We spent a day in Tossa de Mar with kids as part of our trip to Barcelona in March 2019. You can read the full trip’s itinerary in our Barcelona post.
For our day trip from Barcelona, we decided on Tossa de Mar almost immediately. The photos of this small beach town on the Costa Brava are simply breathtaking. How often do you get to see a castle on the beach (that isn’t made of sand)? So let me start this post by saying that if you have the chance to go to Tossa de Mar with kids (or without!), absolutely do it. This is easily one of my favorite trips ever.
Ideally there would be a train that goes from Barcelona to Tossa de Mar. Unfortunately there isn’t, so you need to take a bus, which means a slightly longer ride. The bus departs from Estacio del Nord bus station, which is only a 10-minute walk north from the Arc de Triomf and Parc de la Ciutadella. We stopped there the day before to buy our tickets so that we weren’t rushing around in the morning. You can check the bus schedule in advance on the Moventis Sarfa website (the bus operator).
We took an 8:45 am bus and it’s 1 hour and 20 minute ride to Tossa de Mar. The ride itself is fine, with some scenic parts that run are along the coastline. But a fair warning that it’s also quite windy, and our youngest kid spent a third of the ride feeling carsick.
Once you arrive in Tossa de Mar, there is a grocery store, Esclat, directly across the street from the bus station. We found this helpful to buy some additional fruits and snacks for the day. Then on the other side of the bus station is the office of tourism. We stopped and picked up a free map, and they kindly showed us the route to walk to get to the castle.
Tossa de Mar is typically full of tourists, especially in the summer months when the population explodes. However, since we were there in March, we basically had the town to ourselves (though many stores and restaurants were closed). While the town is a tourist destination, it isn’t overly commercialized or built up and still feels very authentic. This definitely adds to the charm as we walked through the narrow and winding streets.
It’s about a 15-minute walk from the bus station to Platja Gran, the largest beach in Tossa de Mar and right in front of the downtown. It is a beautiful stretch of beach, lined with boats in the morning we were there. It’s also from here that you have stunning views of the walled town of Vila Vella.
Vila Vella is the sole remaining fortified medieval town on the Catalan coast, and the original structure dates back to the 13th century. There is no cost to enter Vila Vella. The road that runs along Platja Gran switches to cobblestone and leads you directly up to the walled town. The perimeter walls and towers are largely intact, protecting a castle, lighthouse, stone houses, cobblestone streets and the rest of the small village on the inside.
Take your time strolling along the path and down the narrow streets. In addition to the medieval structures of the castle and town, there are endless views of the beaches, cliffs and stunning blue sea from all sides of Vila Vella. We spent around an hour walking around inside the walls.
We made our way down the other side of Vila Vella and on to Platja d’es Codolar. It is a small beach located within the walls, on the opposite side of Vila Vella as Platja Gran. This secluded, coarse-sand and pebble beach felt like something out of a dream. Starting with the tiny magical opening in the wall that our kids had to duck through to enter. Then to the steep cliffs on either side of the beach and the sea stretching out in front of us. We could have happily stayed on this small stretch of beach the rest of the day.
I have no doubt Platja d’es Codolar becomes less remote and more packed with people in the summer months. But in March, while it was too cold to swim, we were able to relax in private, with plenty of sun and gentle waves for the kids to play in.
After about an hour, we finally dragged ourselves away and wandered back into the town of Tossa. We meandered through the endlessly charming streets and then back toward Platja Gran. We followed the street to the north end of the beach, opposite to Vila Vella, where there were more beautiful views of the sea and the castle.
On our way back to the bus station, we stopped at Els Ametllers, an ancient Roman village discovered in 1914. It has two tiers, so don’t leave after only seeing the street-level view. You can walk amongst the ruins or head up the hill for panoramic views of the ruins, town rooftops and the sea beyond.
From there, we walked the couple minutes back to the bus station, grabbed a snack at the small cafe next door, and took a 6:40 bus back to Barcelona. We ultimately walk 6.5 miles / 10.5 km around Tossa de Mar without a single complaint from a kid. If that’s not a ringing endorsement for Tossa as a family-friendly destination, I don’t know what is!