Thinking of a Holiday on the Costa Brava? - The Costa Brava is located on the north east coast of Spain. The region stretches from the French border all the way down to Barcelona. If you are looking for the traditional spain, a walking holiday in Spain, or just a holiday away from the beach, then a Costa Brava Holiday is for you.
Estartit is a beautiful place, but it is only one of many picturesque towns and villages, to holiday in, while on the Costa Brava. If you are willing to get out and about there is a wealth of places to explore, from the stunning vertical cliffs of Begur, to the medieval hamlet of Pals, there is something for everyone.
Looking for the traditional Spanish village? Then it has to be Calella Palafrugell. Calella Palafrugell is a stunningly beautiful, whitewashed village, set in spectacular landscape.
I like to combine fine food with pretty views and if you’re like me there are two places you should definitely visit. Peretallada, is a quaint village, with a wonderful choice of restaurants, serving great Catalan cuisine.
A little bit to the north of L'Estartit is L’Escala, a delightful fishing village. If you take a stroll to the end of the promenade you will find some fantastic seafood restaurants.
Just as a side note, if you’re looking for a great beach try Cala Montgo. Situated close to L’Escala, Cala Montgo is a lovely sandy beach set in a large cove.
The Costa Brava is a stunningly beautiful region and I have only briefly touched on some of the places to visit. There are so many wonderful places I haven’t mentioned here like: Llafranc, Barcelona, Gerona, Lake Banyoles, and Besalu, but I don’t want this post getting too long. Just chose one of the many Costa Brava Hotels and go exploring.
In the future I will try to go into more detail on each of these attractions.
Please feel free to leave a comment about this post. Until the next time thank you for reading Holiday On The Costa Brava on Estartit Holidays
Previous Post Estartit Holidays|Barracuda And Festamar Apartments
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Estartit Holidays|Barracuda And Festamar Apartments
The Festamar Apartments and the Barracuda Apartments are neighbours, but they are completely different in terms of atmosphere. The Barracuda Apartments, as regulars to Estartit call them, are actually the Festa Platja Apartments. So what's the deal?
The answer is quite simple. The Fausto Group own and run the Festamar Estartit while the Festa Platja Estartit is privately owned and run by Barracuda Holidays. The buildings might be similar in look and design, but the type of holiday they deliver, to you the customer, is completely different. However, lets look at similarities first.
Both apartment complexes' are of comparable size and layout. Each block has it's own pool and sunbathing area. The individual apartments are again much the same, in terms of layout, facilities, and cleanliness. The big difference comes in the number of visitors to each.
I should mention that what I am about to say is being written before Estartit's 2008 holiday season has got into full flow. However, if the last five or six years, are anything to go by, then the following details will still hold true.
The Festamar is at least twice as busy the Barracuda and relies on Thompson/Skytours for most of its business i.e. package tours, as many Estartit Hotels. This means that most of the guests tend to be families. The Festa Platja, on the other hand, relies on Barracuda Holidays for its business. From my observations, the Barracuda has a more diverse customer base. One reason for this might be that they do not rely on the package holiday trade. So what does this mean for your holiday experience?
Well as I have said before in the following posts Estartit Holidays|Festamar Review and the earlier post The Festamar Estartit the Festamar Apartments can get very busy, some might even say manic. This is not to say you will not have a great time if chose to stay here, but its probably not best suited to the single person or couple. I for one have always had a great family holiday here. If you have children I can almost guarantee that they will make friends during their stay.
The Barracuda Estartit by comparison is tranquillity itself. The pool is nearly always empty and the Barracuda Bar is a lot less packed. All in all, I would have to say that if you are looking for a quiet holiday, this is the place for you.
So if you are looking for an Estartit Family Holiday, you have a choice to make. If your children are very young or you have a baby, and are looking for a bit of peace, then it has to be the Barracuda. On the other hand, if you want your children to go off and make friends, or want somewhere with a bit more life, then it has to be the Festamar.
You can book the Festamar Apartments Estartit through your travel agent. To stay at the Festa Platja you have to book through Barracuda Holidays.Com
This has been a somewhat rushed post, but I have my reasons. If you are looking for apartments in Estartit watch out for the next post. Until then thank you for reading Estartit Holidays|Barracuda And Festamar Apartments
The answer is quite simple. The Fausto Group own and run the Festamar Estartit while the Festa Platja Estartit is privately owned and run by Barracuda Holidays. The buildings might be similar in look and design, but the type of holiday they deliver, to you the customer, is completely different. However, lets look at similarities first.
Both apartment complexes' are of comparable size and layout. Each block has it's own pool and sunbathing area. The individual apartments are again much the same, in terms of layout, facilities, and cleanliness. The big difference comes in the number of visitors to each.
