Spain, Costa Daurada
Spain, Costa Daurada. June 2009
The holidays were approaching, and we could not decide where to go. Crisis, finances are tight, but you want to relax! Thanks to the Internet, I found an attractive offer from Natalie Tours - Fortuna 3 * Costa Daurada FB - for only 904 euros for two for 14 days / 15 nights. The specificity of the tour is that until the last moment you do not know which hotel you will be accommodated in, and even in which place of K. D.
On June 13, we flew by Transaero from Moscow and after 4 hours we arrived at Barcelona airport. By transfer, a group of tourists was taken to the banks of the Daurada: Le Pineda, Cap Salou, Salou and finally Cambrils.
Le Pineda is a place on the seashore, with a gently sloping beach, the Aquapolis water park and the famous La Pacha disco.
Cap Salou is a beautiful area with pine trees, located on a hill and you need to go down the stairs to the beaches.
Salou is a noisy party place with a gently sloping beach, a huge promenade, shops, clubs and discos.
Cambrils is a quiet and peaceful place with good restaurants, expensive shops and good beaches.
Fortune and fate decreed that we were settled in the Vilafortuny area, located between Salou and Cambrils, in the apart-hotel Voramar 3 *. Quiet, calm, almost no restaurants or shops nearby. A great place to relax with children, pensioners or people from megacities who dream of peace and quiet.
About the hotel. Rooms - apartments are very spacious: two rooms, one of which is a bedroom, the other is a living room with a kitchen area, a spacious bathroom with a toilet and a urinal, a huge balcony with plastic furniture. The room is not equipped with dishes, but you can borrow something from the administrator. The furniture is new and comfortable.
95% of Spaniards live in the hotel, almost all middle-aged families with children. The rest are Russian tourists, also family.
We - two young, beautiful - did not quite fit into this company, but we came to rest, so we need to rest! For freedom of movement, we rented bicycles for 10 days directly at the hotel. The rental costs depending on the period (1 day - 12 euros, 10 days - 49 euros). The bikes are pretty new, quite decent. Everything has been created for cycling in Spain - both bike paths and parking especially for two-wheelers. To Cambrils - 10 minutes, to Salou - 15-20 minutes. Great way to travel + sports activities)))
About nutrition. We took full board (FB) and did not regret it even once! The food was just fine - a lot of fruit for lunch and dinner - melons, watermelons, bananas, cherries, apricots, peaches, pears, apples, plums, cherry plums. There is always meat and fish, and every day is different. Periodically fed seafood - colmar, mussels, shrimps. Paella was cooked almost every day. Drinks are included only for breakfast - tea, coffee, juices.
For lunch and dinner, drinks are ordered from the menu. A bottle of water 1.65 euros, a bottle of wine from 7.50 euros. We did without drinks, bought everything we needed in Mickelangelo supermarkets, which are all over the coast. The closest one is on the left of the hotel about 400 meters away. Prices are approximately Moscow, quite affordable. Juice 1 l - from 0.79 euros; drinking water 5 l - from 0.89 euros; Pepsi 2 l - 0.99 euros; wine from 0.99 euros per 1 liter (in a bag, quite normal); Sangria 1 l - 1.05 euros; whiskey Grant`s 1 l - 10 euros.
The beach is 50 meters from the hotel, across the road. The sea is very clean, the beach is wide. The people in Vilafortuny were the least, and we really liked it. By the way, the Spaniards like to sleep until 10, so if you come early, you can choose the best place and swim almost alone. In June, the water temperature was around 23-25 degrees, only one day it was cold - somewhere around 20 degrees.
Few people swim (for some reason), mostly sunbathe, and many women are topless, or play a game like badminton. The beaches are all municipal, so sunbeds, umbrellas and everything else for a fee. We got out of the situation by buying straw mats for 3 euros in a shop right in the hotel.
Trips and excursions. Traditionally, the operator had very high prices for excursions, so we decided to go with Bus Plana or ourselves. Bus Plana is the official carrier of Catalonia, provides regular scheduled flights on the route Cambrils - Salou - Le Pineda - Tarragona (Reus), as well as to Barcelona, Reus Airport, Port Aventura. Tickets bought on the bus from the driver will cost much more than buying a T-10 pass. We found out at the information office of Cambrils where it can be purchased. We were drawn on the map two places - Tabacs and Library. In the first one, we successfully purchased a travel pass.
