Roses

Spain

Roses is a 20,000-resident Costa Brava nord fishing port and beach town wrapped around the Renaissance Ciutadella de Roses, a 16th-century pentagonal fortress built under Carlos V on the site of the ancient Greek colony of Rhode (8th century BC) and the Roman Rhodes, with the 12 km Bahía de Roses crescent opening south and the Cap de Creus Natural Park rising to the north, plus the legendary El Bulli restaurant legacy at Cala Montjoi (Ferran Adrià, 1962-2011, Foundation museum since 2023). Top spots for pets include the Ciutadella de Roses Renaissance walls and excavated Greek-Roman-Visigoth ruins, the Dolmen de la Creu d'en Cobertella (the largest dolmen in Catalonia, ca. 3000 BC), the 17th-century Castell de la Trinitat on Punta Falconera, and the Cap de Creus Natural Park southern gateway via Cala Montjoi and Cala Joncols, especially around the casc antic around the Esglesia de Santa Maria and Plaça de Catalunya, the Passeig Marítim along the Bahía de Roses crescent, and the Cap de Creus south gateway out to Cala Montjoi and Cala Joncols.