Barcelona & Costa Brava With Kids: Where To Stay, Eat and Best Things To Do
Welcome to our family guide to Barcelona and the Costa Brava Coast.
If you’re travelling to Spain with kids, this is one destination we’d happily recommend.
Barcelona gives you the big sights, great food and busy city atmosphere, while the Costa Brava is all about beaches, small towns and a much slower pace.
We started in Barcelona before heading north to the coast, and we’d do it the same way again. Barcelona is exciting and packed with things to do, but after a few days, the Costa Brava feels like a chance to slow down and enjoy Spain at a different pace.
If you’re short on time, don’t miss wandering through the Gothic Quarter and visiting Sagrada Família. Then head to the Costa Brava and spend time exploring coastal towns like Tossa de Mar and Begur, where you’ll find beautiful beaches, coastal walks and plenty of spots to relax as a family
Looking for more family-friendly tours and activities in Barcelona? Browse our Barcelona activities link below & we also have more details about the activities we enjoyed further down in this post!
Key Facts
When to visit
The best time to visit Barcelona and the Costa Brava Coast is from May to June and September to October, when the weather is warm, the beaches are enjoyable, and the crowds are smaller than peak summer. July and August offer the hottest weather and best swimming conditions, but they’re also the busiest and most expensive months to visit.
How to get there
Most families will arrive via Barcelona-El Prat Airport, which has direct flights from major cities throughout Europe and connections from around the world. From Barcelona, the Costa Brava Coast is easily reached by car in around 1–2 hours, depending on which town you’re visiting
How to get around
Barcelona is easy to explore with its excellent metro, bus, and tram network, with many major attractions within walking distance of one another. For the Costa Brava Coast, we’d highly recommend hiring a car, as many of the best beaches, coastal towns and viewpoints are spread along the coastline and are much easier to access with your own transport.
Best Things To Do in Barcelona and Costa Brava
- Sagrada Família – Even if you’re not usually someone who visits churches while travelling, it’s worth making an exception for. The scale of the building is hard to appreciate until you’re standing underneath it, and kids are often just as impressed by the colourful stained-glass windows as the adults. We’d recommend booking tickets well in advance and visiting early in the morning before the crowds build. If you plan to visit the tops of the towers, be careful on the way back down, as the stairs can be winding in parts, especially for people who may experience dizziness (like me!).
- Explore The Gothic Quarter –The Gothic Quarter is one of the best areas of Barcelona to simply wander without a plan. The narrow laneways are filled with hidden squares, street performers, local shops and places to stop for a snack. It’s a great way for families to experience the atmosphere of Barcelona without feeling like you’re constantly ticking attractions off a list. Allow a few hours and wear comfortable shoes, as you’ll do plenty of walking, and also be careful of pickpockets – they love to hang out here!
- Park Güell – feels like something straight out of a storybook, but we recommend it’s for older kids. By Gaudí, you’ll find colourful mosaics, unusual buildings and fantastic views across the city. Tickets are limited and often sell out, so booking ahead is essential. We’d recommend visiting earlier in the day, especially during summer when there is less shade.
- La Boqueria Market – A great place to introduce kids to Spanish food. Expect fresh fruit, smoothies, pastries, seafood, and plenty of easy-to-grab snacks while exploring the city.
- Montjuïc Cable Car– one of the easiest ways to get incredible views over Barcelona. The cable car ride itself is often the highlight for kids, while parents will appreciate seeing the city, port and coastline from above
- Museu de la Xocolata Chocolate Workshop – as one of the more unique family activities we found in Barcelona and a great break from sightseeing. Alongside exploring the museum, families can join hands-on chocolate workshops where kids get to decorate, create and learn how chocolate is made. It’s a fun indoor activity for hot afternoons, rainy days or when the kids need a slower-paced activity between major attractions. We’d recommend booking workshops in advance, especially during school holidays, as places can fill quickly. They offer the classes in both Spanish and English.
Looking for more family-friendly tours and activities in Barcelona? Browse our Barcelona activities link below & we also have more details about the activities we enjoyed further down in this post!
Tossa De Mar
If you’re looking for a Costa Brava town that feels like a postcard, Tossa de Mar is hard to beat.
Think clear blue water, a medieval castle overlooking the beach, cobblestone streets and family-friendly beaches all within walking distance. We stayed for 3 nights, which felt about right, and used it as a base to explore nearby towns, including Girona. Summer gets very hot. Explore the castle and old town early in the morning or later in the afternoon, as the castle area involve hills, stairs and uneven cobblestones
What we loved most was how relaxed it felt compared to Barcelona. Everything is easy to reach on foot, and it has a great mix of beaches, history and good food without feeling overwhelming for families. The beaches are beautiful, but they’re pebble and coarse sand beaches rather than the soft sand many Australians are used to, and the locals love to sunbathe topless, so you might need to prepare the kids for that one!
The easiest way to reach Tossa de Mar is by car, which is what we did, and it’s about 1 hour 30 minutes from Barcelona, and a day trip to Girona is 45 minutes. If you don’t want to drive, buses run from both Barcelona and Girona.
We stayed at Hotel Delfin, which included a pool and buffet breakfast. We had adjoining rooms with the kids as well, which were quite spacious by European hotel standards. It was also only a 5-minute walk to Platja Gran beach.
If you have more time, we also recommend hiring kayaks . We didn’t get a chance to tick off this one, but we would have done it if we had an extra day or hadn’t ended up visiting the surrounding beaches.
Best Beaches in Costa Brava
Cala Giverola (Tossa de Mar) is best for families wanting a quieter beach. It’s just outside Tossa de Mar. Cala Giverola is a beautiful sheltered bay with crystal-clear water, and good for snorkelling, and less crowded than the main Platja Gran beach in Tossa De Mar. Another good beach is Cala Pola
Platja de Castell (Palamós) is a great beach that feels more natural and less developed, Platja de Castell is worth visiting. There are no big hotels overlooking the beach and it feels much more like a local spot. The beach is wide, there’s plenty of space for kids to run around, and it never feels as busy as some of the more popular beaches on the Costa Brava
Sa Tuna is one of those places that looks exactly like the photos. It’s a small cove surrounded by colourful houses and fishing boats, with clear water and a relaxed atmosphere. The beach itself isn’t huge, but it’s a great place to spend a few hours swimming, having lunch and wandering around the waterfront
Aiguablava (Begur) is a popular beach, but it’s worth the visit as the water is that bright turquoise colour you see in travel brochures, and it’s shallow enough near the shore for younger kids to enjoy.