For the card itself, you give 2 euros if two or more people travel, 3 euros for a personal travel card. To charge a card for 10 trips costs 8.70 euros. Thus, one trip cost us 0.87 euros (a ticket to Tarragona from the driver is more than 3 euros). If you charge for 30 trips at once, the trip will cost even less - 0.77 euros. The card is valid on routes to Reis, Tarragona, Porat Aventura.
In addition, Bus Plana offers several options for excursions to Barcelona and Montserrat. In addition, brochures of this company, including Russian, can be taken at the hotel counter. Tickets for excursions can be bought at the company's offices the day before (we bought in the center of Salou on the waterfront), or directly on the bus. The sightseeing bus differs from the scheduled bus - it is completely white, with the Plana inscription on the side. There is a sign on the windshield with an inscription where he is going.
The bus follows the standard route from Cambrils via Salou and Le Pineda and passes all stops. Near our hotel there was a stop hotel Centurion. With a wave of your hand, you stop the bus and pay for the tour to the driver. In addition, Russian-speaking guides are on all flights. As a rule, 3-4 buses with different languages leave for each excursion. Russian buses are almost always full.
On Saturdays there is a wonderful excursion to Montserrat + Magical fountains of Barcelona. After lunch, we went to the stop and were among the first, took the best places. On the way, the entire bus was full, except for the Russians, there were Frenchmen who were transferred to another bus. Guide Tatiana talked about Catalonia and Barcelona almost all the way from Le Pineda to Montserrat. After that we boarded the funicular and went up to the monastery. The views from the mountain are just amazing!
The monastery is known all over the world thanks to the wooden statue of the Madonna found in the cave, to which people from all over the world come to touch the ball in her hand. They say she grants wishes. Well, let's check it out! At the monastery, you will have approximately 3 hours of free time to visit the tasting of the tinctures produced by the monks, the audiovisual museum and take pictures on the viewing platforms. There are several walking routes on Montserrat, for example, to the cave where the Madonna was put on, but there one way is 20-30 minutes on foot. To visit remote places, it is better to take an excursion for the whole day.
Then we went down to the bus on the funicular and went to the center of Barcelona to Plaza Españ a, where the show of Magic Wontans takes place. At 21:00, water begins to beat, and after a few minutes, music sounds and a fascinating performance begins. The performance lasts about an hour and consists of 3 parts - classical, rock and classic again.
Views are not repeated. In our case, the music of Vivaldi, Fredi Mercury, Bach, Tchaikovsky and other composers sounded. Incredibly beautiful and breathtaking! The tour costs 24.90 euros, for 5+. On the way back on the bus, we were offered to buy vouchers for a discount of 5 euros (cost 2 euros, i. e. net savings of 3 euros). We used them to go on a sightseeing tour of Barcelona.
Excursion to Barcelona cost us 19.90 together put 24.90 euros. Tickets were bought on the spot from the driver. We were the first on the bus. Guide Olga was not as good as Tatiana. All she did was constantly offer to buy something. Instead of the promised visit to the Sagrada Familia, we were taken to a store where there was a tiny model of the cathedral, which she showed us, advertised pearls, souvenirs, T-shirts, and left. Prices are 3 times more expensive than in Salou....
There were 4 stops for the tour - free time at Place Catalotia (Gothic Quarter), Park Guell, Sagrada Familia and Mount Montjuic. The rest of the sights were shown to us from the bus window. Tour for an amateur, put 2+.
One more time we visited Barcelona by ourselves. From the hotel, we took a bus to Salou (you need to get off in the port area), go perpendicular to the sea to the railway station along Barcelona street 150. A round-trip ticket costs 12.10 euros. We traveled on the most popular trains - 8:43 there, 19:37 back. In Barcelona, it is best to get off at the Passage de Gracias station, it is practically the center of the city. The Renfe train line is integrated with the metro, so on the way back, do not look for the station we are used to, it is not there. You just need to go down to the subway passage of the same name and follow the signs to the railway.
To Plaza Catalunya 3-5 minutes, to Sagrada - 25-30 minutes.
We didn’t prepare ourselves too well and didn’t study the route, so the impressions were blurred. The map, which was taken free of charge at the airport, was difficult to navigate. Accidentally came across Batlo's house, then went to Sagrada. From there, we took the metro for 1.35 euros to the Vallcarca metro station, and reached Park Guell. Gaudí 's works are amazing. From the park we went down to the subway and went on foot to the Tribidado funicular. If we knew that it is so hard to go there and it is not worth it, of course, we would not go. Walk about 30 minutes uphill, then through the park to the funicular, which lifts up the mountain for 4 euros. There is a cathedral, viewing platforms and a children's amusement park. After being there for about 30 minutes, we went downstairs, we could hardly find the nearest Pantents metro station on the map. It's 15 minutes walk to it. By metro we returned to the center - to Plaza Catalunya, wandered there for about 20 minutes and left for home. There is no need to repeat this route!
