Top Travel Experience: Lloret de Mar Spain

Home >> Destinations >> Europe >> Spain >> Top Travel Experience: Lloret de Mar Spain

Between 1983 and 1986, I lived in Europe with my husband while he served with the US Air Force in Bitburg, Germany. We didn’t have a lot of money but we would venture out someplace in Germany or one of the nearby locales every weekend. This was pre-European Union days and you had to go through border crossings between countries and every country had a different monetary unit, so you had to plan ahead a little. We found some amazing places during those weekend forays. One of the best experiences, though, was the week we spent in Spain just before I turned 22. People thought we were crazy leaving a one-year-old with friends while we spent a week on the beach in Lloret de Mar, a town about an hour north of Barcelona on Spain’s Costa Brava. For us, it was a dream trip filled with sights and sounds that were new to us at the time.



Cala dels Frares by Albert TorellĂł

Cala dels Frares. Photo by Albert TorellĂł

It’s hard for me to believe that the trip was 29 years ago, because I remember it as if it were yesterday. I fell in love with the rocky coast – in fact, it turned up years later in one of my novels. The town had those classic European winding narrow roads, but it was filled with architecture left over from the Moorish influence in the area. Each day during our stay, Bill and I would wander out of town, hiking along the shore and over rocks so we could explore some new isolated little cove.

The hills outside of town were filled with some of the biggest homes I had ever seen. One day, while sitting on an outcropping of rocks watching the comings and goings around us, we spotted one house that hung to the cliff as it was waiting to jump into the churning sea below. We realized there were armed guards in front of a heavy gate at the bottom of the hill and we watched—through Bill’s zoom lens on the camera—as guards paced up and down the hill. We could see the house and there were more armed guards on the patio that overlooked the Mediterranean below it.

Lloret de Mar 7 by TijsB

Lloret de Mar. Photo by TijsB


As is common in the travel industry, Wander With Wonder sometimes receives complimentary products and services. However, you can always count on Wander With Wonder to report with honesty and integrity on those places we believe offer wonderful opportunities for our readers. Wander earns income from ads and affiliate links on our site. Some of those links are for Amazon. As an Amazon Associate, Wander earns from qualifying purchases. None of these practices influence our reporting, but we believe in full disclosure. For further information please visit our legal page.



That moment captured the feel of Costa Brava for me. Intrigue. Power. Rugged beauty. I could just imagine James Bond winding his way up the driveway. Over the years, we’ve retold this story dozens of times. I never found out who lived there or why they needed so many guards, but we’ve created a million stories to go with that scenario. That’s why this is one of my top 20 travel experiences.



Lloret de Mar – April 1985. Photo by Susan Lanier-Graham

What have you experienced on your vacations or as you’ve wandered the world that made you want to weave a story about it? What captivated you and had you wanting to know more about the people and customs? Click here to read more of my top travel experiences. 



Written by Susan Lanier-Graham

Founder and publisher Susan Lanier-Graham has traveled the world for the past twenty years, filling a passport or two along the way. She has wandered through the jungles of Thailand, explored the mysteries of the Great Pyramids, and shared the night with a leopard in Zambia. She sailed in the Mediterranean, sipped her way through Burgundy canals and Champagne caves. She followed Rembrandt’s footsteps through Amsterdam. Susan found her center on the red rocks of Sedona and soaked up an exquisite sunset over the Indian Ocean in Bali. Susan is always looking for wow moments around the world or across the street to share with adventure lovers everywhere. She has authored more than 75 books and hundreds of magazine articles. Susan is an award-winning travel writer and member of the Society of American Travel Writers (SATW) and International Food, Wine and Travel Writers Association (IFWTWA). She is a Certified California Wine Appellation Specialist (CWAS). Susan is also the managing editor of North Peoria Lifestyle, a print lifestyle publication in the Phoenix, Arizona, area. Susan's work regularly appears in print and online in a variety of publications. These include various AAA publications, Postcards for Travel Leaders, Alamo.com, Hotels.com, Fairmont.com, Sofitel.com, Paradise Valley City Lifestyle, Scottsdale City Lifestyle, So Scottsdale, Green Living AZ, Modern Luxury, Marriott.com, WHERE Arizona, WHERE Traveler Phoenix + Scottsdale, and more.

You May Also Like…

0 Comments



Subscribe To Our Newsletter

Sign up for our newsletter to get the latest food, wine & travel updates! We look forward to having you Wander with us.

You have Successfully Subscribed!