Playa d'Aro, Catalonia. Open left menu Playa de Aro Platja d aro 3 Spain Costa Brava

Playa d'Aro is a small resort town in the autonomy of Catalonia, located on the Costa Brava, about 30 km southeast of Girona. Playa de Aro has absolutely everything you need for a successful holiday: excellent equipped beaches, a chic promenade along the coastline with countless cafes and restaurants, a huge selection of accommodation. Those who want to have fun will find this opportunity both day and night.

History of Playa d'Aro

The surrounding area of ​​the modern town has been inhabited since the ⅼⅼⅼ millennium BC. e. Also, during archaeological excavations in these places, ruins of buildings from the Roman era of the ⅼ - ⅼⅤ centuries were discovered. n. e.

As for Playa de Aro itself, it was first mentioned under the name Fanals d’Amunt in a document dating back to 968. Subsequently, a city was formed in these places, which included until the middle of the 20th century. included this settlement (renamed Fanals d'Aro) and several neighboring ones: Romanyà, Bell-lloc, Santa Cristina d'Aro, Solius. Currently, they are all “independent” settlements.

But this division does not at all indicate that Fanals d’Aro was a large, rapidly developing city. On the contrary: by the beginning of the 20th century it was a tiny fishing village, whose population barely exceeded a hundred people. The town was completely rebuilt and even changed its name to Playa d'Aro in the 60s, when it became a very attractive holiday destination for both local residents and visitors from other European countries.

Playa de Aro on the world map

Playa d'Aro attractions and tourism

As can be seen from the history of the town, you will not see a large number of architectural and historical monuments here. This is an extremely pleasant and comfortable place, but without the “High Ages” feel. And yet, nearby there is a simply gorgeous attraction - the ancient castle Castell de Benedormiens, dating back to the 20th century.

In addition to being interesting in its own right and in excellent condition, the castle has recently become an exhibition gallery for the work of contemporary artists. Another remarkable building included in the list of cultural heritage of Spain is the ancient Church of the Virgin Mary, thoroughly rebuilt in the 20th century. It is also located near the town, on the outskirts of Castell d'Aro.

Of course, the honor and glory of Playa de Aro are its beaches. The most popular: Cala Rovira, Cala Sa Conca and Gran (central and longest), equipped with everything necessary for comfortable swimming and sunbathing, have a Blue Flag certificate.

Entertainment in Playa de Aro is also okay: there is a wonderful water park, a diving center, a golf club, many bars and nightclubs, and all kinds of shops (including the chain of stores of the famous Wine Palace).

The number of gastronomic establishments is simply huge, and besides, it’s a small thing, but it’s nice that many are open from the very early morning.

Number of inhabitants of Playa d'Aro

The population of the town is about 10,000 people. During the high season, the number of residents increases almost 10 times.

The resort is located in a Mediterranean climate zone, which is characterized by mild winters and hot (but not sultry) sunny summers. Daytime temperatures in winter are +12⁰ ... +14⁰, in summer: +26⁰ ... +28⁰. The sea warms up to a pleasant +22⁰ only in July, reaching a maximum of +24⁰ in August. The swimming season lasts until mid-September. The amount of precipitation is 450 mm per year. The rainiest periods are: early spring and late autumn.

Playa de Aro can lure not only with its excellent beaches and well-developed infrastructure. Residents of the town know how to have fun (however, this is not unusual for Spain). The most famous festivals are: the carnival, a magnificent event held in February and lasting for two weeks, and the Beer Festival, which is held at the close of the season in October.

When tourists come to the Wild Coast for the first time, and this is how the Costa Brava is literally translated, of course, the first thing they do is admire the beauty of Barcelona, ​​ooh and ahh at the views of medieval Gerona, and plunge into the sparkling youthful fun of Lloret de Mar... But if this is not your first time in this wonderful place, you start looking for something special, something touching your soul and far from the well-known tourist routes...