I think that it is most advisable to either buy a ticket for a tourist bus for 21 euros, or get a guidebook and wander around the Gothic quarter. There you can lose all the value! Ah, if only we had known this before! After all, we bought a sightseeing tour at the very end of the trip (((
On our own, we traveled by bus twice to Tarragona. We left after lunch and returned for dinner. Half a day was more than enough for us. I liked the city madly - small, cozy, very beautiful! The former capital of the Roman Empire, many ancient sights have been preserved here. Near the bus station there is an information office where you can get a map of the city. We already had it, they took it to the Cambrils bureau. It is easy to navigate and get around all the most interesting things in the city. I was impressed by the views from the “balcony” of the port and the sea, the ancient coliseum and the old city. We went to the Roman frum museum for 3 euros, nothing special.
We returned to Tarragona on June 24, the feast of Saint Juan, one of the most revered by the Spaniards. On this day and the day before, active festivities take place, fireworks are fired and fireworks are blown up. In addition, on this day, the Castells festival was held in Tarratogon - the construction of human towers, a monument to them was erected on the ramble in the city center. It was just unforgettable!! ! 4 teams, one after another, literally in 3-4 minutes quickly climbed each other, collecting towers up to 3-4 floors and also quickly descended. A decent number of people had gathered on the square, but there was no push or crush. Everything went very calmly, measuredly, and even without any leaders or leaders. The tradition has existed for several centuries, and is accustomed to all important holidays in Catalonia.
We devoted one day to Reus, the birthplace of Gaudí . The city itself did not make a strong impression.
From the station, we followed the arrows to the center of Gaudi, where there was a siesta until 16:00. We took a map and went along the modernist route. Buildings of the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, many of these were seen earlier in other cities. I liked the monument to little Gaudi sitting on a bench. On the map, it was marked with a blue sign and we almost missed it. We were not lucky with maps))) But the museum impressed us very much! The ticket costs 6 euros, it includes the rental of an audio guide in Russian. The museum consists of 3 halls-floors and a video hall. The film was shown in Russian at 16:45, this is something amazing! Video hall with three huge screens and swivel chairs, it was necessary to periodically turn from one screen to another. In the museum you can feel almost everything, touch it, press the buttons and see how and what works. Very interesting! After the museum, we decided to walk to the Carefour hypermarket, which is located on the ring road behind McDonald's, 25 minutes walk from the bus station.
There I bought an excellent medium-sized plastic suitcase for only 40 euros! Large suitcases for 50 euros. I can’t get enough of him now))) Very beautiful, red, modern, we have such ones cost 3-4 times more expensive.
Another day was devoted to visiting the water park. We chose for a long time where to go - to the water park Pora Aventura or Aquopolis. After much deliberation, viewing pictures and weighing the pros and cons, we decided to go to the second one. There are also performances with dolphins and sea lions. The park is open in June from 11 am to 6 pm. We took the bus to Le Pineda, the park is located next to the bus stop. A ticket costs 23.95 euros, the queue is decent, but it passed quickly, in 15 minutes. In the water park, everything is for money - renting a cell in a storage room is 5.50 euros + a deposit of 3 euros; individual circle 7 euros; sunbed 5 euros. On the slides for free sunbeds, the queues were small, they took 5-10 minutes (it was Monday).
4 slides have a high emotion level mark - these are Kamikaze, Black Hole, Boomerang and Splash. For me, Boomerang turned out to be the most extreme, because from a decent height you serve upside down on a circle ...: -0))) At 12:00 and 16:30 there are performances with dolphins and sea lions. The show lasts 45 minutes, loved it! The day passes unnoticed, you can lie down there, sunbathe, just be careful, smear yourself with stronger creams, you easily burn out on the water. The water park is definitely worth a visit.
We ate at restaurants twice. Prices are moderate. In Salou, we had lunch at the Lunatic cafe right on the sea. I took paella, they brought a whole cast-iron frying pan And it's only 9.50 euros! The portion is clearly designed for two, I ate hardly more than half. Very tasty, but a lot.
The second time we had dinner in Cambrils, near the port, at the Barcas restaurant. We took assorted seafood for 38 euros and sangria Kava 0.5 l for 7.9 euros. Seafood was brought in two plates, with a slide, which was not there! Delicious!
The holiday was just wonderful. I want to return to Spain more than once.
If you have any questions, write, I will try to answer!