Lloret de Mar Winter Events

Its been a very busy Sunday today in Lloret. Down in the square by the carousel there has been an exhibition of custom motorbikes along with a kickboxing show put on by boys and girls of all ages, the above photo shows two of the youngest...no body got hurt, it was all good fun!

 Some of the bikes which came into town put on their own exhibition by just parking on the roadside!

The bike below has been customised in the unique style of Gaudi which can be seen in Parque Guell in Barcelona...(see the small photo below)

Tobacco Prices in Spain.

Now the summer season is over the majority of visitors to the Costa Brava at this time of year tend to be French. The hotels which remain open all year round are usually quite busy at the weekends owing to the fact that Lloret de Mar is only just over an hours drive from the French border.
Spain is still one of the cheapest places in Europe to buy cigarettes and tobacco, so visitors do benefit by stocking up on cigarettes etc while they are here. As from 1st Jan 2011 the legal limit what the French can take back home over the border is to be raised. Just now the limit is 5 cartons of cigarettes each, but there will be no limit at all after January 1st.
With the recent price increase of 6% in France it looks as though more and more French will be nipping over to Spain to get their cigs and fill their car up with the cheaper petrol while here!
The latest tobacco prices for Spain can be found .... HERE.

Lloret de Mar - Girona Bus Timetable

For those arriving at Girona airport and staying at any of the nearby resorts this is the latest timetable for the Sarfa bus company. The timetable is valid as from 27/9/10 - 22/6/11 and at present the cost into Lloret de Mar is €8. This is by far the cheapest way to get to your resort as the taxis are now charging around the €50 mark...not too bad if you are travelling with 3 to 4 friends but quite expensive if you are travelling alone.

Lloret de Mar Weather and November Views

A deserted November beach.

 Not the usual views you might expect from a place like Lloret de Mar!

The recent weather we are experiencing here just lately is still very good with very mild daytime temperatures for the time of year. These two photos show what we thought was a very bad storm brewing up out at sea this week, but all we had was a light rainfall which lasted through the night and then a nice clear sky the next morning.....and again today we have another nice day, although a little bit misty out at sea.

Spanish Poker Final-Lloret de Mar

 The Spanish Poker Tour tournament will take place from November 18th to 21st at the Gran Casino in Lloret de Mar. Some of Europe’s best players will be competing for a guaranteed €300,000 prize at the four-day main event.

On November 17th, the day before the start of the Grand Finale, a freeroll will be organized for all players. The prize pool for this special freeroll is already up to €45,000 and eligible players can check the number of points with which they will start playing on the SPT website. Following the Main Event of the Grand Finale, they will also be announcing the winner of the SPT 2010 most valuable player.

Lloret Medieval Event 2010

Heres a few photos from this week-ends Medieval event in Lloret de Mar which seems to have been a huge success by bringing thousands of people into town. There were far more stalls and activities than previous years, and as you can see from the photo below the streets were packed! So I'm sure that many of the local stores and bars have seen a much needed increase in their takings this week-end.

 The stalls were selling their home made products again...bread,cake, jam, soap, creams and other toiletries. Also a lot of the stalls were selling handmade jewellery, and very nice things for the home such as wall plaques, pottery, and linen items.

Have you ever seen a BBQ as big as this?

 The Medieval street musicians making as much noise as they possibly could!

Lloret de Mar Medieval Event

Medieval Fiesta 2008

This weekend November 13th - 14th we have the annual Medieval Festival in town once more. This will be the 10th time in Lloret de Mar for this event which gets better and better each year. The agenda for activities will begin at 10.30 tomorrow morning and go on until Sunday evening. Stalls will be selling all kinds of hand made goods such as, toys, clothing, shoes, jewelery, toiletries and all kinds of food stuffs. The kids will be able to join in with all kinds of games and even go on a donkey ride around the streets.

Lloret de Mar Sunrise

Looking towards Lloret from Fenals.

After the previous shots of the evening sky in Lloret yesterday, these photos show just how the sun rise looked at 7.30 this morning from our balcony. These are genuine photos which have not been re touched at all. 

(Apart from the watermark that is for copyright purposes!)

Lloret de Mar Weather and November Views

Looking towards Blanes from Fenals

Wish you were here? 

Its getting to that time of year again now where the weather in Lloret is feeling very cold when the sun goes down. These photos taken from our balcony only 30 minutes ago (just 5minutes apart)

show the fantastic wintery skies we see at this time of year.

Temperature wise though is not as bad as temps in the UK  just now  at 18.15pm its 10º c, but after the warm daytime  temp of today which reached 18ºc (25º yesterday) it is feeling rather chilly out there!

Lloret de Mar - Costa Brava Rally 58

The ever popular historic Costa Brava Rally is again due to be held in Lloret de Mar next week- end 5-6 November. It was estimated that there would be 100 teams taking part, but at the end of closing date for entries the total is 117 teams from 16 different countries which have now signed up - most are from Spain. A map of where most activity will be while the cars are in town can be found here....Costa Brava Rally.

Smoking Ban in Spain

Smoking in Spanish bars is to be banned as from 2nd January next year. This has now been made law after a loophole allowed bars to choose whether they wanted to be a 'smoking' or 'non smoking' bar. Most decided to allow smoking, but some in this area which took the no smoking choice saw their takings fall as people went to the bars where they were allowed to smoke, I know of a few places which then started  to allow people to smoke. So what will happen in January? Hopefully the bars wont see their takings fall any more than they have around here owing to the exchange rate etc. I should think it wont be as drastic here as back in the UK owing to the fact that people in Spain do spend more time sat outside the bars than they do inside....weather permitting of course!

