Lloret de Mar is where Costa Brava's package-holiday infrastructure is most visible. Broad sandy beaches, seafront bars playing pop music, and accommodation ranging from villas to apartments. We'll be straight: it's busier and more commercialised than Tossa or L'Escala, but it's also the easiest town for accessing activities, hiring equipment, and finding late-night food without reservation stress.
Why Stay in Lloret de Mar
- Sandy beach and water sports infrastructure. If your family needs jet skis, paddleboards, or beach clubs, Lloret delivers. The beach is wide, well-maintained, and equipped. The trade-off is it's crowded and the atmosphere is genuinely touristic rather than local.
- Road network access. It's a proper transport hub. Car hire is easy, buses connect to inland towns, and you can reach Girona or Barcelona for day trips without navigation stress. The main road runs directly through town, so traffic noise is a consideration.
- Restaurants for all budgets and tastes. From fine dining to fish-and-chips, everything exists here. You can eat tapas at 7pm (unusual in Spain) or book formal dinner at 10pm. This flexibility suits mixed-interest groups, though quality varies wildly.
- Variety of beaches and nearby coves. Beyond the main crowded strand, Cala Bona and Cala Giverola are reachable 15-20 minute walks and considerably quieter. The rocky coves have more character than the main beach but less amenities.
Things to Do in Lloret de Mar
The local beaches are the obvious draw. Playa de Lloret is the main one (broad, sandy, busy), while Cala Bona lies on the southern edge and Cala Giverola on the northern side. Both smaller coves are worth a walk, particularly early morning when crowds haven't gathered. The water is comparable, the sand is similar, but the atmosphere is genuinely different.
Monestir de Sant Feliu lies 5 kilometres inland and is worth a short drive if you're into monastic architecture. It's still active (Benedictine monks live here), so access to the interior is limited, but the exterior stonework and the monastery's setting among trees make it feel substantially less touristy than the seafront.
Castles dot the Costa Brava—Castell d'Aro is 15 minutes inland and offers sweeping views across the coast for around 3 euros entry. It's not a major fortress but it's a viewpoint with history attached. Locals walk up here in late afternoons.
Day trips inland are straightforward from Lloret. Girona is 40 kilometres away (45 minutes by car or bus), and it's a genuine medieval city with narrow streets, a cathedral, and functioning shops and restaurants beyond tourism. A morning there and you're back for evening beach time. Besalú, 60 kilometres inland, is a smaller fortified town set on a river—less visited than Girona, equally characterful.
Water sports are heavily marketed here: kayaking, paddleboarding, diving courses. Companies operate from the beach or harbour. Expect to pay 40-60 euros for lessons or hire. The market is competitive, so prices are negotiable, particularly if you're booking multi-day experiences. The water clarity isn't Mediterranean-postcard levels, but it's swimmable and reasonably clean.