10 Dreamy Things To Do in Costa Brava With Kids
This year we took a summer vacation to the Costa Brava with kids (ages 7, 4, and almost 2), and it was absolutely lovely.
Think swimming in turquoise coves, jumping off a diving board into the sea, strolling through small medieval villages, and relaxing in a restored Spanish farmhouse from the 15th century.
The Costa Brava is the name for the beautiful coastline just 1.5 hours north of Barcelona, making it the perfect relaxing place to visit before or after hitting one of the most popular cities in Europe.
We spent about a week in the Costa Brava as a family, followed by three days in Barcelona, and it was a nice mix of both adventure, relaxation, and city travel.
This Costa Brava family guide is to let you in on the highlights of our trip, including the dreamiest place to stay, some of the best things to do, and a few things we’d change if we did it again.
*There may be affiliate links in this post. Read my privacy/disclosure policy to learn more.
🇪🇸 ☀️ IN A RUSH? CHECK OUT OUR COSTA BRAVA FAVORITES!
🛏️ WHERE WE STAYED (and loved):
😍 🛏️ CAN BASSA: It doesn't get much dreamier than staying in a renovated 15th-century farmhouse turned family-friendly boutique hotel in a medieval Spanish village. WE LOVED IT. 😍 Full apartment-style accomodations with a beautiful pool and STUNNING medieval village views.
Just about 25-minutes from all of the Costa Brava beaches we visited, Can Bassa but a quiet, family-run countryside escape that seriously cannot get any more beautiful or relaxing. (I found and paid for this hotel and I can't rave about it enough). Click here to read more glowing reviews.
🎟️ EXCURSIONS TO BOOK:
🚤 🤿 PRIVATE, FAMILY-FRIENDLY COSTA BRAVA BOAT TRIP WITH SNORKELING: Visit the most beautiful coves on the Costa Brava on this family-friendly boat trip! Snorkel in turquoise water, SUP or even try an underwater scooter...plus, you get delicious snacks and drinks! The reviews are amazing- click here to read them! I so wish we would've had time to experience this excursion, but next time we are in Costa Brava we will for sure!
🧗♀️ GUIDED CLIMBING TOUR OF CALA DEL MOLÍ VIA FERRATA: Navigate the via ferrata climbing route situaed on the cliffs above the sea via iron steps, rungs and bridges while being kept safe with ropes and harnesses! If you have older kids (minimum age is usually 12) then the Cala Del Moli Via Ferrata is the perfect adventurous activity.
HOW WE SAVE MONEY ON OUR RENTAL CARS:
🚘 Economy Bookings Car Rental: Any bit you can save on your car rental is worth it. Our go-to is Economy Bookings.
OUR OTHER TRAVEL FAVORITES:
📸 Tours/Excursions: Viator & Get Your Guide
🚕 Airport Transfers with Car Seats in Multiple Locations: Welcome Pickups
👉 Travel Strollers: Zoe Traveler & Zoe Double
🍼 Baby Carriers: Tula Carriers, Wildride Hip Carriers
📱 International Data Phone eSIM: Airalo
🚗 Cheap Rental Cars: Economy Bookings
🏠 Accomodations: Booking, Expedia, VRBO, Airbnb
🌎 Travel Insurance: World Nomads
We receive a fee when you get a quote from World Nomads using the above link. We do not represent World Nomads. This is not a recommendation to buy travel insurance.
Is Costa Brava Good For Families?
The Costa Brava is great for families!
From stunning turquoise coves to walkable medieval villages and snorkeling boat trips to lazy afternoons by the pool, the Costa Brava is an easy, family-friendly destination.
Best Time To Visit Costa Brava, Spain With Kids
If you want to swim (which I’m assuming you’d want to if you’re traveling with kids), the best time to visit Costa Brava is from June through September.
However, the Costa Brava experiences peak crowds in July and August, so I suggest visiting in either June or September.
We visited the Costa Brava in June, and the weather was in the high 80°s F to low 90°s F, but the water was still warming up from winter.
By September, the water has fully warmed up and is ideal for swimming.
How Long to Stay on the Costa Brava as a Family?
I recommend anywhere between five and seven full days on the Costa Brava with kids.
We had six full days exploring the area, which gave us plenty of time to visit multiple beaches, wander through multiple small medieval villages, and relax the late afternoons away by the pool.
After our time in Costa Brava, we drove 1.5 hours down to Barcelona to spend three days in Barcelona.
Map of Places to Visit on the Costa Brava With Kids
*Use this interactive map to see the top things to do in Costa Brava, Spain as a family. Click on the full-screen icon in the top right corner to have this map open in your own Google Maps app, or click on the arrow in the top left corner to see a pullout list of all points on the map*
Where We Stayed in Costa Brava with Kids
The highlight of our time in Costa Brava was where we stayed.
