Tossa de Mar is the only town on the whole Catalan coast that still has its medieval walled quarter fully intact. By day it can look like a monument: cobbled streets, camera shutters, visitors working their way along the towers. But wait for dusk and its real character shows: once the day-trippers leave, the Vila Vella settles back into silence, the walls go back to being simply stone, gulls replace the noise, and the Mediterranean changes color beneath the castle. That's when you understand why Marc Chagall called it his "blue paradise." But Tossa is far more than its walls: behind the postcard survives an old fishing quarter, hidden calas, natural pools among the rocks, and a seafaring tradition still served up at its tables.
The Vila Vella
There's nowhere else quite like it on the Catalan coast. Built between the twelfth and fourteenth centuries, the Vila Vella is the only fortified medieval quarter to have reached us complete. You walk it with no ticket and no opening hours, losing yourself among stone streets, old fishermen's houses, and towers facing the Mediterranean.
Our advice is simple: don't climb up at midday. Go at dusk, once most visitors have left and the walls have their calm back.
Chagall and the "blue paradise"
In 1933, Marc Chagall arrived in Tossa looking for quiet to paint in. He found much more: he was so taken with the town that he called it his "blue paradise," a phrase still tied to Tossa today.
Before leaving, he donated his work The Celestial Violinist to the municipal museum, making it the first museum in Spain to exhibit international contemporary art.
Ava Gardner and Hollywood
Long before the Costa Brava became an international destination, Hollywood had already discovered Tossa. In 1951, Ava Gardner arrived to film Pandora and the Flying Dutchman.
That film carried the town's name around the world, and a statue of the actress, standing beside the path to the lighthouse, still marks the moment today.
The lighthouse
At the highest point of the Vila Vella stands Tossa's lighthouse. The climb takes only a few minutes and rewards you with one of the loveliest panoramas on the Costa Brava: the walls, the Platja Gran, and the Mediterranean stretching out in both directions.
The best beaches and calas
These are Tossa's two town beaches. The Platja Gran offers the classic image of the wall beside the sea, while the Mar Menuda, on the other side of the headland, tends to be quieter and is one of the best spots in town for snorkeling.
A few kilometers from the center lie Cala Giverola and Cala Pola, two of the prettiest calas on the Costa Brava. Ringed by pine woods and cliffs, both keep clear water and a landscape far wilder than the town center's.
Corners that rarely make the guidebooks
Most visitors walk straight through the gate of the Vila Vella. But just beneath the walls lies Sa Roqueta, the old fishing quarter: narrow streets, whitewashed façades, stone stairways and a far quieter pace make this one of Tossa's most charming corners.
At one end of the Mar Menuda hides the Banyera de ses Dones, a small natural pool sheltered by the rocks. Tradition has it that the town's women once bathed here while the men used the Platja Gran. Today it's still one of the best places to snorkel, thanks to the clarity of the water and the abundance of fish.
Everyone photographs Es Codolar from the walls. Very few come down before nine in the morning: while the town still sleeps and the sun begins to light up the stones of the Vila Vella, this small beach shows probably the most authentic image of Tossa.
More than just a dish, the Cim i Tomba is part of the town's identity. This stew of rockfish, potatoes and allioli was born on the fishermen's boats and is still Tossa's most representative recipe. If you visit, it's worth trying at least once.
