The Costa Brava is a long stretch of coast, not a single destination. Most people who search for a barcelona to costa brava private transfer have a specific town in mind: Lloret de Mar, Tossa de Mar, Begur, Palamós, Cadaqués. This page explains how the transfer works, what a day on the coast costs by the hour and how I handle the towns that are not in my fixed table.
If you are comparing several private tours from the city, the private tours with a chauffeur page lists the other day trips I run.
Barcelona to the Costa Brava: distances and times
From Plaça de Catalunya in central Barcelona, Lloret de Mar is 75 km, about 1 h without traffic. That makes it the easy reference point: it is the nearest of the big Costa Brava resorts, and many of the smaller towns are a short drive beyond it. Towns further north, towards Palamós, Begur and Cadaqués, take noticeably longer, and the road gets slower once you leave the motorway.
You can check the Lloret run on Google Maps. The times above are free-flow figures. On summer weekends and at the start and end of school holidays, the roads out of Barcelona are busy, so I plan the departure with that in mind.
For general information on the region, the official Catalonia tourism site has town guides and event listings.
Price: day trips by the hour, transfers on request
Two things apply here, and it helps to keep them apart.
A day trip to Lloret de Mar is priced as hire by the hour. The estimate assumes 1 h each way plus 5 h on site, rounded up to the half hour, which gives 7 hours of hire, above the 6-hour minimum. VAT is included:
| Vehicle | Passengers | 7 hours of hire |
|---|---|---|
| E-Class | up to 3 | €550 |
| S-Class | up to 3 | €870 |
| V-Class | up to 7 | €550 |
| Sprinter | up to 16 | €695 |
| Minibus | up to 33 | €790 |
| Coach | up to 60 | €790 |
A one-way or return transfer to a Costa Brava town is not in my fixed table. I quote it on request, after I know the town, the date and the vehicle. I do not publish a guess, because the town and the day change the work involved.
The full hourly and fixed rates are on the prices page.
Costa Brava towns I get asked about
- Lloret de Mar and Blanes. The closest resorts, the usual choice for a day by the sea or a hotel transfer. See Barcelona to Lloret de Mar.
- Tossa de Mar. A walled old town on the coast, popular for day trips. See Barcelona to Tossa de Mar.
- Begur, Palamós and the Empordà coast. Longer drives, so a full day or a one-way transfer to a hotel works better than a quick return.
- Cadaqués. A long drive from Barcelona with a slow final stretch. I cover it on its own page: Barcelona to Cadaqués.
- Figueres. The Dalí Theatre-Museum is the draw, and the museum publishes its own opening information at salvador-dali.org. My page Barcelona to Figueres and the Dalí Museum covers that trip.
If your town is not on the list, ask anyway. Anything not in the table is quoted on request.
Choosing the vehicle
| Group | Vehicle |
|---|---|
| 1 to 3 passengers | Mercedes E-Class |
| Up to 7 passengers, or families with luggage | Mercedes V-Class |
| Up to 16 passengers | Mercedes Sprinter |
| Up to 33 passengers | Minibus |
| Up to 60 passengers | Coach |
For a couple heading to a coastal hotel, the E-Class is enough. For a family with suitcases and beach gear, I would book the V-Class. A wedding party or a company outing is cheaper per head and simpler to run in the Sprinter or the minibus than in a convoy of cars. The S-Class is booked by the hour only.
Barcelona airport to the Costa Brava
Many Costa Brava stays start at the airport rather than in the city. In that case the car meets you at arrivals and drives straight to your hotel without a stop in Barcelona. Girona airport is another option for the northern coast, and I cover it separately on the Girona airport transfer page. For Barcelona-El Prat itself, the airport’s own page on Aena lists flight and terminal information, and my Barcelona airport transfer page explains the pick-up.
Tell me your flight number or landing time and I plan the pick-up around it.
One-way, return or a full day
Three patterns cover most bookings:
- One-way to a hotel. You travel Barcelona to the coast and stay. Quoted on request.
- Return on the same day. The car and driver wait, or return at an agreed time. Charged as hire by the hour, as in the table above.
- A route along the coast. Several stops in one day, for example a morning in Tossa and an afternoon in Lloret. Hire by the hour suits this best, and extra hours cost the hourly rate (for example €80 per hour in the E-Class or V-Class, €90 in the Sprinter).
If the plan is flexible, say so in the request and I suggest the pattern that keeps the day simple.
How to book
- Open the quote form below or use the contact page.
- Enter the date, the pick-up address, the Costa Brava town and the number of passengers and bags.
- Say whether it is one-way, a return or a full day.
- I reply by e-mail or WhatsApp with the vehicle and the price, VAT included.
- Confirm and the booking is made.
If you would rather book a driver for the whole day without a fixed destination, read how chauffeur by the hour works.
Last updated 1 November 2026.