This is exactly what, in my opinion, is the town 35 kilometers from Girona with the poetic name Playa de Aro... Translated, this means “Beach-Ring”, and it was this beach with golden small pebbles that became the symbol and main attraction of the small resort town . Gran Beach, about 2 km long and 50 m wide, is located along the historical center of the city. The Kawai Bernat rock, which seems to suddenly grow out of the beach, magically migrated to numerous photographs and souvenirs of this town, as it also became its symbol. And behind this large city beach there is an amazingly beautiful beach, surrounded by pine trees, Cala Rovira, which I highly recommend to everyone. It is small (200 meters), but it is there that you can breathe especially easily, either from the Mediterranean pines, or a short distance from civilized Playa de Aro. But remember that due to its location, the beaches in this town warm up around July and plan your vacation accordingly! Along the beach there is a promenade, the cafes on which are starting to work almost with roosters...

But is it only on the beach in Playa de Aro that an inquisitive tourist lives? Of course not!

First of all, you need to see the medieval castle of Benedormiens dating back to the 11th century. Yes, it has been destroyed and rebuilt many times, but now it makes a very strong impression, especially in the evening when it is very beautifully illuminated. You feel like some kind of Spanish or Catalan grandee, climbing its steps...And there is also a wonderful castle, Castell d’Aro, after which the town is named...It’s generally something indescribable and very, very beautiful. The Gothic Church of St. Mary is also a very interesting building, so amazing in its elegance for such a small town. Well, when you first go up through the picturesque and some mysterious streets of Carme, de L'Hospital, del Sol and del Castell, and then return to the hotel area, you will simply fall in love with this two-three-story cute town. Along which, By the way, there are equally cute little trains with carriages, where for 15 euros you can relax and take a ride and once again admire Playa de Aro...

Please note that the Castell d'Aro Castle hosts a medieval market, a costume improvisation that is a must-see. Feel like a kind of progressor from the Strugatskys’ novel, plunging into the Middle Ages... It’s really very interesting.

Well, for those who don’t have enough of the beauties of Playa de Aro, they can take a bus for 3-6 euros to the fascinating Gerona, by sea on a nice boat they can quickly get to Tossa de Mar with its famous fortress, Lloret de Mar with its casinos and fashionable clubs and discos, although in Playa de Aro itself, despite the youth of the resort, dating back to the 60s, this is available...

Well, in the end, don’t forget to throw a coin into the calming and joyful Mediterranean Sea to return to the Costa Brava and relax, if not in the wonderful Playa de Aro, then in some new town that is hidden scattered on the coast like mushrooms in the autumn forest...

April 15, 2018 0:23 Catalonia, Playa d'Aro - Spain September 2017

When travelers think about visiting Spain for the first time, it is Catalonia that immediately comes to mind. It has excellent clean beaches, developed infrastructure, affordable beach holidays, magnificent nature, and a large number of attractions. And what kind of food is there! That is why in 2017, when our eyes turned towards Spain, we decided to visit Catalonia. An additional small reason in favor of this decision was the upcoming referendum in 2017 on the secession of Catalonia from Spain, a positive decision on which could for some time close access to travelers to this region (as we know, everything ended peacefully and no one left ).

The center of Catalonia is, of course, Barcelona. It is at the airport of this city that the overwhelming majority of planes fly from Russia. From here, tourists travel to two main directions - Costa Brava (wild rocky coast) and Costa Dorada (golden coast). The Costa Brava consists of many small resort towns running north from Barcelona, ​​with clean pebble beaches, cliffs, coves, a fairly sharp entrance to the water and warm-cool water. The resorts of the Costa Dorada go south from Barcelona, ​​and there are already sandy beaches with a gentle entrance to the water, warmer water, as well as the famous Port Aventura amusement park. This is where it is recommended to go on holiday with children.

First of all, we decided which of the “Coasts” to go to and chose “Brava”. The advantages of this region were: very beautiful nature, the presence of bays, a more beautiful sea, proximity to the Dali Museum. What put me off the Costa Dorada a little was that there is an oil refinery in the Tarragona area. We didn’t want an accident in the form of some incident at the plant to ruin our vacation.

