Restaurants in Lloret de Mar.

While on holiday in Lloret dining out is always good value for money, especially if you fancy a change from the 'junk food' which is too easily available these days!
All restaurants, no matter what type or nationality serve what is called 'Menu del Dia' - menu of the day. Usually consisting of at least 3 courses, a starter, then the main dish, a sweet or pudding dish and then wine, water and bread. Prices start at about 6 euro. All restaurants have numerous selections for each course, its quite impossible to choose sometimes.!
Its even sometimes impossible to choose which restaurant to go to, all do excellent menus.
Although the menus displayed are mostly wrote in Catalan or Spanish, this no reason why you should not be brave enough to go inside and try the meals, if your not a fussy eater just take 'pot luck'

A few of the most common foods on the Catalan menus in Lloret are..

Galtes de porc - pigs cheek, usually done in a nice tasty gravy.

Calamars - squid, often done in batter and then mistaken for onion rings by most first timers abroard!

Botifarra amb mongetes - a meaty Catalan sausage with white beans.

Arroz negre - rice cooked in black ink from the squid.

Fricando amb bolts - sliced veal with mushrooms.

Conill amb allioli - rabbit with a garlic mayonnaise.

A couple of dishes to suit even the most unadventurous palette is Pollo, which is chicken,usually roasted on the spit and Bistek, which is steak. Normally both served with chips!

Lloret de Mar Weather.

 Just when we thought summer was coming!

The weather forecast here is not good for the next few days. It started raining last night at about 10pm, and is forecast for the rest of today (Sun 19th March). With cooler temperatures to follow for the next few days.

The above photos were taken by my dad on a wet day back in August 1967, the small palm trees are still there, but are now fully grown. Also the same area is still a car park, but the style of cars are much different these days!

St. Patricks Day in Lloret de Mar

St. Patrick's day passed by unnoticed here in Lloret. The beach was very quiet (although the sun finally came out the day was cool and fairly windy).

On the other side of the street though- one now sees a little movement- bar, shop and restaurant owners have their shutters half mast while they are busy painting and cleaning to open for the Spring of 2006.

Cheap accommodation Hostal La Playa- Lloret de Mar

If you are planning a short stay and looking for cheap accommodation in Lloret de Mar, the Hostal la Playa, situated on the seafront is ideal.

Off season prices range from just 13 euros to 18 euros per person. A discount is sometimes offered for longer stays. There are three types of room- seaview, street view and interior. Breakfast is charged at 2,50 euros extra. There are no surcharges for single people. The hostal is very popular off season with British people visiting Lloret to take advantage of cheap cigarettes and alcohol and Spanish out-of-town visitors at the weekend.

Each room has an individual bathroom, with TV and heating. In the summer there is also use of a fridge offered. Family rooms can also be had, sleeping up to four people.

Downstairs in the reception area is an internet cafe consisting of fifteen terminals. At the time of writing the cost is only 1,20 euros per hour. The internet cafe is open all night making it very popular with tourists and staff working in the nearby bars and discoteques.

Prices will rise at Easter time, to find out more or make a reservation call (0034) 972363758.

Lloret de Mar-Water World.

Water World just on the outskirts of town is a great day out for all the family.

Easily reached by a free bus at the bus station or from outside the Caprabo supermarket in Fenals.

As yet Water World is not open for the season, but will be as from 16th May until 29th Sept.

Times of opening are 10am - 7pm July to August, closing slightly earlier during May, June and September.

Other amenities include picnic area, souvenir shop, bar, cafe, lockers for your personal items and medical centre (just in case).

Events in Lloret de Mar.

On the 2nd Sunday in every month there is an arts and crafts fair held in the Placa Pere Torrent on the 'river road' in Lloret.
Things to be found here are home made bread, honey, shoes , slippers and all sorts of ornaments and jewellery.
Also on sale there is loads of second hand Spanish stuff!
Almost like what we would describe as a boot sale in the UK.

The sale starts at 9am and goes on until appox 1pm. 

A Sunny Sunday in Lloret de Mar

The sun is not the only thing that came out this beautiful Sunday in Lloret de Mar- lots of people have crawled out of the woodwork too, the seafront was very crowded with people enjoying a Sunday stroll in the sunshine.

Temperatures at midday reached 17 oC which is above average for the time of year.

Click here for a detailed daily weather report.

The Lloret 'Express'

The Lloret express, usually known as the wally trolley here in Lloret! will take you from the beach front on various routes round the town.
Prices start at 3 euros for a trip along the sea front in Lloret then over the hill into Fenals and back.
6 euros will take you on a scenic journey round the town then up into the urbanisation of Roca Grossa, from where you can look down onto Lloret and see what I consider the best coastline in Spain! It is best to choose a clear day as Roca Grossa is sometimes covered in low cloud, so then you would see nothing!
A 10 euro trip takes you from Lloret again over into Fenals, but further on into the Santa Clotilde Gardens situated at the top of the cliffs. The gardens are immaculately planted with various plants and trees.

