Tweetie pie, don't worry about your son and girlfriend being safe, it is one of the safest places i have ever been to, no problems with youths never saw any in groups, very friendly place i know no where is a certainty but it is a very friendly place, security on main gates, if later than 12 you have to walk round the corner a few mins walk to the back gates, it is the most relaxing holiday i have ever had, nice fresh bread in the morning not a bad selection of food and the supermarket has all you need, and not over the top prices, no single groups allowed family and couples, security patrol at night after 12 any noise is dealt with with a quiet word, any trouble which is rare is dealt with by being ejected from the campsite, we used to eat out each night, and then go back and sit out and have a drink and chill at our little wooden hut as we called it, so did all our neighbours it was like a little community we had lots of good nights and met some good friends, it is so peaceful away from the rat race, if you walk out the back gate into the parafrugel town it takes you down a main road where the chinese and large supermarket is, takes you roughly 30 mins or you can get the bus around every hour, if you go out the front gates you can turn left and be in llfranc in 10 mins lovely place nice restraunts , you can get a boat from there to the bat caves nice trip lasts about 90 mins, if you go out the front gates and straight ahead you go into calella de parafrugel with its 4 little beaches which are lovely and nice food, at the middle of sept some of the shops in the little village do shut for the season but in the main town still open, if you do the coastal walk it is lovely the views are great, takes about 35 mins strolling, the next bay is tamarui a must, you can get the bus to estartit and palamos and other resorts, you will enjoy it

some links to look at
http://www.tamariu.eu/webcam.php
http://lestartit.net/Webcam/
http://www.costabrava-rentals.co.uk/webcam-meteo-station-forecast.php
http://www.portcalella.com/webcam/webcam_calella_palafrugell.html

Have a look at the photo gallery for some pics of the views on the coastal walks, it is along journey if i went again would try to fly now with joints, did the coach a few times if you are fit and enjoy travelling no problem

hope this helps Rosie

Been looking at the webcams each day and the weather as been lovely

Ok folks. Seems a decision has been made we are going to fly, probably from Gatwick to Barcelona (30th September - 14th October) or possibly Stanstead to Girona.
Definately looking at hiring a car for the 2 weeks, probably with Easycar as seems the cheapest.
Can anyone tell me if easy car are actually at these airports to pick car up or do they tend be out of the area on some trading estate ??.

If anyone knows of an alternative & cheaper car hire option i'de really appreciate the pointer

Hi Rosie....thanks for info. First time to this area so things I keep thinking I'd like to know more about.

Hi g4fne...see you in Callela DP...you are there same time as me. We are going in the delux 8 lodges, and are going by siesta coach. You will know us when you see us...short fat lady mid 50's with chestnut hair usually in a bun...husband medium build darkhaired who nearly got poped into theatre for ceaserian when visiting maternity to see my neice not so long back due to pop out belly... dark haired son in 20's well built...tall slim muscular blond haired son in 30's with his lovely girlfriend....tall athletic blond 13yr old and his friend. PS if you you are going to hire a car can you hire car at airport, and drive yourself to and from airport with it as well. I could imagine it costs quite a bit for transfers

Hi Roise & Tweetie ... My finger is till hovvering over the "confirm" button on booking this ... Flights are good, accomodation looks good (exec 4) ... just a little worried about the weather .. still, its gotta be better than here you would think.

PS : Just me & the wife ... mid 30's & average build (well ... maybe a little on the short side )

Update : Have now booked from 30th Sept for 2 weeks .. flying from Stansted to Girona .... Fingers crossed that the weather is good & the campsite & surrounding area has a little life left this late in the season

You will love it enjoy

Rosie

Rosie, your review makes me want to book a week in September all the more now!

I can tell you as well, we went for a relaxing holiday as our neighbours had been seven years on the row and it sounded like what we wanted, my hubby is one that can't really relax, that is what he did lol, in fact he was so relaxed it took him weeks to get back to norm, and when we got off the coach after the long journey home, he said if he could get back on the coach and go back he would, and we did three times lol, we look at the webcam every day through spring, and summer, autunm and winter,we hope to go back next year as the last two years he has had to have nov holidays, if you have the chance go

Hi all me and the wife and 3 kids are off to la sieata on sunday 6 april ! we have been going there for the last 5-6 years, starting with a coach trip from Preston the first time we went, a long and tiring journey. the site is very good, with all the features listed in the other posts, we didnt hire a car the first couple of times, and i would say we missed out on a lot of the local and not so local culture, for example the salvador dahli museum in figures and also his house at port ligat, cadaques. both very interesting visits, and not the only ones, there are plenty of lovely beaches within walking distance, and loads more 10,20 and 30 mins driving, which we have been doing for the past 3 years when visiting siesta. There is a lovely large beach at pals, 30 mins driving but well worth it, the sand streches on forever, you can also drive down to lorrete de mar in 1 hour ish, a good day out, and cheap as chips. the area local to siesta is beutifull, there is a botanical garden, which you can walk to, but a taxi would be easier, it a good walk and a lovely place. another good day out is estartit 30 mins by car, and a trip on the nautica glass bottom boat is worth a look to, we had a cracking day on the boat last year. not much more to say, its a well run family site, with plenty for the kids to do, plenty of good food on site and plenty of cheap alchohol/spirits in the camp supermarket, which is very well stocked with all you need. the person who was trying to choose between palafrugel or playa darro, i would say palafrugel any day, playa darro is a bit rundown now, and in need of a good revamp. the only thing that is a bit unpredictable is the weather, it rained a lot last april 2007, which spoiled it a bit. all of the accomodation is prety good, we started in the pine lodges, but have now started going for the caravan type accomodation, which is usualy very good and clean, with full size cookers/ovens.

