The old town's the best part (Tossa de Mar)

Member Name: Tupps

Product:	Tossa de Mar
Date:	02/06/09 (18 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Quiet, friendly place

Disadvantages: Painful beach

Been on holiday to Spain many times but never this far north. The Costa Brava is not as hot as southern Costas but then I did go in April! It's probably better in the summer months. I really liked this place which to be honest I was surprised about - most people I know who've been there said it was a dump! Well I found it to be the opposite in fact. Tossa de Mar is a lovely, clean place with friendly locals and quiet streets. The rowdier lot go into bigger resorts such as Lloret so it tends to be couples, older people and young families in Tossa which all adds to the quiet, relaxed feel of the place.

The beach is not very good - it's lovely and sandy to look at but painful to walk on! It's that shingle stuff and it hurts after a bit. Plus I got tons of it in my eyes which wasn't great.

The best thing about Tossa, like most Spanish resorts, is the old town. It looks like a castle but it isn't - it's just a walled town with a couple of 'lookout' bits but within these walls is where you will find the old town. Lovely old cobbled streets, picturesque bars and shops, and a tiny church right in the middle, the old town is really lovely but again, being April, it was very quiet when I was there - I think in the summer months, this area would be great when everything's bustling and open. There is a statue in here of Ava Gardner (she filmed something here but I can't remember what) - she was TINY; her waist measured practically nothing.

The people of Tossa are very friendly and love it if you attempt the odd word of Spanish, even if it is just hola, gracias, or adios (which pretty much sums up my Spanish!).

We spent 3 days here and it was lovely just to have a few days away. We took a boat into Lloret on our second day; the sea was very choppy and most of us fell over disembarking which gave the boat crew a good laugh!

Shops in Tossa are more pricey than those in Lloret; there are also no nightclubs or fast food outlets - again, Lloret for those. (If you don't know Lloret, just think Benidorm, it's the same kind of resort.)

I really did like Tossa - it feels perfectly safe to wander around at night, unlike Lloret which has blokes trying to entice you into every bar and club and feels a bit seedy in places.

My only real grip with Tossa is that we stayed at an all inclusive resort, the Tossa Beach/Tossa Centre hotel. It was my first experience of an all inclusive holiday and I wasn't impressed. I'm far too fussy I know that - but also, the drinks are awful! Served in plastic cups and you don't know what most of them are. Some of them just taste like syrupy watery food colouring. Odd. I prefer to know what I'm drinking!

Still, moaning aside, I liked Tossa a lot and would go back - although next time, I'd take a trip into Barcelona. I planned on that this time but ran out of time!

Summary: A lovely place for a relaxing few days away