Getting to the Costa Brava from Barcelona and Girona
A common question for travellers is how to reach the Costa Brava and how long will it take. From both Barcelona and Girona there are direct buses (see www.sarfa.com) which run regular services. Alternatively trains connect Blanes at the south, or Llanca in the north, but there are no train lines in the centre. Driving is easy with autoroute and dual carriageway connections most of the way.
The type of transport will depend on which area of the Costa Brava you want to reach. The coast is about 100 miles long, so day trips from Barcelona tend to focus on the southern towns - Blanes, Lloret de Mar and Tossa de Mar.
The Barcelona Rodalies network runs trains up to Blanes along the coast. From Blanes there are connecting bus services up to Lloret de Mar or Tossa de Mar. We used to take the train, then walk, before catching one of the Dofijet boats back to Blanes.
For the prettiest area which is more central - Sant Feliu de Guixols, Palamos, Palafrugell, Begur, Pals - there are no trains to the coast. There is a good bus service run by Moventis/Sarfa (see www.sarfa.com) which runs from either Barcelona Airport or Estacio de Nord and connects the main central towns. The journey time varies between 2-3 hours depending on the number of stops, which makes it a little impractical for day-trips, so check the schedules.
For villages like Llafranc, Tamariu and Calella de Palafrugell you would catch the bus to Palafrugell, then take a taxi or, if you are planning on walking, take the path the 2-3km to the coast.
Though trains don't reach the coast, you can take the train to Caldes de Malavella, Girona or Flaca and then catch a bus to the coast. Looking at it in reverse, we regularly take trains from Caldes de Malavella down to Barcelona as we really don't like driving in Barcelona with journey time of about an hour to Sants.
Further north to Roses or Cadaques, the train to Figueres followed by a bus is probably the easiest route. Figueres, like Girona, has high speed train connections to Barcelona, though the station is outside town, away from the bus station (which is next to the slow train station).
The (slow) train line links again to the coast at Llanca and north into France, though is pretty slow.