Wanting to stop smoking? click here !

Lloret de Mar Weather

This photo taken just yesterday shows just how quiet  Lloret de Mar  is these days now that the summer season is over.The days are still very warm with temperatures about 21º - so still warm enough to spend a while soaking up the sun on the beach. In the evening though its now feeling much cooler, so everyone is getting out their winter woolies and putting away the shorts and T shirts until next year!

Lloret de Mar Old Pics

There is an exhibition of a few old photos of Lloret de Mar at the municipal centre on San Pedro. Some of the the photos are more than 60 years old and were found in the towns archives. They give a good insight as to what the town looked like all those years ago, and is well worth a visit if you can make it. They will be on show until 31st October. (closed Mondays)

Is this really Lloret de Mar?

Mention  Lloret de Mar to someone who doesn't actually know the place and they will immediately compare it to Benidorm or Blackpool....and they would be so wrong! Ok, so we do have the wild party atmosphere here with all the bars and nightclubs which are open till the early hours of the morning, but you dont have to go too far to see a totally different Lloret de Mar. Take a look at these photos, they are taken only about 7-8 mins drive from town. On the road leading past the rear entrance to Waterworld and you come to a completely different world!

For as far as the eye can see you have nothing but forrest land and the odd urbanisation in the distance. Its a pleasant change to go walking and to get away from the noisy traffic in town, especially now that the weather is cooling down but still very good, it makes ideal conditions for walking!

Lloret de Mar Weather

As we are now well into October you would think that here in Lloret de Mar at this time of year we should all be putting the summer clothes away and start looking for something a little warmer to wear, but as these photos show the sun is still with us! Yesterday the temperatures reached a high of 27º and hardly cooled down as the night went on....very good for this time of year. For the next few days though it seems that it will be cooler and rain is forecast in some areas, so we should all make the most of the good weather while its here!

Lloret de Mar Restaurants

I can personally recommend the food at Giorgio's!

Four of us went there last Wednesday and the food and service is excellent. We had a menu of the day which includes a three course lunch with wine and bread, and we had a good varied menu from which to choose from. They offer great value daily and week end menus as well as their extensive ''A La Carte '' menu.

Giorgio restaurant is a very popular place to eat out for many of Lloret de Mar residents, and situated only 5 mins from Lloret you are almost out in the countryside in a very peaceful setting!

Their menu consists of some excellent dishes such as exquisite grilled steaks served on stone, fresh lobster served with succulent rice, Italian risottos in a wide range of flavours and tasty homemade pizzas and not forgetting a massive range of wines to choose from to help wash it all down!
To find more restaurants in Lloret de Mar take a look at my pick of the best on GOOGLE MAPS.

Lloret de Mar Golfing at Papalus.

Only a few minutes from the centre of Lloret is the Papalus Pitch & Putt  course where you can have a leisurely game of golf while here on holiday. Set in stunning surroundings it almost feels as though your miles from anywhere!

 There's no need to bring your clubs from home as you can hire whatever you need from the clubhouse at very reasonable prices. Also on site is a very good restaurant and bar along with a swimming pool for clients!

  The Papalus claim to fame is that this course is where the European Pitch & Putt Championship tourament is often held and the final of this years event was played only yesterday. More photos from yesterdays final can be seen HERE.

General Strike in Spain

If you are travelling to Spain or will be in Spain either for business or holiday this week you may not be aware that a general strike will be affecting almost all official businesses ie. banks, hotels, post and government offices etc on Wednesday 29th Sept. For those travelling by air on the proposed day you really should read the latest news from both EASYJET and RYANAIR airlines.

Llorets 'March of the Beaches'

Now we are nearing the end of the summer season in Lloret de Mar, the very popular Xino Xano walks begin!

On Sunday 26th if you are feeling energetic you can take part in the 'March of the Beaches' in order to do this you will have to register before the end of today by phoning 972 37 22 68.

Walkers who are taking part will have an early start to the day by meeting at 8am (usually at the town hall) from here they will be taken either by bus or boat to the starting point - Cala Canyelles.

The aim is to then walk the 10 km route following the coast to Sant Cristina taking approx 2-3 hrs. Organisers are expecting a turn out of about 2,000 people this week-end as this has been one of the most popular walks on the Xino Xano calendar for the last 32yrs.

Those completing the walk to  Santa Cristina are usually greeted with a huge helping of estofado (Catalan stew!) presented with a diploma and a small gift.
No...you cant join half way through!

September Views of Lloret de Mar

The month of September sees a massive change in Lloret, both with the weather and the age of the visitors to the resort. The temperatures have fallen whilst the average age has risen sharply.

 

Taken only yesterday in Fenals you can see that these photos clearly show a much more relaxed atmosphere in town compared to the hustle and bustle of the mad months of July and August...by far the best month of the year!

A Day in Barcelona from Lloret de Mar.

One of the most exciting day trips from Lloret de Mar is a visit to Barcelona, there are several ways to get there from Lloret. For example you can book an excursion through one of the tour companies or simply make your own way by bus from the bus station. Some people prefer to take a bus from the bus station to Blanes some 20 mins away, then take the train which travels along the coast all the way to Barcelona, doing the journey this way means you see all the other coastal towns on the way there.

Taking an organised excursion will take you to some of the best sights in Barcelona such as the world famous football ground Camp Nou, Montjuic from where you can look out over the harbour which in its self is a major tourist attraction, they will take you along the streets where you can see the famous Gaudi architecture and also to the fascinating church of the Sagrada de Familia.