LLORET de MAR
Area: Costa Brava
Country: Spain


Location:
In the middle of the Costa Brava coast, 5 miles SW of Tossa de Mar, 47 miles NE of Barcelona, 24 miles S of Gerona, 20 miles S of its airport.

Telephone code from UK:
34

Website:
http://www.lloret.org

Position:
Formed around the largest bay on the coast which, unlike the resorts farther S, has the more typical Costa Brava features of being rocky, interspersed with bays or "calas", with the wooded hills in most places coming right down to the shore.

Description:
Biggest resort on the Costa Brava, and said to be the most concentrated in Spain. The original "once a small fishing village" resort where fisherfolk are now an endangered species. A seaside metropolis whose population is given as 15,000, bursting through the 200,000 mark in the high season, Lloret is brash and busy. The main street leading down the seafront from the bus station is packed with neon signs advertising discos and fast-food restaurants, the only Spanish feature being the rows of tall pine trees which line the pavement. There is a little charm remaining in the tight grid of narrow streets just back from the main beach where many a delightful little bar and fish restaurant awaits discovery. The seafront promenade, marking the S boundary of the old town, is also pleasant for a stroll. Although there are traces of history going back 1,000 years, there is none of the rustic nostalgia evoked by its Latin name _ Lauretum, the Field of Laurels. There is some peace to be had in the more recently developed sprawl to the S, where most of the apartments are situated.

Suitability:
Appeals to the young; teenagers, young couples and families in the lower to middle price range. Groups of elderly people come mainly out of season.

Accommodation:
Plenty of it _ there are hotels at practically every turn, most of them huge, simple and inexpensive. Some smaller 1- and 2-star hotels and hostels are found in the centre, while apartments tend to be away from the busy central areas, often a long walk to town or beach.

Shopping:
In addition to the usual tourist shops, there are many small boutiques and gift shops throughout, with the main concentration in the streets parallel to the promenade. The best values in local products are leather goods and pottery.

Beach:
The main beach of gritty, light-coloured sand runs in a bold half-mile stripe between headlands and is the focus of the resort. A second beach, smaller but also impressive and less crowded, lies S beyond a steep coastal hill and is known (in the new, politically-correct Catalan) as Platja de Fenals (previously Playa de Fanals in Castillian Spanish).

Entertainments:
Daytime: beach-based, including water sports; go-kart track; bowling alley; riding stables; 18-hole golf course about 25 miles N at Santa Cristina de Aro (Club de Golf Costa Brava). A series of walks to visit the smaller bays along the coast and some of the churches and farmhouses inland. An athletics track and sports centre close to the main bus station. Nightlife: the centre pulsates at all hours with music bars, usually with a non-Spanish theme. Some discos have spectacular laser shows. Casino; entertainments laid on by hotels; theme evenings and banquets.

Eating:
A vast number of restaurants and cafes, most of which are in the narrow streets of the old town. All types of cuisine can be found; the menus usually have photographs of the dishes to identify them to the thoroughly cosmopolitan mixture of visitors. There is a heavy emphasis on British-style grub and fast food. There are also a few Spanish, or more precisely Catalan, restaurants offering the local cuisine, perhaps as a response to the frequent criticisms that the resort has been commercialised in a way that has destroyed any local character.

Public-transport:
Coastal service every 30 minutes to Tossa and the train station at Blanes where connections run to Barcelona until early evening. Hourly bus to Barcelona; about five a day to Gerona. City bus service circulates regularly until late evening. A ferry runs six to seven times daily to the other resorts along the coast.

Local-excursions:
Waterworld aquatic park. Sightseeing and shopping in Barcelona. Sightseeing in Old Gerona. Massive theme park at Port Aventura, Salou (heavily promoted and certainly worthwhile but 2» hours' drive each way). Pyrenees mountains and the duty-free state of Andorra (full day). Marineland dolphinarium near Blanes with zoo and water park. Mountain monastery at Montserrat (full day). Cruises along the coast stopping at resort beaches. Catalan countryside, local wine, market at Tordera. Diving and cruising around the Illes Medes islands of L'Estartit. Andorra (long day of mostly travelling).