We will publish more about the gardens along with photos at a later date.

A Day Trip From Lloret.

Two very different views of Blanes down the coast. A nice way to spend the day while based in Lloret. Monday going round the market, which is all along the sea front. Then a walk round the harbour.
As you get off the bus from Lloret the market is straight opposite. Then as you walk through to the other end you will come to the harbour where all the boats of the 'rich' are moored.

Thanks to friends from England, Wendy and Catherine for the photos, hope you had a good holiday!

Lloret de Mar Coast.

These pictures were taken a couple of weeks ago on Fenals beach. It was a beautiful clear day, but it was very windy making the sea quite rough. You can't really tell from the photos how high the waves were, but nobody would have stood a chance if they had been caught up in waves.

Many people who visit the Costa Brava don't always realize how rough the sea can be, making it unsafe for swimming.
So it is always best to look at what colour flag is flying before going into the sea. The colours are - green for safe bathing, yellow means bathing with caution and red is a definate NO!
It may sometimes look safe, but there may be strong underwater currents.

Lloret de Mar Classic Car Rally

The Lloret de Mar classic car rally got of to a rather wet start on Sunday the 5th of March.

There were few spectators wishing to brave the wet windy weather on the seafront at 9 am- however the day did get brighter and more people were around at the checkpoints and to see the cars return to the promenade around 2pm.

Rally Lloret de Mar 2006

Rally Lloret de Mar 2006

This weekend we have the Classic Car Rally in Lloret de Mar.

It starts on Friday the 3rd of March and continues until Sunday the 5th March. Pictures will be coming soon.

Be warned if you are driving into Lloret this weekend that parking and circulating will be very difficult as the who of the seafront and the Avenida Just Marles (River road) will be blocked of as for last weekend with the carnival. Talking of- a video of the carnival can be seen by clicking here.

Lloret de Mar Carnival.

The last few shots of the Carnival.

Hope you enjoyed looking at the photos we published, its a pity we couldnt have brought you the sound as well!! as every float had their own 'deafening music' which they all danced along to.
There is always something happening in Lloret.

So another subject soon....

Lloret de Mar Carnival

Another selection of photos from Saturdays Carnival.

Lloret de Mar Carnival. 2006

 Heres a great selection of photos from yesterdays carnival parade....

It was a huge success yesterday, both for spectators and participants.
With the sun shining all day long, it was a great family day out, even many of the spectators, young and old were also dressed up!

(Still lots more photos to follow)

Lloret de Mar, The Weather Today.

Today (25th Feb) is the start of the annual carnival in Lloret, held over the weekend.
At this time of year its always doubtful what the weather will be like. Although we have had quite a short and mild winter (so far) it has turned a bit cooler over the last few days.
The local forecast for today though is quite good, but tomorrow is seems could be a different matter!
This morning it is sunny, with a bit of cloud about and a lot of mist out at sea. So hopefully it will all clear by the time the carnival gets going this afternoon. We will then be able to get some good photos to publish during the next few days.

Useful Lloret de Mar Phone Numbers

Useful Lloret de Mar Phone Numbers

Old Peoples Gaff........................972372356

Sports Stadium..........................972367512

Radio Lloret...............................972372393

Indoor Food Market.................972367404

Town Hall Tourism Info...........972364735

Large Rubbish Collection.........972368922

County Hospital.........................972353264

Local Police.................................972361736...in a hurry?...092

Mozzos........................................972368888...in ahurry?....088

Fire Brigade...............................972367777...in a hurry?....085

Emergencies........................................112

Ambulance...........................................061

Useful Lloret de Mar phone numbers

Lloret de Mar, The Angel Monument.

The Angel Monument towers above the tree tops in the woodland at the back of Lloret de Mar.

She points the way up to Sant Pere del Bosc with her right hand.

To say she is over 100yrs old, she is in very good condition and also quite colourful when seen close up.

Lloret de Mar Promenade.

The promenade in front of the Town Hall in Lloret, is just over the road from the beach.

The palm trees on both sides give a little bit of shade from the hot sun in summer.

It's a nice place to sit and either have a full meal or relax with a drink and watch the world go by.

Lloret de Mar Shops.

Yesterday in Lloret centre there was a really good atmosphere.
It is officially the end of the sale time for the local shops, so they are allowed to bring all the last of their sale goods out on to the streets. This in turn brings a lot of people into town.
There was also a couple of bouncy castles for the kids and music could be heard all over town.
It was just as though the holiday season had come early!
Items on sale ranged from ski's, clothing and toiletries to even the butchers selling their meats and cheeses!
So what ever you were looking for, there were bargains for everone.

