View of the terrace from the living room

Activities

One of the main attractions of the Costa Brava is the range of activities on offer. In our free 25-page 'La Borna Guest Guide', we've got a pretty exhaustive listing of your options and the details of what, when, where, how much etc. On this page, we're just going to provide a taste of what's on offer. Let us know if you'd like more information of anything specific you see mentioned here...

Beaches

The coves along the coast of Begur, between Aiguablava and Sa Riera, are said to be the most beautiful of the Costa Brava. The bays of Aiguablava (named after the intense blue water), Sa Tuna (our local beach), and Sa Riera are frequently cited as the best examples of what the Costa Brava has to offer. Our local beaches include: Aiguablava, Fornells, Platja de Fonda, Sa Tuna, Aiguafreda, Sa Riera, Illa Roja, and Del Racó.

Walking

With 370km of marked paths in the Baix Empordà alone, the Costa Brava is an ideal location for hiking. A network of sign-posted trails criss-cross the region. Split into three categories according to their length, the routes are colour-coded: parallel horizontal yellow and white lines for short local paths; green and white lines for medium-distance paths: and red and white lines for very long trails. The two major long-distance routes on the Costa Brava are the GR92, which runs along the French border, and GR11, which runs east from Andorra to the Cap de Creus headland.

One of the most spectacular routes in Costa Brava is our favourite, the Cami de Ronda, made up of old coastguards' and farmers' trails that hug the coastline. Over much of the 20th century, this "patrol walk" was either built over or simply allowed to crumble into the sea, but the Catalan government is now gradually restoring stretches up and down the coastline. It will soon be possible to walk the entire coast from Blanes to the French border.

Cycling

The Costa Brava has an extensive network of some 250km of rural paths that are suitable for bikes. For mountain bikers alone, there are 19 routes which connect up, offering a total of 326 routes and numerous possibilities in terms of altitude-difference and technical difficulty.

Golf

In the last decade Golf in the Costa Brava has become host to 10 excellent golf courses, four of which are among the best in Europe. Costa Brava golf courses are rapidly becoming known as Spain’s best golfing destination. These include:

Water Sports

The Costa Brava is said to offer some of the best diving in Spain. It should therefore be no surprise how many diving schools have set up in the region. The main areas of interest are the Illes Medes Maritime Reserve, famous for its fauna and coral beds, the tiny inlets of the Cap de Creus, and the coves near Begur and Palafrugell, where there are over three hundred species of fish, including barracuda and sea horses, drifting among coral and shipwrecks. There are also plenty of options for sailing, windsurfing, kayaking, waterskiing, kitesurfing, and water parks.

Adventure Sports

For the adrenaline junkies among you (or those with teenagers), there are plenty of adventure sports on the Costa Brava, including: skydiving, hot-air balooning, paintballing, quad-biking, karting, and during the winter months both skiing and snow-boarding within a 2-3 hour drive.

Gastronomy

The Costa Brava has a superb cuisine based on fresh fish and seafood, usually cooked very simply, either grilled or baked in salt or cooked as a stew with potatoes and tomatoes in the tasty suquet dish. Each area has its own peculiarities: along the coast, you will find a myriad of specialities from the sea: seafood, fish, etc., with such notable combinations as rice made with squid's ink.

Thanks to the international reputation of restaurants such as Can Fabes, Can Roca and of course El Bulli, Catalonia's star is currently shining very brightly in the foodie universe. Labelled somewhat loosely as Nou Cuina (Catalan for Nouvelle Cuisine, though thankfully not bearing much of a resemblance to mid-80s food experiments with miniscule portions) there's not much that ties these places together other than a desire to please the boys from Michelin.