The next step was to decide where to stay? Calella, Blanes, Lloret de Mar, Tossa de Mar, Playa de Aro are the main towns “in the rumor mill”. The most popular and youthful is Lloret, the quiet and family-friendly (and more expensive) is Tossa. We wanted to choose something in between and we settled on Playa de Aro. To my surprise, there was a lot of information on the Internet about Lloret, Tossa and little information about Playa (apparently because travel agencies go there less often). We were attracted to this city by a very long strip of the main beach and many bays nearby. Therefore, we decided to take a risk and were right. Playa de Aro turned out to be a very picturesque place.

View of the central beach:

Bay " Sa Cova":

We planned the trip ourselves, and not through a travel agency. After a beach holiday in Playa d'Aro, we wanted to spend another 4 days in Barcelona. Usually, going through a travel agency is more expensive, or they cannot provide tours with the desired route. Traveling solo offers much more flexibility and options, and we prefer it most of the time. We looked for plane tickets through aviasales and bought them at Aeroflot. The accommodation was booked through Booking. We chose a small family hotel to stay in Playa d'Aro. As a result, we spent 8 days at the wonderful Hotel Bell Repos. It is one of the budget hotels in the city, but it deservedly has one of the highest ratings in terms of price/quality ratio.

Transfer

We arrived at the main airport of Barcelona in the first half of the day. We decided to get to Playa de Aro by bus directly from the airport. In advance, I looked at the bus schedule on the official website of the bus carrier in the northern part of Catalonia, Moventis Safra - buses ran almost every hour. How to get from the airport to the bus parking lot - after leaving the baggage claim area, you need to bypass the people greeting you and go straight to the exit following the bus signs (with bus pictures). Then use the travalatars to go down to the 1st floor (either left or right). After descending we found ourselves in the bus stop area. There will be buses to Barcelona in the center. You need to immediately cross the road straight ahead following the Interbans sign and turn left to stops 7-12. Already there you can find the sarfa (orange) bus to Playa de Aro. You can also buy tickets on the website, but I recommend buying from the driver (or from the person who walks around the boarding area in special clothes), because you may not guess the flight. I would like to draw your attention to this point - the Spaniards speak English very poorly. That's really bad. Therefore, when you ask which of the orange buses goes to Playa de Aro, it’s better to write the name on a piece of paper. To ensure that you are clearly understood. We ended up with confusion - firstly, the buses there are all a little late, secondly, there is no sign above the stop with the bus number and route (only one small general display on the wall), and thirdly, the ticket seller did not understand us. As a result, we almost left by bus to Lloret de Mar, and our bus to Playa de Aro left right in front of our noses. We had to wait another hour for the next bus.

Weather

We went on holiday to Spain at the very beginning of September. The weather was not hot. On the beach from time to time we had to put up an umbrella to hide from the scorching sun. 1 day out of 8 it rained periodically at sea. We used this day to explore the surroundings of Playa de Aro, on the northern part of which there is a strip of beautiful bays, and on the southern part there is a natural park, through which, if you have enough time, you can walk to the neighboring town of S’Agaro. Although some vacationers swam, the water was really warm. In 4 days in Barcelona it also rained only 1 day for 1.5 hours.

Beaches

The main beach of Playa de Aro is very wide and long. Everyone will fit there. The depth begins quite abruptly. At the beginning of September the water was cool, in my opinion - about 22-23 degrees Celsius. But in Costa Brava, in principle, it does not rise much above 25. There is an embankment along the beach where vacationers walk, and in the morning you can go jogging. In some places there are sports grounds and playgrounds. Closer to the southern part of the beach there are various cafes. The embankment is generally quiet. Compared to our resorts in the Krasnodar Territory - heaven and earth. During our entire vacation, we saw only 1 shop selling boat trips. We didn’t see any other sellers of excursions for tourists, maybe we weren’t looking hard enough.

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If you move north from the main beach, then along a very picturesque path you can successively pass several bays in which it is much more comfortable and pleasant to relax and swim than on the central beach. At first you will encounter very small coves. One day a wedding ceremony was held there.