I should mention that what I am about to say is being written before Estartit's 2008 holiday season has got into full flow. However, if the last five or six years, are anything to go by, then the following details will still hold true.
The Festamar is at least twice as busy the Barracuda and relies on Thompson/Skytours for most of its business i.e. package tours, as many Estartit Hotels. This means that most of the guests tend to be families. The Festa Platja, on the other hand, relies on Barracuda Holidays for its business. From my observations, the Barracuda has a more diverse customer base. One reason for this might be that they do not rely on the package holiday trade. So what does this mean for your holiday experience?
Well as I have said before in the following posts Estartit Holidays|Festamar Review and the earlier post The Festamar Estartit the Festamar Apartments can get very busy, some might even say manic. This is not to say you will not have a great time if chose to stay here, but its probably not best suited to the single person or couple. I for one have always had a great family holiday here. If you have children I can almost guarantee that they will make friends during their stay.
The Barracuda Estartit by comparison is tranquillity itself. The pool is nearly always empty and the Barracuda Bar is a lot less packed. All in all, I would have to say that if you are looking for a quiet holiday, this is the place for you.
So if you are looking for an Estartit Family Holiday, you have a choice to make. If your children are very young or you have a baby, and are looking for a bit of peace, then it has to be the Barracuda. On the other hand, if you want your children to go off and make friends, or want somewhere with a bit more life, then it has to be the Festamar.
You can book the Festamar Apartments Estartit through your travel agent. To stay at the Festa Platja you have to book through Barracuda Holidays.Com
This has been a somewhat rushed post, but I have my reasons. If you are looking for apartments in Estartit watch out for the next post. Until then thank you for reading Estartit Holidays|Barracuda And Festamar Apartments
Estartit Holidays|Festamar Review
Estartit Holidays| Festamar Review - Want to know what the Festamar Apartments are like? The Festamar's food, bar, entertainment, and rooms are all reviewed here.
To review the Festamar Apartments is easy. However, as those of you that have read the articles on this site before, will know, the Festamar holds a special place in my heart. That said, I still think I can be objective. Before we start I just want to clear up a small point, some brochures will have the Festamar listed as a L'Estartit Hotel. I only mention this as it may cause some confusion if you are trying to find it in the brochure.
The building itself, consist of 1 and 2 bedroom apartments on three floors. The 1 bedroom apartments sleep 2/ 4 people, while the 2 bedroom apartments sleep 4/6 people. There are two single beds in each bedroom, and a pullout bed in the sitting room.
All the accommodation comes with a cooker, fridge, kettle, and toaster. All the, pots, pans, plates, and cups etc, are of course also included. Everything you need to go completely self-catering is supplied. A breakfast bar separates the kitchen from the sitting room.
In the sitting room there is a table and six chairs, a sofa bed, and a cupboard, useful for extra storage. A set of glass patio doors lead from the sitting room on to the balcony. The balcony itself has the usual plastic patio furniture.
The bathroom has what you would expect, toilet, sink, and a bath with shower attachment. There is a large mirror on one wall with power points for shavers etc. Note: remember you will need a travel adaptor to use any electrical appliances.
Apartment Overview
Good Points
The apartments are quite spacious, clean, and well equipped.
Bad Points
The hot water boiler does not hold enough water for more than one shower. Which means a family can have a hard time getting everyone ready.
If you are bringing young children to the Festamar, keep a close eye on them when they are on the balcony, to me, the guardrail seems a little low.
Dinos - Food, Bar And Entertainment.
Dinos is the heart of the Festamar, its where everything takes place.
Food - The food in the Festamar, to me, is its one really weak spot. The menu is all geared to what the Spanish think the English eat. This basically means chips with everything, and not particularly well cooked. If you want an English breakfast, take my advice and go next door to the Barracuda.
Dinos Bar - Dinos Bar is where all the onsite entertainment takes place. In the high season, the bar itself can get very busy, don't worry you usually don't have to wait to long, the barstaff are very quick.
Entertainment - The entertainment itself generally takes place on the patio, beside the pool. You can expect the usual mix of live acts, karaoke, and bingo. All the entertainment is organised and hosted by Roy, who seems well liked. Although, after a few visits to the Festamar, things can get a bit samey, it is worth watching out for the live acts.
During the day the main draw is the swimming pool. Although the pool is quite large, it soon fills up. At times it can be to wild, with all sorts of inflatable being used. If you have young children it might be wise to restrict them to the baby pool, as there is no lifeguard on site.
Location
The Festamar Apartments location could not be better; it's literally only 100 meters from the beach. And wow, what a beach. Two miles of wide golden sands.