We stayed at Can Bassa, which is a dreamy, family-run boutique hotel with apartment-style accommodations in the most beautiful 15th-century restored farmhouse located in the medieval village of Madremanya.
And let me put this here: I found Can Bassa on my own and paid for my stay with my own money… I’m just raving about it because we really loved it so much.
Can Bassa is located in the quiet Spanish countryside about 35 minutes from the coast. It’s an intimate complex of a few hotel rooms and multiple cottages spread out on the most gorgeous, shade-filled property.
There is a shared pool with a jaw-dropping backdrop of the farmhouse and the hilltop church of the medieval village of Madremanya-I seriously could hang out there for hours admiring the stunning views.
We stayed in the Casa El Lledoner cottage, and it couldn’t have been more perfect.
Casa El Lledoner is a gorgeous, restored section of the farmhouse that used to serve as the haystack but is now a two-level apartment with two bedrooms, two bathrooms, a kitchen, and a living room.
One of our favorite parts of Casa El Lledoner is that the kitchen and living room open up via french doors to a cozy garden that the kids loved playing ball in.
Sitting on the lounge chairs in the shade with a nice breeze while the kids played ball on the grass was ultimate relaxation mode. Seriously, so dreamy.
The cottage was also one of the furthest accommodations from the pool (still very close since it’s a small complex) but it was nice not to worry about the kids falling in the pool.
One of my favorite things about Can Bassa is that it’s been family-run for 20+ years, and it shows.
All of the staff knew who we were and helped us feel right at home as a young family (which is hard to come by in boutique hotels).
We never felt like a bother and felt encouraged to enjoy the pool and property just as much as the couples or single people visiting. It was amazing.
It felt like such a relief to get away from crowds and step onto the Can Bassa property after our outings to the beach and surrounding areas.
The only potential con I can see about staying here is that if you plan to visit beaches and explore each day, you do have to do a bit of driving (about 35-40 minutes depending on where you want to go).
However, having to drive out to the countryside means that you are away from the crowds and get to experience the best of both worlds: the fun, beautiful beaches mixed with the quiet Spanish countryside charm.
For us, the drive was worth it.
😍🛏️ CLICK HERE TO CHECK OUT WHERE WE STAYED IN THE COSTA BRAVA 🛏️😍
10 Dreamy Things to Do in Costa Brava For Families
Below are my top 10 favorite things we did in Costa Brava, Spain with kids, including a few things we would’ve done differently.
1. Jump off the diving board at Tamariu Beach
- Type of Sand: Grainy
- Where to Park: Paid parking lot here on Google Maps
My favorite beach experience in the Costa Brava was jumping off a diving board into the sea at Tamariu Beach (how cool is that?!).
There is a small cove next to Tamariu Beach (it’s basically still Tamariu Beach, but it has its own name, which is Platja Dels Liris), and the rocks in that cove have a real-life diving board installed.
It’s so fun! The water is plenty deep for jumping, and it’s quite an easy scramble up the rocks next to the diving board to try again.
Our 7-year-old got up the courage to jump and was so proud of herself, while our younger two enjoyed hanging out on the rocks watching my husband and I jump.
The beach itself has grainy sand (not as painful as pebbles, but it feels like you get quite the exfoliation😅). So if you’re sensitive to coarse sand, water shoes may make the experience a bit nicer.
Tamariu Beach has restaurants and shops nearby, and you can even rent kayaks and boats from the shore.
In my opinion, you can’t miss visiting the diving board at Tamariu Beach while in the Costa Brava with kids.
Every time we went to a beach after this one, our daughter would turn to us and say, ‘I wish this beach had a diving board too!’.
It’s such a unique experience.
2. Rent Kayaks at Aiguablava Beach
- Type of Sand: Super soft sand (which is difficult to come by in the Costa Brava)
- Where to Park: Paid parking lot here on Google Maps
Soft, sandy beaches in the Costa Brava can be difficult to come by… but Aiguablava Beach is a perfectly soft, sandy beach making it a must-visit.
Platja d’Aiguablava is a beautiful cove hugged by a rocky coastline with green trees on each side.
We situated ourselves off to the left (when looking at the water) because there are large rocks in the sand and in the water that our kids loved playing on.
Although we spent most of our time playing in the water and relaxing on the beach, Aiguablava also has a super cute kayak and SUP rental kiosk called Sa Blava.
You don’t need to/can’t book in advance, but you can check out what they have available on the Sa Blava website.
My daughter and I rented a double kayak for 30€ for an hour and took the little route out of the cove, across and into two other smaller coves.
It’s very easy, and there are buoys in the water indicating where you can go.