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Then there is a beach that is not very large compared to the main one Cala Rovira. There is 1 cafe on it, where we had lunch once. Nothing special, I tell you, compared to the cafes in the city itself.

The beaches in the bays begin immediately behind it. Beach Sa Cova— we rested on it for more days. It is small, very cozy, has a gentle entrance, and the water is warmer. You can swim out of the bay quite quickly and, rounding a small rock, swim to the next small bay. There are no cafes on the beach - just you and nature. Well, there are many other vacationers around.

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If you follow the path along the rocks further, the next on the way will be the beach Cala del Pi. It is also very beautiful, but from the point of view of the convenience of relaxation, we liked it less than the previous one. You need to go down to the previous beach, but on this one the road to the next bays goes along the beach itself. It turns out that someone is constantly walking past you. And entering the water is not so comfortable.

The tourist trail does not end at Cala del Pi beach; it goes further to more and more beaches. You can walk along it, but rather as a walk and admire the same beautiful views. But, if you live in the central beach area, it is unlikely that you will walk further than Cala del Pi beach every day, because it will already take a sufficient amount of time. We lived almost on the southern edge of the central beach and the road to Cala del Pi took us about 25 minutes.

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A general comment about beach holidays is that Spanish women are free-spirited women. Almost all of them relax on the beaches topless. They not only sunbathe, but also relax - walk along the beach, swim, sit on sunbeds in the company of friends, stand in the water and chat with other people, play badminton with the family. So it goes.

A park

Playa d'Aro essentially has one big street where the main cafes, restaurants and shops are located. If you walk south along this street and leave the city center, you can walk to the yacht pier and natural park in 25-30 minutes. We decided to walk this way on one of the first days when it was rainy. Along the way we came across ordinary houses where city residents live, a small amusement park, a bus station, supermarkets and even Decathlon. There is also a good beach in the park area. All the streets are paved with the same tiles, everything is quite clean. Several hiking trails begin in the park. But this is for trained tourists who have the time and desire to climb uphill and downhill - getting to the neighboring town of S’Agaro will take about 1.5 hours one way along such a walking trail. We walked around late in the evening and decided not to go there.

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Historical center of Castell Playa d'Aro

If you thought that the coves to the north of the city and the park to the south were everything, then you were wrong. There is also a small historical part of the city - Castel Playa d'Aro. In fact, from the center of Playa d'Aro this part of the city can be reached in a couple of minutes by bus. But we are not looking for easy ways, and in the morning of one of the days, having refreshed ourselves at breakfast, we headed there on foot. About a third of the way the road was comfortable - along the street with the previously mentioned tiles, in the shade of trees and past ordinary buildings. Then the road ended abruptly and the highway began. We turned left from it and walked along a country road. We passed by an area selling various plants, a campsite (with motorhomes) and even a cemetery. Having covered the last part of the journey through an underground passage under the highway, we entered the historical center. It is clear that ordinary people live there - we came across various private houses, cafes with local residents, as well as the historical center itself in the form of a church and stone houses. We have seen such lovely houses in more than one European city.

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Playa d'Aro- municipality on the north coast with a population of 10,000 people. There are extremely picturesque beaches and small beautiful bays here.
Previously, the city was a small fishing settlement, which, with the development of tourism here, turned into a fashionable resort with gourmet restaurants and hotels. The most famous beach is Platja D'Aro. This is a fairly busy place where many tourists gather during the season. Playa de Aro also has small, very cozy and quiet beaches - Cala del Canyers, Cala Rovira, Cala del Pi, Sa Conca And Cala Pedrosa. In general, there are only 7 beaches in Playa d'Aro, each of which has its own special atmosphere. You can always find a place to relax to suit your taste.

Playa de Aro is famous for its lively promenades with shady and cool palm alleys in hot weather. In the evenings, the beaches of Playa d'Aro are quiet, almost deserted and calm.

In the city center there is a shopping area where you will find many cozy cafes, souvenir shops and restaurants where you can try traditional Mediterranean cuisine.

