but I purchased a snorkel for 6 Euros from a local gift shop on the beach, this was money well spent as we had so much fun.

HISTORIC CASTLE

This is by far Tossa de Mars best asset and is the most attractive part of this beautiful little town. The castle Villa Vella is situated on the older part of Tossa de Mars town, but is perfectly visible from every direction it is that big.

The castle was built in 1187 on the headland looking out to sea, and was used to defend the town from sea invasion.

This is a huge sand stone castle that is full of alley ways and staircases that are still accessible by tourists today, the castle is accessed by a 10 minute climb up thick stone stairs, these stairs a located at the church at the end of the town's high street.

Another way to access the castle is from the right hand side of the beach, there you can take a 25-30 slow walk up and around the castle to reach the top.

If you walk up and around the castle you can take in some stunning scenery of the sea, the historic town, cliff and cave openings. Half way up you come across a small family run bar / restaurant they family are Spanish but they speak very good English, here it is nice to grab a cold beer at 3 Euros a pint.

This is free of charge and well worth a visit, we walked up at night and had a few drinks is the bar, this was great fun but I don't recommend you get to drunk as it is a fairly long walk back down the hill.

SHOPPING

Tossa is a very quaint town full of small gift shops to grab those last minute souvenirs and holiday keepsakes, some of these shops are full of junk and can be very expensive, but if you shop around you may find certain items a lot cheaper elsewhere.

I loved the leather good shops, and trust me there was a fair few, so I have now come home with half a dozen new handbags.

I was very surprised to see many designer shops, such a lacoste, Calvin klein, Radley, Reply and Armani. I did wonder around these shops and they were very expensive, you could expect to pay more for the clothing than you would at home.

All of the shops are located within the one area, it is a main street that looks very modern with glass fronted shops, but as you get to the bottom end of the street the tarmac turns to cobbles. Here you have entered the historic part of the town and you will find the best restaurants and also the entrance to the castle.

I was not overly impressed with the shopping as every shop seemed to have the same things, some shops looked like their stuff had been around for years and this put me off as it was covered in dust.

OTHER ATTRACTIONS

If Tossa is not appealing enough for you, you can take one of many trips that can be done alone or organised by staff at you hotel or from reps along the beach front.

If you fancy going to Lloret de Mar of another of the Costa Brava's resorts, then you can do this by boat from the jetty located underneath the castle, on the right hand side of the beach. This costs 15 Euros return but allows you to get to the resorts quickly and it does not waste your day by travelling by car of bus.

If you want to keep the kids entertained you can also visit Marineland or a swim water park, these are both located in Lloret, so you will need transport or arrange your own transport. You hotel will offer either of these two as a day trip, but this was very expensive. I would recommend you make your own way to these parks as it will save you many Euros.

MY VIEWS

This is a holiday that allows you to relax on one of the many coved beaches or you can take in some of the Costa bravas history by visiting the attractions. I feel the castle is one not to be missed as it is a very well maintained castle that allows you to look around at you leisure.

The Stony beaches let me down but this was made up for by the nice clear water, that I was not afraid to go into, usually I stay away if I can see my feet. You never know sharks may be lurking and they are my biggest fear.

Tossa de Mar does not provide the dusk to dawn partying, but it will cater for you if you want to go out and get drunk. This worked well for us as I like a drink but can't stand drunken people fighting or throwing up all over the place.

It was not really expensive to eat or drink, but the shops were very over priced for the cheap rubbish they were selling, this maybe down to the euro being so poor at the moment.

I feel this would be a great break for any sun worshiper, as you can laze on the beach and take in a little bit of sightseeing without it being too much like hard work.

Summary: Relaxing holiday for everyone,,,