Travel: Costa Brava, Spain

I'm motoring along a mountainous coastal road and every few seconds, through the tall, pine-filled woodlands to my right, I catch a glimpse of the Mediterranean shimmering in the sunlight hundreds of feet down below.

You could easily be forgiven for thinking this was the French Cte d'Azur.

In fact, I'm on the road between Llafranc and Tamari on Spain's Costa Brava but it's an easy mistake to make as this is effectively the same Mediterranean coastline - just further south. It's also one of Europe's best-kept secrets.

For some, the words Costa and Brava may still conjure up visions of egg and chips, package-holiday hell, but this is the other Costa Brava - a land of idyllic, unspoilt sandy beaches framed by romantic woodlands and mountains, water so blue and clear you can see right down to the ocean floor, lush countryside and exceptional food.

It's also considerably less painful on the wallet than its more historically chi-chi south of France neighbour.

This is where chic Barcelonans and well-heeled Catalans keep their holiday homes and where in-the-know French come for their vacations.

My partner Henry and I had spent the morning at Calella de Palafrugell, a laid-back fishing village-turned-seaside town with genteel, pastel-coloured 19th-century townhouses backing up against the seafront - think of a Mediterranean Brighton.

In summer the beach gets busy but in the fresh glow of early spring or late autumn, it's a more leisurely affair with toddlers building sandcastles, honeymooning couples admiring the view and the odd lone surfer waiting on a breeze.

We could happily have whiled away the morning there but, feeling energetic, decided to explore the Cam de Ronda - the winding coastal path that hugs the cliffs, taking in coves and bays.

After a stunningly scenic walk with the costa's whitewashed villages dotting the snaking coast and the hazy blue Pyrenees majestic in the distance, we were more than ready for lunch.

We made our way by car to Tamari - a delightfully compact horse-shoe bay with only a handful of low-rise seafood restaurants, each with its own terrace on the slightly raised sea wall just a few yards from the coarse-sand beach.

My favourite is Es Dofi - a small, traditional eaterie at the far western end of the promenade, with an extensive list of fish chalked up on the blackboard outside, white paper table cloths and a team of elderly, avuncular waiters.

Looking out to the calm sea beyond, we tucked into a small plate of deliciously crispy, fried somsos - tiny whitebait-like sand-eels. Then, after some of the fattest, freshest battered squid rings I've ever seen, we set back out on the road, this time inland to the medieval hilltop town of Begur.

Seen from the distance, Begur is awash with fairytale turrets but its crowning glory is the 11th-century ruined castle and viewing point which sits atop the village. It's a leisurely climb but the stunning, panoramic views of the coast and surrounding countryside are more than worth the walk.

Following a siesta at our hotel - the Vintage Lounge at nearby Cap Sa Sal - we headed back on the Cam de Ronda, torch in hand, for the short but unlit walk along the cliffs to the neighbouring cove of Aiguafreda and the Sa Rascassa Restaurant.

When we arrived, the proprietor Oscar - a gregarious former advertising man from Barcelona - seated us in the wonderfully romantic walled, gravel garden.

We started off with exquisitely grilled mixed vegetables and after some plump, buttery soft grilled sardines, I opted for hand-made "chocolate stones", which arrived looking like a mini-Stonehenge on a plate. Intensely rich without being too sweet, we're talking pure indulgence.

The next day after an al fresco breakfast on the hotel terrace - a wooded precipice with stunning sea views - we set off north to Cadaqus, the small harbour town that for decades Salvador Dal called home. Like much of the Costa Brava, Cadaqus has long been a favourite with painters and artists entranced by the intensity of the light and the beauty of the landscape.

After a tortuous drive along an epic series of narrow, hairpin bends, with tourist coaches hurtling towards us on one side and a scarily sheer drop to the coast on the other, I was more than ready to see Cadaqus on foot.

Happily, this wonderfully scenic whitewashed village is very much that kind of place with winding, narrow cobbled streets and a small harbour filled with fishing boats. It's a picture-postcard view and it's not hard to see why Picasso and Dal were so smitten.

Dal's home at Port Lligat is just a ten-minute drive or leisurely walk along the bay and almost every room makes a feature of the amazing sea view and the extraordinary intense, golden white light.

This being Dal's home, it was never going to be your average house and there's no shortage of surprises as you explore, from the seven-foot stuffed white bear that serves as an umbrella stand to the full-size replica of Michelangelo's David wearing a fencing mask, a den kitted out like a Moroccan tent and a pop art-style swimming pool.

In Cadaqus itself, every other bar claims to have been a favourite of the surrealist maestro - and I'm sure that many probably were - but after a superb Catalan dinner at Els Balconet, an intimate little bistro tucked away behind the harbour, we decided to stop off at L'Hostal, the most famous of his haunts to enjoy a final nightcap.

Dimly candlelit, L'Hostal is like stepping back in time with its labyrinthine cosy dens and wooden benches, ceiling-skimming pillars of dripped wax and walls crammed to the gills with paintings and photos.

L'Hostal, and indeed Cadaqus, are places people discover and return to again and again. Myself included. I'd even consider braving another of those steep, winding drives.

Spanish Tourist Office, 24-hour information and brochure request line (08459 400 180, www.spain.info).

Ryanair has direct flights from Glasgow to Girona, starting from 32.99 return.

Double rooms at the Hotel Vintage Lounge, Begur start from €120 (www.vintagecapsasal.com), and Hotel Playa Sol, Cadaqus, from €105 for a garden view room (www.playasol.com).

For more information on the Costa Brava see www.simonseeks.com.

This article was first published in Scotland On Sunday, 20 February, 2011