We've wanted to return t this part of Spain for quite some time. Many times Rosie has tried to book clients into the Aigua Blava Hotel. Its popularity is such that you must book early. The majority of the hotel is upside down ~ those of you who know the Costa Brava will be aware that it is delightfully hilly. The hotel is built on a hill across two lovely little beaches and has been in the same family for four generations. Three types of accommodation are on offer ... a Standard room has no balacony, whilst the De-luxe and Junior Suites do. Our room is a small Junior Suite with a small sitting room and a very well laid out bedroom and bathroom, incorporating a bath/shower, two hand basins and a separate toilet with bidet. The nautical club is on our left and we're surrounded by the steely blue Mediterranean. There are also quite a few apartments of varying sizes on the far side of the road. You can rent these apartments on a self-catering basis or enjoy the hotel's dining facilities.

The hotel roams around three different bays which gives it a pretty unique position. In such a pleasant climate, it's delightful to be able to eat lunch out on the terrace overlooking the sea. Service is excellent, although I found the menu a little disappointing. The table d'hôte and à la carte menus could do with a little flair ~ that said, what you get is very good! The buffet breakfast is fantastic.

You need more than two days in this hotel to experience all its facilities, from outdoor table tennis, badminton, canoes on the beach, tennis and the café-bar above the pool. This operates the same menu as the open terrace beside the restaurant but, as it is under trees, it has a romantic feel about it. Again, the service is excellent and the quality very good, if unimaginative.

For local sightseeing, one of the joys of this area is that there are so many good beaches that are a joy to visit, especially as they area quite empty outside of August. We visited Sa Tuna, a fantastic little beach although it is more rock than sand. We didn't get to Sa Riera, on the other side, and Sa Laughed is more developed therefore less idyllic.

Over the hill is Tamariu, which has hardly changed at all since Rosie's first holiday there over 50 years ago! We stayed at the 3* Hotel Hostalillo which is an old 1960's establishment and has a brilliant location overlooking the beach. However, I preferred the older Hotel Tamariu which was full of local character. It also has a 3* rating but it is a hotel which cares for its guests and offers a far more personal service, having only 17 rooms.

One of the reasons you come to the 'real' Costa Brava is the food, both Catalan and sea. The cuising is deliciously tasty, yet traditional. You must try some of the rice dishes, especially arroz negra ~ rice blackened by squid ink, whilst the chiperones, calaramari and sonsos are simply delicious, irrespective of how they are prepared. Tamariu's best restaurants are either the Es Dofi or the El Palanqui. The Royal is more classy but I didn't think the food was quite as good. Off the Passeig de Mare there are many more restaurants which cater more for the tourists than the regulars.

The best wasy to describe Tamariu is to call it jewel in the real Costa Brava's crown. Outstanding natural beauty, little re-development, beautiful uncluttered beaches, friendly people who want you to enjoy yourself, traditional architecture, and no English pubs or cafés.

We moved on to Llafranc, and it was pleasing to see that Llafranc had also not changed. We checked into the Llafranc Hotel and went for a walk along the front. There are two other 3* hotels in the vicinity ~ the Terramar and the Llevant. We had lunch at the latter which was very impressive and definitely worth a recommendation, offering both good food and good service. Llafranc has a bigger beach with a lovely harbour on the left as you look out to sea. Like Tamariu, it has a car-free zone, and considerably more hotels. In addition to those mentioned, it has four 2* hotels and two 1*. Our favourite has always been the Llafranc which is the area’s most famous.

Returning to the hotel, we found our room had a sea view room on the front with a small balcony. The room wasn’t big but it was quite functional. The bathroom was also small but well designed and although we had no bath we had a nice new shower. The hotel is renowned for its bar, especially during the peak summer, as well as for its restaurant, where we dined both for dinner and lunch.

There is a delightful walk from Llafranc through to Calella de Palafrugell which I would highly recommend. Calella has two quite large beaches, Canadell and San Roc, and a good range of stylish hotels. There was also a very wide choice of restaurants and bars, although it is a little more touristy than either Llafranc or Tamariu.

We wanted to check out a supermarket for clients who may rent apartments or villas and needed a greater range of provisions than are available in local ‘corner’ shops and Palafrugell has a large Champion supermarket which would provide tourists with whatever they wanted. It is also a good little shopping town especially for shoes. You might also want to check when the Sardana dancing is on as it’s brilliant!