Costa Brava

The Costa Brava is where the Pyrenees finally tumble into the Mediterranean, creating a coastline of rocky coves, pine-covered cliffs, fishing villages and small beaches hidden between headlands. Traditional stone houses and whitewashed seaside towns coexist with an important legacy of Catalan Modernism and some exceptional 20th-century architecture. Salvador Dalí left his unmistakable mark around Cadaqués and Portlligat, while architects including Josep Lluís Sert found inspiration in the region’s landscape and vernacular buildings. Away from the busier resorts, medieval villages and converted masías reveal a quieter Costa Brava where architecture still feels deeply connected to the land.

Food and drink are central to the region’s identity. This is the landscape of mar i muntanya—sea and mountain—where seafood from the Mediterranean meets ingredients from the Catalan interior. Fishing ports, markets and simple seaside restaurants coexist with some of the world’s most influential destination dining, a legacy shaped by chefs such as Ferran Adrià and continued by an extraordinary concentration of ambitious Catalan kitchens. Empordà adds vineyards, olive oil producers and a growing culture of natural and low-intervention wine, making the countryside behind the coast every bit as compelling as the beaches.

The Costa Brava’s most interesting hotels range from Modernist seaside icons and intimate village houses to restored farm estates and contemporary retreats hidden among pines and olive groves. The best resist generic Mediterranean resort style, allowing architecture, landscape and Catalan character to define the experience. At DNA Hotels, we curate the places where design, food, art and the Mediterranean come together—hotels that capture the Costa Brava at its best: wild around the edges, culturally confident and far more interesting than somewhere to simply lie on a beach.