When we went in September 2007, we were only there for a week and we just concentrated on seeing the local area as we hadn't been there before, plus we like walking, so we went south round the Cami di Ronda, to the Botanical gardens, then on round the coast (beautiful walk along the beach) to Platja Castell, and to the north we walked past Llafranc, up to the lighthouse at San Sebastia (highly recommened), round Cala Pedrosa, and ended up at Tamariu

My Flickr pics if anyone is interested
http://www.flickr.com/photos/fk2/sets/72157603394155491/

If i go back (and i hope i do one day) i would certainly look to hire a car and do many of the places big tom mentions here, it's such a great place to explore.It's honestly the nicest place on the Costa Brava i've seen

Hello there. Getting closer to my holiday now (end of may, beginning of june).

Few questions....

Can anyone tell me will it be fairly easy to do the coastal walk to llafranc with 3 boys (12, 9 and 2), with the youngest in a pushchair?

What other places will we be able to walk to or catch public transport to?

What can you suggest for a fun day out (without a car)?

Where will I find the nearest cashpoint (travelling with a Nationwide card)? If there aren't any cash-points nearby, can I exchange travellers cheques on site?

Any other helpful tips for single Mum with 3 boys and no transport much appreciated!

And is anyone else going the same time as us with children of similar ages? 30 May to 13 June

Cheers!

Sarah

Hi Sarah, you will love it there, don't worry you will meet others on the campsite with children and single mums and dads i might add, it's a good atmosphere, Entertainment at night great for the kids the reps are good, the barbacue night is okay if they still do that, They did grease shows and kids entertainers while we was there at nights, we were in just the small chalets and sat out at night looking at the trees with candles and a few drinks and so did most of the row, made some good friends each time we went, ended up all outside each others at night while them with children was in bed it was great, very safe and secure security coming round all the time, was told to shush a couple of times after midnight but seeing as all the row of chalets were out we did not bother anyone lol,

The coastal walk is wonderful think you would be okay with a pushchair you can go another route that is actually quicker by just turning left as you come out of the campsite but you would not see the views which are amazing, you can find out about bus timetables and everything from from reception, its a lovely little place, the beaches the boys will love lots of little beaches and coves, we did a boat trip going to the bat caves at llfranc that was good only for a couple of hours all together, and the pool is good for kids on the campsite

The shops have all you need on the campsite no probs there not expensive, and when you put the kids to bed get a bottle of wine or something and a good book and buy a candle it looks lovely at night when you have one sat outside, keeps the bugs away as well, and just chill for an hour it is very relaxing, gets you ready for the next day of fun

Sure you will love it if you want a safe place and a quiet get away from it all holiday but stuff to do as well, and if you don't want to cook a lot reasonable take away there, would go back tommorow

As has already said, there is an easier way to Llafranc, but the coastal route is best

You can walk on from Llafranc up to San Sebastia to the lighthouse. Bit of a hike though, but worth it. Heading south you can walk round the coastal route to the botannical gardens, another nice walk (you can see some of the pics in my Flickr link a few posts back)

I can't recall a cash machine onsite, but they do travellers cheques at the reception no problem.

Don't worry about having no transport, we were there for a week last year and found plenty to keep us occupied

Hi everyone, I'm new to this forum.
I've been going abroad on holiday for about 13 years now but just can't fly anymore as it scares me far too much so this year we decided to book a holiday with Siesta Holidays travelling by coach. We have found the resort of Calella de Palafrugell and think it looks nice. We will be staying at the La Siesta campsite. Can anyone tell me what the resort is like or the campsite itself as we usually go to apartments. We like places that are family friendly but not busy or too loud but at the same time have a nice balance of enough to do if you want it. As of yet I havent booked so if there is anywhere else that anyone thinks is better please could you give me some information about it so I can make an informed choice. Thanks.

Queenmunchkin

Hi and welcome to HT!

I have merged your post with existing topic which has lots of information.

luci

Hi queenmunchkin

La Siesta has it's own thread with lots of information

http://www.holidaytruths.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=95872

John

HI CD....I take travellers cheques so dont use cash machines....but my son and his fiance went with us last year and he uses them... there must be one quite handy for campsite as he was getting his money OK while he was there...cant be 100 % but think one by main reception ...and I cashed some cheques in the little bank on the way to beach and think there was a cash machine outside...
A warning for mum with children wanting to do coastal walk to Lefranc....there are openings in wall every so often with paths going down to beach...some of these paths have dead ends and so boys should be warned not to go down them but to stay on main walk which is very safe....my son and his girl went in opposite direction to Lefranc and they said it was brilliant walk but warned me not to go down paths as some dead end and big drop

La Siesta does have a cash machine right beside the newsagents. Plenty of people using it when we were there in July. We took all our money in euros and just hired a safety box from the Siesta holiday rep.

We would go back to CDP every year if we had our way but our teenagers thought it was too quiet for them. There is plenty to do for younger kids.