Tossa de Mar

Spain

Tossa de Mar is a 5,700-resident Costa Brava sud beach town wrapped around the 12th-century Vila Vella, the only fortified medieval centre that survives on the entire Catalan coast, with four watchtowers, full battlemented ramparts and the Gothic ruins of the Sant Vicenç castle church inside, plus the bronze Ava Gardner statue commemorating the 1951 filming of Pandora and the Flying Dutchman on the rocks above Platja Gran. Top spots for pets include the 12th-century Vila Vella ramparts and four watchtowers (Joanàs, Hores, Mare de Déu, Codolar), the 9 km Camí de Ronda GR-92 coastal path south past Cala Bona, Cala Pola, Cala Llevadó and Cala Giverola to Lloret de Mar, and the 1917 Far de Tossa lighthouse at the easternmost tip of the headland, especially around the walled Vila Vella headland above Platja Gran, the Passeig del Mar and Plaça d'Espanya cafés between the Vila Vella and the central beach, and the residential extensions inland from the Avinguda Mar Menuda.