Outside the Festamar Complex is a good range of restaurants and bars. There is also a supermarket on the corner, where you can buy everything you need.
L'Estartit Town - L'Estartit (to give its Spanish title) is about a mile walk along the promenade.
The Verdict
I love the Festamar, because it was the first place I stayed at in Estartit. I also know a lot of the staff. However, I do know its down sides too.
1 - It can get very noisy, especially in the high season.
2 - The seagulls can wake you up as early as 5am
3 - The food on site is not great to say the least.
4 - I know some people, who stayed on the street side of the complex, had
trouble with noise and the light from neon signs.
There are probably a few more things that people will find irritating (please feel free to leave your story in the comment section) but overall I still think it’s a great place to stay for a family holiday.
If you have stayed at the Festamar let me know what you think. For now, thanks for reading Estartit Holidays| Festamar Review
To review the Festamar Apartments is easy. However, as those of you that have read the articles on this site before, will know, the Festamar holds a special place in my heart. That said, I still think I can be objective. Before we start I just want to clear up a small point, some brochures will have the Festamar listed as a L'Estartit Hotel. I only mention this as it may cause some confusion if you are trying to find it in the brochure.
The building itself, consist of 1 and 2 bedroom apartments on three floors. The 1 bedroom apartments sleep 2/ 4 people, while the 2 bedroom apartments sleep 4/6 people. There are two single beds in each bedroom, and a pullout bed in the sitting room.
All the accommodation comes with a cooker, fridge, kettle, and toaster. All the, pots, pans, plates, and cups etc, are of course also included. Everything you need to go completely self-catering is supplied. A breakfast bar separates the kitchen from the sitting room.
In the sitting room there is a table and six chairs, a sofa bed, and a cupboard, useful for extra storage. A set of glass patio doors lead from the sitting room on to the balcony. The balcony itself has the usual plastic patio furniture.
The bathroom has what you would expect, toilet, sink, and a bath with shower attachment. There is a large mirror on one wall with power points for shavers etc. Note: remember you will need a travel adaptor to use any electrical appliances.
Apartment Overview
Good Points
The apartments are quite spacious, clean, and well equipped.
Bad Points
The hot water boiler does not hold enough water for more than one shower. Which means a family can have a hard time getting everyone ready.
If you are bringing young children to the Festamar, keep a close eye on them when they are on the balcony, to me, the guardrail seems a little low.
Dinos - Food, Bar And Entertainment.
Dinos is the heart of the Festamar, its where everything takes place.
Food - The food in the Festamar, to me, is its one really weak spot. The menu is all geared to what the Spanish think the English eat. This basically means chips with everything, and not particularly well cooked. If you want an English breakfast, take my advice and go next door to the Barracuda.
Dinos Bar - Dinos Bar is where all the onsite entertainment takes place. In the high season, the bar itself can get very busy, don't worry you usually don't have to wait to long, the barstaff are very quick.
Entertainment - The entertainment itself generally takes place on the patio, beside the pool. You can expect the usual mix of live acts, karaoke, and bingo. All the entertainment is organised and hosted by Roy, who seems well liked. Although, after a few visits to the Festamar, things can get a bit samey, it is worth watching out for the live acts.
During the day the main draw is the swimming pool. Although the pool is quite large, it soon fills up. At times it can be to wild, with all sorts of inflatable being used. If you have young children it might be wise to restrict them to the baby pool, as there is no lifeguard on site.
Location
The Festamar Apartments location could not be better; it's literally only 100 meters from the beach. And wow, what a beach. Two miles of wide golden sands.
Outside the Festamar Complex is a good range of restaurants and bars. There is also a supermarket on the corner, where you can buy everything you need.
L'Estartit Town - L'Estartit (to give its Spanish title) is about a mile walk along the promenade.
The Verdict
I love the Festamar, because it was the first place I stayed at in Estartit. I also know a lot of the staff. However, I do know its down sides too.
1 - It can get very noisy, especially in the high season.
2 - The seagulls can wake you up as early as 5am
3 - The food on site is not great to say the least.
4 - I know some people, who stayed on the street side of the complex, had
trouble with noise and the light from neon signs.
There are probably a few more things that people will find irritating (please feel free to leave your story in the comment section) but overall I still think it’s a great place to stay for a family holiday.
If you have stayed at the Festamar let me know what you think. For now, thanks for reading Estartit Holidays| Festamar Review
Festamar Estartit - Costa Brava Holiday
The Festamar was the first place I stayed in Estartit (and my first Costa Brava Holiday), so it holds a special place in my heart. Unfortunately, I have had to change this post from the one I intended to write. It had been my intention to tell you all about the Festamar Apartments and how to get there, the prices etc. However, it appears that Skytours have dropped the apartments from their holiday brochure. So where does that leave us holidaymakers?
