Blanes

Blanes is an old fishing town that has become an important beach destination on the Costa Brava and the province of Girona. In 2018 it had around 39,000 inhabitants.

Understand
It's mainly known because of its long city beach divided by the Sa Palomera rock. Other places of interest include botanical gardens, coves, such as the Cala Bona, and the Tordera river delta. It is also known for the international fireworks contest during the Santa Anna festival.

Its tourist attractions and good communications with Barcelona have transformed this old fishing and farming town into a small tourist-centered city that keeps its traditions on things like its vegetable and fish markets or the fish auction.

Climate
The climate in Blanes and the rest of Costa Brava is typically Mediterranean, mild and temperate, characterized by hot, dry summers, and moderately cold winters. The annual average temperature ranges from 7 to 28 °C.

From May to October the hot weather makes it suitable for sunbathing. Occasional rains can occur on May and October. As water warms up more slow than air, the best months for swimming and diving are July, August and September. August can be too hot and crowded.

History
Iberian activity has been attested in the area. Romanization of Blanes and its surroundings began around the 3rd century BC. During the Roman rule it was named Blanda or Blandae. Roman remains of the Blandae site lie nearby. After the rule of the Romans the area shared the fate of much of the Peninsula, being conquered successively by the Goths, the Moors and the Christians shortly after. In the 13th century, after the Christians regained the power, important architectural developments took place in Blanes. Some examples are the Cabrera palace, the Santa Maria's Church and the city walls.

In the 17th century, during the Catalan Revolt (Guerra dels Segadors), Blanes was practically burned to ashes. The Cabrera Palace was completely destroyed.

Another event that affected Blanes was the Spanish War of Succession (1701–1714). Afterwards, the reconstruction of the town and the expansion of agriculture started.

By plane
Girona/Gerona/Costa Brava airport is about 30 minutes away by car, see Get in > By car/train/bus for information on your preferred option from the airport to Blanes.

Barcelona El Prat Airport is about 1 hour away by car, see Get in > By car/train/bus for information on your preferred option from the airport to Blanes.

There is a sportive airport in Palafolls ( from downtown) :

By train
You can go from everywhere in Spain (including most airports) to Blanes by train.

Served by Rodalies-RENFE Rodalies-Renfe trains, trains stop at Blanes station twice per hour from and to Barcelona and 1 per hour to Maçanet Massanes where you can change train from Girona and France. Much of  is single track operation, and it can be quicker to use   to Maçanet Massanes and change there.

Which zone Blanes is in depends on your ticket. For standard rail journeys, it is in zone 6 and Barcelona-Blanes is about €6.30 one way. For 'integrated' multitrip tickets, it is in zone 5.

Station is 30 minutes away from the centre by walking. The local bus company Autocars Pujol can bring you to the city for less than €2.



By bus
The local company Sagales runs from Girona and the Girona's airport to Blanes. The trip between Blanes and Aeroport de Girona at Vilobí d'onyar takes a little more than 1 hour. It also runs from Barcelona and the Barcelona El Prat airport to Blanes several times a day for about €8 for the 2-hour ride.

By car
The free highway brings you from Barcelona to Blanes from 1 hour depending on the traffic.

The south  goes parallel to C-32 but along the coast, crossing all villages.

Following north  you can connect to the free highway brings you from France, and Girona taking a minimum of 2 and 1 hours respectively.

As free parking is difficult to find at the old town, consider once you drop-off your luggage at your accommodation to park outside the city or far from the beach and return by walking.

Get around
Blanes can be divided on this zones for orientation purposes:
 * The port area next to the Port de Blanes.
 * Coves area or cales on the north of the port.
 * The Old Town or City Centre near the sea from the port to the Sa Palomera, the rock which divides the bay.
 * The Sa Palomera area near the Sa Palomera rock.
 * The S'Abanell area south of the Sa Palomera. Full of hotels and next to the discos zone
 * Industrial area near the river, away from the beach where the train station.

As most of the interesting places are near the sea, orientation is easy and the most important route is the formed by the avenues near the beach.

The street names of these sea front avenues (or Passeig) from north to south are: Passeig de la Mestrança and Passeig de Pau Casals on the port are good for walking and buying traditional products on summer weekends. Passeig Cortils i Vieta on the old town is good for walking around and cheap clothes shopping on Mondays. Passeig de la Marina in the Sa Palomera area. Passeig de S'Abanell in the S'Abanell area.

The old town have two perpendicular main streets: Passeig de Dintre parallel to Cortils i Vieta on the old town. Only pedestrians. Ample street. The old town main street. Perpendicular from the sea, next to Plaza España half the way from Sa Palomera to the Blanes Port. Only pedestrians on weekends.

On foot
The central part of the city is very easy to walk around with lots of pedestrian areas. Most streets are one-way and with pavements just a yard wide on either side with traffic going by at speed.

Most hotels are in a 1 km, 15 min walking, radius from the old town's historical cent. Camp sites are up to 2 km, 30 min walking, from the centre.

By bike or scooter
Blanes is fairly bikeable except for the northern caves as being flat and having bike lanes on the main avenues. The only cave easily accessible by bike is Santa Ana.

It is possible to rent a bike or motorbike to move around.

By car
Private car is a good option to move to the northern coves, Sant Joan Castle, the Botanical gardens, the Tordera Delta and the industrial area (supermarkets and fast food). The rest of the city, although can be driven by car, can be easily visited by foot.

Free parking is difficult to find at the old town, especially in summer. Payment parking lots are available close to city's beaches and coves on high season.

By bus
Local buses, operated by Autocars Pujol, are a good option to visit places away from the city center like the botanical gardens and Cala Bona.

