June 25, 2026 · 6 min read
A Food Day in Begur
Begur is the kind of place I send people when they want the Costa Brava at its most beautiful and its most edible. A medieval town crowning the hill, a handful of jewel coves below, and a market just down the road that I shop most weeks. Here is the day I would plan for you, built entirely around eating well.
Morning: the old town and the market
Start early, while the streets are still cool and quiet. Climb up to the castle ruins for the view over the whole coastline, then wander the old town and look up at the Indiano mansions, the grand houses built by families who made their fortunes in Cuba and the Americas and came home to show it. A coffee in a small square is all you need before the heat arrives.
From there I would drive the few minutes to Palafrugell for the market. This is where I do much of my own shopping: tomatoes that actually taste of something, ripe stone fruit, herbs, and a fishmonger who can tell you what came in that morning. Nearby Palamós lands some of the best prawns in Spain, the famous gamba de Palamós, and if they are on the slab they decide the menu. Walking a market like this is the best way to understand how we eat here.
Midday: a cove and a long swim
By midday the heat asks for water, and Begur has the finest coves on this stretch of coast. Sa Riera is the easiest with children, all fishing-boat charm and a gentle entry. Aiguablava is the postcard, turquoise and clear over pale sand. Sa Tuna feels secret and slow, and tiny Fornells just around the headland is my quiet favourite. Pick one, claim a spot before lunch, and swim until you are pleasantly tired.
Keep lunch light on a day like this, a little bread and tomato, some fruit, a glass of cold white in the shade. The real meal is waiting for the evening, and there is no point arriving at the table already full. A long midday in the water is the best appetite I know.
Evening: dinner at your villa with Lara
This is where I come in. I arrive in the late afternoon with the morning's market shopping, unpack in your kitchen and let the cooking begin while you rinse off the salt and pour the first glass of Empordà wine. There is no rush and no menu to choose from on the spot, because we have already shaped the evening around what looked best at the stalls.
Picture gamba de Palamós barely kissed by the grill, a slow seafood rice or a suquet de peix, vegetables in good Empordà olive oil, all served at your own pace on the terrace as the light goes soft. When the last plate is cleared I leave the kitchen exactly as I found it, so all that remains is the conversation, the view and a full, happy table. That, to me, is a food day in Begur done right.