The beach also has a lovely-looking restaurant called Toc al Mar that opens at lunchtime with beautiful water views.
We didn’t get the chance to eat there (still in the pack our own lunch stage of life) but I was a bit jealous.
However, if you want to have lunch here, it seems like reservations are a must. It was all booked up when we visited the beach in June.
You can visit their website here to make reservations and to see the view from the seating area.
3. Wander The Medieval Town of Pals & Get Gelato
I’m all about small, Spanish villages that have a few shops for the kids to shop for souvenirs and a place to get gelato… and the medieval village of Pals is just that.
Just a 20-minute drive inland from the coast, Pals is a medieval town with writings dating back to the 800s and much of the construction dating back to the 1200s.
Its small cobblestone streets are very picturesque, and there are even a few little shops with tasteful souvenirs that the kids loved shopping at.
If you haven’t given your kids a set amount of souvenir money before, I highly recommend it.. it’s how we keep them excited to explore new towns and villages.
And of course, there are a couple of delicious gelato shops that kept the kids motivated to keep exploring (like Gelatus or Gelatería Can Malirach).
There is a very cute outdoor restaurant with parking just right outside of the entrance to the old town of Pals called Grava.
It’s a pizza restaurant that we were very excited to try; however, they weren’t serving pizza when we visited for lunch in June, so we ended up paying more for food we didn’t necessarily want, which was a letdown.
However, if Grava was serving pizza, I feel like it would have been the perfect stop before or after exploring Pals.
If you’re interested in pizza, I recommend contacting them beforehand to see if that menu is being offered (it seemed like some sort of seasonal or time-of-day thing that was not made clear on their website or socials).
4. Wander Through The Castle Fortress of Tossa De Mar (Vila Vella)
If you’re looking for the easiest medieval town to reach on the Costa Brava from the actual coast, Tossa De Mar is it.
Tossa De Mar is a beachside town on the Costa Brava, home to the only remaining walled city on the Catalan coast.
The walled fortress of Tossa De Mar, called Vila Vella, was built in the 1200s and is super beautiful and charming.
It’s full of narrow cobblestone streets, unique gift shops, and beautiful restaurants. In the 1400s, this area was home to eighty homes!
The old town of Tossa De Mar is small and walkable, with the perfect amount of little shops for the kids to spend some souvenir money.
We walked up the hill from the beach with the medieval walls in view to reach Vila Vella. It was a bit of a walk, but pretty views along the way.
You could also catch a ride on the little tourist train that drives up the hill, but we didn’t want to wait for it (or pay for it). But you can find more information on the train here.
You can also swim in Tossa De Mar at three different beaches.
The first beach, Platja Gran, is a massive sandy beach with a large promenade and views of Vila Vella to the right. This is the main and most popular beach.
If you’re looking for a more intimate cove, try Es Codolar, which is located in a nook at the base of the cliffs below Vila Vella.
And if you’re looking for something with beautiful rock formations in the water, try Platja Mar Menuda (it’s at the far end of the main beach, Platja Gran).
Parking in Tossa De Mar can be crazy, so I highly recommend getting there early. The main parking area closest to Platja Gran and a walk away from Vila Vella is located here on Google Maps.
The parking lot isn’t very big for how large an area it serves, and it fills up quickly.
We arrived around lunchtime, which was horrible timing. We circled the streets trying to find a spot until we settled on this underground parking lot, which does have a great location, but the parking spots are TINY.
My husband is a very confident driver, and navigating through this parking area was insane. I would only enter if you’re ready for some expert maneuvering.
5. ‘Cliff Jump’ From The Rocks at Cala El Golfet
- Type of Sand: Small pebbles
- Where to Park: Free street parking here on Google Maps
Cala El Golfet is a very ‘natural’ beach surrounded by cliffs with pebbly sand and no amenities.
One of the fun parts of Cala El Golfet is that it has stunning rock formations protruding out of the water that make for some perfect ‘cliff jumping’.
The water is deep, and there are multiple areas from very short to much higher where you can safely jump from the rocks.
You do have to take a long staircase down to reach Cala El Golfet, but it didn’t seem that bad even with three kids and toting our gear.
6. Relax On A Family Boat Trip With Snorkeling On the Costa Brava Coast
One of the few things we didn’t have time for (but wish we did!) was a family boat trip with snorkeling.
One of our favorite memories is when we did this in Ibiza Spain as a family, and we’ve been hankering to do it again ever since.
The boat trip I looked into on the Costa Brava was this private half-day/full-day excursion with snorkeling, SUPs and even an underwater scooter! He takes you to gorgeous coves along the coast with stops to snorkel and relax.
Plus, delicious snacks are included, and what sounds like a great boat captain.