A tour bus takes tourists to the botanical gardens from the port near the Can Flores restaurant.

There is a touristic train-shaped bus, or Carrilet, that runs promenade long for the people who do not want to walk the 2-km-long city's waterfront. It's possible to take it on the Plaça Catalunya circus near the Sa Palomera rock.

By boat
From the beach in Blanes, near the harbor, you can hop on a boat operated by Dofijet that takes you to the near coves.

Natural attractions
The main natural attraction in Blanes is the coastline. Visitor will find 2 very different coastlines as Blanes is on the border between two different coasts (the Costa Brava and the Costa del Maresme). North of the port, the Costa Brava's typical small pebbled caves surrounded by mountains. And long granulated-sand beaches on the south.



Botanical gardens
Blanes has two world-recognised botanical gardens both with scenic views of the Costa Brava's coves.

Historical buildings
Blanes also has good examples of architecture from the Gothic, Modernist and Noucentisme periods.

Diving the Costa Brava
It is possible to dive at the coves of Santa Anna and Cala Sant Francesc or from a boat. Find sea anemones (Actinia equina), sea horses (Hippocampus guttulatus), sponges (Petrosia ficiformis, Myxilla incrustans), spirographs (Spirographis spaññanzanii), octopus (Octopus vulgaris), starfish (Ophidiaster ophidianus), sea cucumbers (Holothuria forskali) and many sea urchins (Spaerechinus granularis, Paracentrotus lividus).



Festivals

 * The Festa Major or feast of Santa Anna and Sant Joaquim (on the 26th) are usually celebrated in the 3rd or 4th week of July, between the 21st and 27th annually. During the eight days, the major feasts are celebrated as well as the Fireworks Contest which attracts more than 500,000 visitors. This is an international competition in which various countries from around the world participate. Over 500,000 kg of fireworks are used at each event. Most people watch the fireworks from the beach.
 * The Festa Major Petita or the feast of the co-patrons (Sant Bonòs and Maximià). A family-oriented trek is celebrated where many people walk accompanied by their children and pets. It is approximately 8 km long. The reward is a memento and a slice of watermelon.

Navigate the Costa Brava

 * Renting a pedalo or paddle boat in the different available spots on the beach. One of them near the Sa Palomera rock.
 * Renting a pedalo or paddle boat in the different available spots on the beach. One of them near the Sa Palomera rock.
 * Renting a pedalo or paddle boat in the different available spots on the beach. One of them near the Sa Palomera rock.
 * Renting a pedalo or paddle boat in the different available spots on the beach. One of them near the Sa Palomera rock.

Sunbathing
Sunbathe at the 3-km long city beach or at coves such as the Cala Sant Francesc and Santa Anna beaches which are surrounded by mountains.

Topless is permitted in all Blanes' beaches, nudism is allowed only in Tordera Delta beach.

Tordera Delta fauna watching
At the Tordera river's delta there have been located 40 exotic and 284 native bird species like: Little Ringed Plover (Charadrius dubius), Kentish Plover (Charadrius alexandrinus), Ruff (Philomachus pugnax), Redshank (Tringa totanus), Northern Pintail (Anas acuta) and Little Grebe (Tachybaptus ruficollis). There are bird observation decks at the south riverside.

The beach on this delta is the best known spot in Costa Brava to see blue sharks (Prionace glauca), ocean sunfishes (Mola mola) and dolphins (Delphinus delphis).

Hiking
There are many routes around the city. The GR 92 long-distance walking route crosses the city.

Supermarkets
There are many supermarkets outside the town where you can find the best prices. There are also other, most expensive, supermarkets nearest to the center and hotels.

Local Markets
Local markets are more expensive that the cheap supermarkets from the industrial area but cheaper than those near the center and the hotels.

Clothing stores
In Blanes old town there are plenty of clothing stores.

Eat
Look for "Cuina casolana" on the sea avenues to eat Catalan cuisine, which follows the general outlines of the "Mediterranean diet". There is a McDonald's and a Burger King in the industrial area.

Drink
Historically Blanes was a wine producer. Nowadays, the only one cava (sparkling wine) producer remaining in Blanes is Mont-Ferrant, available in some restaurants and bakeries.

Blanes has some small-scale artisan breweries such as Marina and Popaire. Birrasana, an artisan beer festival, is organized yearly in April. Local beer can be found at Birrasana festival and in the "Escenari Birrasana" during the Festa Major festival.

Sangría is also served in most restaurants made from cava or wine.

Sleep
Blanes (Costa Brava) has 24 hotels and 9 guesthouses, with 3,231 and 500 places respectively. Many of them in the area around the Passeig de S'Abanell starting from €30 per night.

There are camp sites (caravans also) at the Passeig de S'abanell southern end near the Tordera river.

There are approximately 40,000 apartments and bungalows available in the area.

Connect
As of Jan 2024, Blanes and its approach highways have 5G from all Spanish carriers. Wifi is widely available in public places.

Go next

 * Buses to Girona, Tossa de Mar, Lloret de Mar and Barcelona are operated by Sagalés.
 * From the beach in Blanes, near the harbour, you can hop on a boat operated by Dofijet that takes you to the nearby towns of Calella, Pineda de mar, Santa Susanna, Malgrat de Mar, Lloret de Mar and Tossa de Mar.
 * Blanes also has a train station in the outskirts from which you can go to anywhere in Spain, for example to the near Figueres home of the Dali museum. The station is 30 minutes away from the centre by walking. Local bus company can bring you there for less than €2.
 * Blanes is well connected through highways to Barcelona, Girona, Figueres and France.
 * By taxi,