Lloret de Mar Carnival

Lloret de Mar Carnival

Next weekend is Carnival Weekend. The people of Lloret go to an awful lot of trouble and expense at carnival time, a procession is held on Saturday afternoon and repeated on Sunday morning. Saturday night is party time and the bars and discoteques expect to get a good turn out.
All ages young and old will take part in the procession, in extravagent costumes and floats decked out in fantastic scenes and backgrounds.

Unfortunately the weather always seems to take a turn for the worse at carnival time- and the procession ends up being a rather soggy affair.

The above photos were taken from the Lloret de Mar Carnival in 2003, on one occasion when it did not rain.

Lloret de Mar Carnival

Cheap Flights- Costa Brava

Visitors from the UK can now fly to Girona Airport for less than the cost of a 50 mile train journey in the UK.
Ryanair flies to Girona Airport from Blackpool, Bournemouth, Dublin, East Midlands, Glasgow, Liverpool, London Luton and London Stansted. If you book a few weeks in advance flights can be had for just 1 penny. Airport taxes will put the minimum cost of a round trip up to around 40 euros.
A taxi from Girona airport to Lloret will cost 42 euros one way, although there are private people willing to do it for less. For daytime flights there is a bus from Girona Airport to Lloret de Mar, Blanes, Malgrat de Mar, Santa Susanna, Calella and Tossa de Mar. All buses will wait for delayed inbound passengers to come through arrivals.

With tobacco and cigarettes still being surprisingly cheap the area is becoming increasingly popular with UK visitors who wish to take advantage of the cheap flights and stock up on smoking supplies. It is permitted to take 3200 cigarettes from Spain to the UK.
For more info on cheap flights visit www.ryanair.com

The Monastery of Lloret de Mar (again)

Another photo of Sant Pere del Bosc from Tuesday's walk. Taken through the blossom on the trees, showing how mild the weather is in Lloret for this time of the year.
Also a picture of the pathway, which leads upto the Monastery.

The Monastery of Lloret de Mar.

A view of the monastery along with the wording on the plaque outside the gates telling visitors the history of the building. (Click on the photo to enlarge the print).
If you like to walk this is a very long but pleasant walk through the woods, (approx 4hrs there and back). Part of the monastery is now used as a restaurant.

Taking the road from beside the Caprabo supermarket in Fenals, will eventually bring you to the monastery of Sant Pere del Bosc. On the way passing through the urbanisation of Condado Jarruco (lots of nice expensive villas!)
You will also pass on the way, the back of Waterworld and also the Angel Golf Course.

Lloret de Mar Wildlife!

Today we have had the warmest day so far this year in Lloret (20c in the shade).
So this morning we set off for a walk inland towards the back of Lloret, this is what we came across! A small herd of goats, which belong to a Bar/Restaurant (no, they are not on the menu!)
They are allowed to roam free out in the woodland, but they do have their own fenced in area at the side of the bar.

It's small unexpected things like this which make it so enjoyable living in Spain.

The 'Sites' of Lloret de Mar!

A down side to Lloret de Mar.
The many cranes that cover the skyline of the Fenals area of Lloret, are just building block after block of new apartments. To do this they are having to rip out all the woodland, spoiling what once was a haven for wildlife in Lloret and also many of the hidden paths which lead to the smaller coves along the coast.
To get to these places now, you have to cut through all the building sites.
Not the nice walk it used to be!

Costa Brava Coast.

A photo taken from behind the Guitart Hotel between Lloret de Mar and Fenals.
It shows part of the Costa Brava coast, looking away from Lloret. The white apartment blocks are in Fenals. With Blanes in the far distance, and Boadella and Santa Cristina in between. 

Old and New Lloret.

Another comparison between old and new Lloret.

The black / white photo was taken by my dad on his first visit to Lloret de Mar in August 1967.
He did'nt know what the crowd of people were looking at on the beach, he thought maybe some sort of large fish had been washed up on to the shore
As you can see from the number of people about, it was a very popular place for holidays even in those days, as it still is today. I took the colour one in December 2005, obviously not as many poeple about, but still a beautiful day. 

The Moving Beach of Lloret de Mar

These rocks are not always visible on the beach in Lloret, as they are usually covered by sand. What quite often happens in winter is that when the bad weather comes and the sea gets rough, it pounds up on to the beach and takes all the sand back out with it. Then most of the time believe it or not, dumping it down at the other end of the beach! making that part of the beach much wider and steeper than it normally is.
Hopefully the sea brings it back as the weather and tide changes for the start of the summer season. Sometimes it does, but if not then it has to be levelled out by 'JCB's and tractors, making it more suitable for the holiday makers.