The reviews are amazing, and it sounds like such a fun day out as a family. Click here to read the glowing reviews on Get Your Guide.
Next time we are in the area, I for sure want to book it!
🚤 🤿 CLICK HERE TO CHECK OUT THE FAMILY-FRIENDLY BOAT TRIP WITH SNORKELING! 🤿 🚤
7. Choose A Cozy Beach in White-Washed Calella de Palafrugell
- Type of Sand: Pretty soft sand
- Where to Park: Paid parking lot here on Google Maps
Calella de Palafrugell (not to be confused with the town just called Palafrugell) is a beautiful, white-washed beachside town with lots of different beach options from promenade-lined sections to more secluded coves.
Although many of the beach areas are lined with a promenade, it’s not nearly as large and busy as, say, the massive beach in Tossa de Mar.
So, if you’re looking for a beautiful town with shops, restaurants and lots of beach options while maintaining a cozy feel, Calella de Palafrugell is a great option.
You can see on the map below where I have circled in red the many different small coves and sections of beach in Calella de Palafrugell, all with different names.
Although the beaches all have different names, they’re more or less connected with small, rocky outcroppings and are only about a 10-minute walk along the promenade from end to end.
You can easily walk until you find a spot that looks great. We ended up at a very small cove lined with fishing huts called Cala Forada, with some views of the town.
It was a pretty cozy cove, but if we did it again, I think I’d walk a little further down the promenade closer to the main area for some better views of the gorgeous whitewashed town.
However, Cala Forada did have a lot of fun rocks that the kids loved playing on, and made for some good snorkeling, but I think you can get that at a lot of the beaches in Calella de Palafrugell.
8. Climb the Via Ferrata Cala del Molí
If you have older kids and are looking for a fun, adventurous activity to do on the Costa Brava, the Cala del Molí via ferrata is a great choice!
The minimum age requirement for the via ferrata is around 12 years old, so our kids weren’t old enough, although we did consider just one of us parents going.
If you’re unfamiliar with via ferratas, it’s basically a climbing route that you navigate via iron steps, rungs, and bridges while being kept safe with ropes and harnesses.
The Cala del Molí via ferrata is unique in that it’s situated on the cliff above the sea with waves crashing below. To learn more and read reviews, check out the Viator listing here.
🧗 CLICK HERE TO CHECK OUT THE CALA DEL MOLÍ VIA FERRATA 🧗
9. Play at The Can Bassa Pool With Medieval Village Views
I know I talked about where we stayed at the beginning of the post, but in case you skipped over that part I’m putting it here again because Can Bassa really was a highlight of our time in the Costa Brava.
Every afternoon after we came back from exploring for the day, we played in the pool at Can Bassa, and it was just gorgeous.
Can Bassa is a small complex of just a few hotel rooms and cottages built from a restored farmhouse from the 1400s (how cool is that?).
It’s located in the medieval village of Madremanya and from the hotel pool you have stunning views of the village’s cathedral. It’s seriously so dreamy.
The kids had a blast playing while we just soaked in the gorgeous surroundings, pinching ourselves that we got to stay in such a stunning, relaxing location (that felt SO welcoming to families and was shockingly affordable).
🛏️ 😍Click here to read reviews by other guests, and you’ll see how special Can Bassa is 🛏️ 😍
10. Visit The Playgrounds in the Medieval Villages of Madremanya and La Pera
If you’re looking for some off-the-beaten-path, non-touristy medieval villages to wander, I recommend Madremanya and La Pera.
Madremanya is the village we stayed in at Can Bassa (which we absolutely loved and I highly recommend).
So we took an evening walk or two through the small village, admiring its cobblestone streets, flowering bushes, and playing at the village playground (which you can find on Google Maps here).
Madremanya doesn’t have any souvenir shops so it has a very local feel.
Another small, medieval village just down the road from Madremanya, that is easy to explore with kids, is La Pera.
La Pera also doesn’t have any souvenir shops and is quite small and local.
It does, however, have a very quaint playground located next to the church, nestled under a tree up some stairs. It almost feels like you’re in a treehouse. It’s small, but a fun stop.
The playground does appear on Google Maps; we just stumbled upon it, but here are the Google Maps coordinates so you can find it.
We actually rented bikes from Happy Bikes Girona (which is affiliated with our hotel, Can Bassa) to get to La Pera.
It was a lovely, downhill ride through the countryside there… but unfortunately it was basically all uphill on the way back and a bit much for our 7-year-old (and honestly got pretty old for me too).
Instead of renting bikes, I’d recommend just driving to each of these small medieval villages.
And those are our favorite things we did in the Costa Brava as a family (plus a few of the things we would change). Let me know in the comments below if you have any questions about visiting the Costa Brava Spain with kids, I’ll be sure to get back to you.
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