The streets of Playa d'Aro are designed in such a way that each of them leads towards the main beach. The beach here is quite narrow in width: only 20 meters, but it reaches 2 kilometers in length.

Cafes and restaurants in Playa d'Aro are open from morning until late evening. Here you can relax by the sea on the terrace, watching the horizon.

The most famous street in Playa d'Aro is the Passeig de Mar promenade.

Throughout the year, the city hosts holidays, festivals and various cultural events: exhibitions and galleries.
Playa de Aro is famous for the fact that an ancient Medieval building has been preserved here to this day in good condition. Benedormiens Castle, founded back in 1041, which was subsequently transferred to the monastery of Sant Feliu de Guixols and served as protection against Muslim attacks.

In 1462, the castle was badly damaged during another war, and was restored only in the 18th century.
Now, almost 1000 years after the castle was founded, Playa d'Aro is home to famous art galleries by local artists, and five main halls are named after historical heroes. The castle houses a large collection of works of art, which is a national treasure.

You can also visit ancient sights 3 kilometers from the city. In Castel d'Aro there is the Temple of the Virgin Mary, built in the Gothic style. In the city, houses built back in the distant XV-XVII centuries have been preserved to this day.

Festivals

The most famous festivals in Playa d'Aro are the traditional Carnival and the Beer Festival. The carnival takes place in mid-February and lasts almost two weeks. At this time, the streets of the city turn into one big stage with colorful festivities and performances. The festival usually involves many carnival groups that gather here from all over. Carnival has been a tradition in Playa d'Aro since 1977. The beer festival takes place in early and mid-October, when it ends season for swimming in the sea. At this time, the main street of the city is usually closed, where live music concerts and traditional festivities take place. One of the main features of the beer festival is all kinds of snacks: saffron milk baked on coals, sausages, octopus, etc.

all real estate in Catalonia.

The seaside town of Playa d'Aro is famous not only for its golden beaches and folk festivals, but is also known as a large commercial complex. In the summer months, Playa d'Aro is a classic resort area, with 24-hour bars on the promenade and water slides; in winter, festivals and processions are held in the town. It is important to take into account that in June the sea in Playa de Aro is quite cool, which warms up to a comfortable temperature only in July.

Beaches

The coastline of Playa de Aro is divided into eight small golden sand beaches, some of which are located in rocky coves.

On a tiny natural beach Cala Pedrosa, significantly removed from the resort center to the south, is deserted even in the summer months. There is no infrastructure on the coast. The length of the beach is only 20 m, width - 15 m.

Beach Sa Conca equipped with showers and changing cabins, bars, as well as a special children's area with attractions and water slides; Rent of sun loungers and umbrellas is available. The length of the beach is about 400 m, the width is about 40 m.

The most popular city beach Gran stretches along the historical center of Playa d'Aro. You can rent sun loungers, umbrellas and pedalos, as well as volleyballs and soccer balls. There are several play areas on the coast. There is a parking lot in the south of the beach (Avda Verona Terol). The length of the beach is more than two kilometers, the width is on average 50 m.

Behind the town's Gran Beach is a natural beach surrounded by pine trees. Cala Rovira. In July and August the coast is especially crowded. The length of the beach is about 200 m, the width is 40 m.

Secluded beach Sa Cova located in a small bay and not equipped. However, the beach is quite popular. The length of the beach is about 55 m, the width is 15 m.

Beaches Cala del Pi, Canyers And Belladona, located in rocky coves north of Playa de Aro and have no infrastructure. The total length is about 200 m.

Accommodation

Hotels in Playa d'Aro, located along the Mediterranean coast, turn their restaurants into bustling cafes with cozy verandas and live music in the late afternoon. Some hotels are located away from the beaches, in a quiet tourist area.

Attractions

The historic center of Playa d'Aro includes a colorful medieval Benedormiens Castle, gothic St. Mary's Church, as well as the picturesque streets of Carme, de L'Hospital, del Sol and del Castell.

How to get there

The nearest airports to Playa d'Aro are (115 km) and (30 km). A bus service connects Playa d'Aro with the popular resorts of the Costa Brava.