L'Estartit Things to Do

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Most people try to rush L’Estartit on a budget so they end up missing some of the highlights in a whirlwind. The key to seeing L’Estartit properly is a game plan, you must know what you want to see before setting out. Before we visited L’Estartit we saw on a city map that the small town of L’Estartit is divided into two areas – the small historical old town and the more residential area in the new part of the town near Passeig Maritim and the harbor. We visited the city and hiked our way through both areas.

Our hikes were in the old town where we saw the influence of the so called Americanos. These were inhabitants that left L’Estartit in the 19th century to go to America. Some of them returned back very wealthy and built homes in colonial style which can still be admired until today. The hike was quite strenuous sometimes, but definitely worth while! For example we started at Passeig Maritim where we parked the car for free, made our way to Carrer Santa Anna and finally hiked way into the older part of the town and it ended at the central square at Carrer Victor Concas at the other side of the city centre. We ended up at the deserted Casa Salietti (Salietti House), which is probably the most important point of L’Estartit. While most tour guides don't recommend getting lost in the alley's, this part of L’Estartit is the place to get hopelessly lost for a while. We wondered off through mysterious and steep alleyways leading us away from the crowds, the real L’Estartit?

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Take time to meander - losing yourself in the maze of alleys, streets and lanes is one of L’Estartit’ old town's principal pleasures. The streets wind and wander with no discernible order or object. After our stroll we rewarded ourselves with a cool glass of beer or wine for our effort! We learned that you won't do justice to the entire city of L’Estartit whenever you won't visit other parts than just the main sights. So ... do meander, because the cluster of sights around the Passeig Maritim are truly interesting, but the more secret pleasures of the hushed backstreets are just entrancing.

There are truly more than enough vibrant cultural scenes to see, like the off the beaten path Passeig Arcqueológic way back near the Carrer Barcelona and for example the Casas de los Americanos (American Houses) at the middle of the Santa Anna Street. Via the pavement we continued to the nice colonial building la Torre del Rellotge (watch tower). The Torre de Rellotge is also known as “La Perola”. This beautiful tower, donated by the Americanos, stands on a place where fishermen used to paint their nets. They cooked the nets in a pot, la perola, to darken the nets. The weird thing, in my opinion, is the surrealistic painting at the tower. Still it is a must see. All this may seem very though as finding your way in L’Estartit might be difficult, but in really distances are short and the signs will help you in getting around. Enjoy!

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Take time to meander - losing yourself in the maze of alleys, streets and lanes is one of L’Estartit’ old town's principal pleasures. The streets wind and wander with no discernible order or object. After our stroll we rewarded ourselves with a cool glass of beer or wine for our effort! We learned that you won't do justice to the entire city of L’Estartit whenever you won't visit other parts than just the main sights. So ... do meander, because the cluster of sights around the Passeig Maritim are truly interesting, but the more secret pleasures of the hushed backstreets are just entrancing.

There are truly more than enough vibrant cultural scenes to see, like the off the beaten path Passeig Arcqueológic way back near the Carrer Barcelona and for example the Casas de los Americanos (American Houses) at the middle of the Santa Anna Street. Via the pavement we continued to the nice colonial building la Torre del Rellotge (watch tower). The Torre de Rellotge is also known as “La Perola”. This beautiful tower, donated by the Americanos, stands on a place where fishermen used to paint their nets. They cooked the nets in a pot, la perola, to darken the nets. The weird thing, in my opinion, is the surrealistic painting at the tower. Still it is a must see. All this may seem very though as finding your way in L’Estartit might be difficult, but in really distances are short and the signs will help you in getting around. Enjoy!

there are steps which lead to trails to the top of this mountain, and the view is excellent. the steps are just past the turnabout (on the east) at the corner of carretella torroella and aveninguna de grecia.

snorkelling at illes medes is pretty fun, and medaqua is the tour operator to use. their shop is located down by the marina, past all of the restaurants.

sea kayaking is extremely fun, but beware, the solo kayak is very difficult to balance (i fell in three times).

L'estartit is the place for diving in the whole of Catalonia. If you have never dived start here, not in bad place that will put you off the sport!
There are huge groupers (big fish), octopus, rays and many, many more. The islands you see in photos just off the coast are full of holes beneath the water, making the excellent fun to swim through with dive buddies! There is even a sealed chamber in one area, so bring your torch.
My son is diving here for the first time and he is 10, so you can start young if you have good training...
How about climbing up to the castle at Torrenella d Montgri ( the castle on the hill), well worth it.
Its a drive, buy what about Port Aventura ( Spain's Universal Studio's) its a top class park compared to other home-grown rubbish. Have a look, just south of Barcelona, say cheap in Salou.

In the small harbour you can make reservations for a snorkling adventure. The boat will bring you to the giant rock just before the harbour know as the Medes Islands.

You'll get a free snorkel and the trip lasts about 2 hours. (Before entering the boat they will take a picture of you and at the end of the trip when leaving the boat you can buy a keychain with this picture in it. A bit pricy but a nice gesture.)

When the boat stops they will feed the fish and you haven't seen anything like this. Huge fish will swim around , beneath and over you. Great experience.

The old town of Salvadore Dali.

This artist was know for his expression in his art.

Check him out in the Salvadore Dali museum in Figueres. Figueres is also a nice place to visit for shopping or eating out.

A daytrip to Barcelona should definately be made.
Great city with great sightseeing.

I would recommend the local bus trip. They come in two colours , Blue and Red. The blue one travels the northern area of the city and the red one covers the south. Each line has it's own stops and things to see.

You can switch lines on a few locations and you can get out of the bus on every stop. Each 11 minutes there will be a new bus you can enter and continue your journey. This is a great way to explore most of the city in a reasonable amount of time.

The beautiful small town of torreolla de montgri. 1 euro and 5 min bus ride from L'Estartit this is one of the most historic and amazing little corners of old catalunya. If your there in july you'll catch the international music festival