San Feliu de Guíxols to San Pol
San Feliu de Guíxols is a natural port encircled by hills and still feels like a real town, with only low-rise buildings, a pedestrian Rambla surrounded by busy commercial streets, and plenty of decent bars and cafés with outdoor terraces. San Feliu was a major centre for the nineteenth-century cork industry, but its origins go back to the tenth-century Benedictine monastery which still stands in the Plaça Monestir, and is now a museum. The town cemetery houses numerous pantheons and tombs in different turn-of-the-century styles. The most famous restaurant in San Feliu is Luís Cruanyas’ original Eldorado Petit on the Rambla Vidal. In the off-season they have a very reasonably priced lunch and dinner menú. The Moorish-inspired Casino bar is good fun. Typical almond-based sweets in the shape of corks, called trefins, are sold everywhere. Festa major is the first week in August.
Sant Pol is the best place to park when visiting S’Agaro. This bizarre resort was the brainchild of a locally famous entrepreneur, José Ensesa, who, in 1923, encouraged friends and associates to build villas around his Hostal de la Gavina in the same style, and also cut a promenade along the cliffs. It became famous because of the visits of film stars such as Ava Gardner, Frank Sinatra, Orson Welles, Charlie Chaplin, Humphrey Bogart, Lauren Bacall, Elizabeth Taylor and Montgomery Clift. The pine-backed, rocky shoreline of S’Agaro has several pretty beaches, and is a popular but unspoiled spot to spend an afternoon, but a very expensive place to eat.
This article was written by Francis Barrett. See also Francis' excellent guide to Ireland irelandbyways.com
Information about the Ampurdan
Ampurdan main page
Information about the Costa Brava
Accommodation in the Ampurdan and the Costa Brava