Well, if you’re like me and the majority of visitors to L’Estartit on the Costa Brava, you’re going to find it harder to arrange a package holiday to the resort. Lets face it most of us book our Estartit Holiday through a travel agent. Who needs the inconvenience of trying to organise; flights, transfers, hotel accommodation, kids clubs and so on. That’s not to say that you cannot book everything yourself, you can, its just extra hassle. I’m still checking with tour operators and travel agents to see if any of them have the Festamar Apartments in their travel brochure. If any one reading this has seen the apartments in this year’s brochure, please let me know.
How to book the Festamar Holiday Apartments direct.
To book the direct just go to Festamar.com
On the home page select (En) icon at the top of the screen to translate the page into English. On the left hand side of the screen you will see the online reservation box. Select your check in date and check out date then hit search. On the next page there are a number of options for apartments and villas, the top two apply to the Festamar. The top box shows the price for the 2/4 Person Apartments the second box is for the 4/6 Person Apartments, the price shown is per apartment not per person. If you like the price shown just fill in the number of children and adults and hit select. The next page is where you fill in your payment details.
How to get to Estartit, Costa Brava from the airport – Taxi
If you want to book a taxi from the airport to Estartit just email the Festamar at festamar @ arbresa.es and they will arrange one for you. You will need to give them your flight details and the number of passengers. The price is normally between 60-70 Euros.
How to get to Estartit, Costa Brava from the airport – Drive
Take the AP-7 motorway from Gerona on the L’Escala-bound carriageway.
When you get to L’Escala, take the road to Torroella de Montgrí- L'Estartit. The distance from Gerona to Estartit is about 40km.
Flights to Gerona
If you are going book your own flights then the cheapest seats I have found are with Ryanair. Normally they have four flights a day going to Gerona depending on which UK airport you fly from.
At the moment Ryan air has FREE return flights to Gerona, all you have to pay is the taxes and baggage charge.
As I said at the beginning, this was not the post I intended to write but I hope it was of some help. When I have found out what is happening, with to regard to the Festamar, I will write a more comprehensive post.
To read a Festamar Review Just click the link
For now thanks for reading Festamar Estartit - Costa Brava Holiday on Estartit Holidays. Can I also thank those who took the time to read the Bloggerunleashed post.
Well, if you’re like me and the majority of visitors to L’Estartit on the Costa Brava, you’re going to find it harder to arrange a package holiday to the resort. Lets face it most of us book our Estartit Holiday through a travel agent. Who needs the inconvenience of trying to organise; flights, transfers, hotel accommodation, kids clubs and so on. That’s not to say that you cannot book everything yourself, you can, its just extra hassle. I’m still checking with tour operators and travel agents to see if any of them have the Festamar Apartments in their travel brochure. If any one reading this has seen the apartments in this year’s brochure, please let me know.
How to book the Festamar Holiday Apartments direct.
To book the direct just go to Festamar.com
On the home page select (En) icon at the top of the screen to translate the page into English. On the left hand side of the screen you will see the online reservation box. Select your check in date and check out date then hit search. On the next page there are a number of options for apartments and villas, the top two apply to the Festamar. The top box shows the price for the 2/4 Person Apartments the second box is for the 4/6 Person Apartments, the price shown is per apartment not per person. If you like the price shown just fill in the number of children and adults and hit select. The next page is where you fill in your payment details.
How to get to Estartit, Costa Brava from the airport – Taxi
If you want to book a taxi from the airport to Estartit just email the Festamar at festamar @ arbresa.es and they will arrange one for you. You will need to give them your flight details and the number of passengers. The price is normally between 60-70 Euros.
How to get to Estartit, Costa Brava from the airport – Drive
Take the AP-7 motorway from Gerona on the L’Escala-bound carriageway.
When you get to L’Escala, take the road to Torroella de Montgrí- L'Estartit. The distance from Gerona to Estartit is about 40km.
Flights to Gerona
If you are going book your own flights then the cheapest seats I have found are with Ryanair. Normally they have four flights a day going to Gerona depending on which UK airport you fly from.
At the moment Ryan air has FREE return flights to Gerona, all you have to pay is the taxes and baggage charge.
As I said at the beginning, this was not the post I intended to write but I hope it was of some help. When I have found out what is happening, with to regard to the Festamar, I will write a more comprehensive post.
To read a Festamar Review Just click the link
For now thanks for reading Festamar Estartit - Costa Brava Holiday on Estartit Holidays. Can I also thank those who took the time to read the Bloggerunleashed post.
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