Private pool
Residencial Begur - EsclanyàRef. 1580 BEG-17
3 houses in one
Bedrooms: 5Bathrooms: 3Area: 318 m²
Sale€650,000
Houses for sale
Property for sale in Begur
Begur is a hill town with a ruined castle at the top and six coves below it, each one a small settlement in its own right. It is the part of the Costa Brava people mean when they say the coast is still beautiful.
Why here
What buying in Begur is really like
Begur is not one place but several. The old town sits inland on its hill, a fifteen minute walk from end to end, and the coast belongs to Sa Riera, Sa Tuna, Aiguablava, Aiguafreda, Fornells and Platja Fonda. Most of them are ten minutes down a winding road from the square, which is why a house here is bought for a particular cove rather than for the town in general.
About 4,300 people live in the municipality. In August that figure passes forty thousand, and the difference tells you what to expect: a working Catalan town for nine months of the year and a busy resort for three. Owners who spend the shoulder seasons here usually say those are the best months.
What comes up for sale reflects that geography. Village houses of stone in the old town, apartments and villas in the wooded urbanisations on the hillsides, and a small number of houses in the coves themselves, where nothing new gets built and turnover is slow.
Available now
Properties in Begur
Private poolGarage
Begur puebloRef. 1559 BEG-S
Well maintained detached house with a separate apartment near the center of Begur
Bedrooms: 4Bathrooms: 3Area: 272 m²
Sale€820,000
The town
A castle, and the houses Cuba paid for
The castle above the town was built in the eleventh century and rebuilt against pirates in the sixteenth and seventeenth. The French destroyed it in 1810 during the Peninsular War, and the battlements you see now were added in 1956 to make the ruin safe as a viewpoint. The climb takes about twenty minutes and the view runs from the Medes Islands to the Formigues.
The grander houses in the centre come from Cuba. Through the nineteenth century Begur families emigrated to the Caribbean sugar plantations, and those who did well came home and built in the style they had seen there. Casa Térmens from 1869, the Casino, and a dozen others give the old town its colonial windows and painted facades. They are the reason Begur looks unlike its neighbours.
Where exactly
Areas in and around Begur
Each of these has its own character, its own access road and its own kind of house. It is worth knowing which one you are actually looking for before you start.
Sa Riera
The largest of the coves, roughly 230 metres of coarse sand, with a road down and enough behind it to feel like a village. The easiest of the six to live in year round.
Sa Tuna
A small cove of old fishermen’s houses right at the water, reached by a narrow winding descent. The coastal path to the next cove starts at the far end. Very little changes hands here.
Aiguablava
Blue water, which is what the name means in Catalan. The most sheltered swimming in the municipality and the address most people recognise, so demand outruns supply.
Aiguafreda
A small cove tucked under the Puig Rodó hill, quieter than Aiguablava next door, with a scattering of houses on the slope above it.
Fornells
Between Aiguablava and Platja Fonda, on the southern stretch of the coastal path. Houses here look straight down the coast rather than across a bay.
Esclanyà
The inland village, between Begur and Palafrugell, with a small church and a fourteenth century tower. Larger plots, more shelter from the tramuntana, and no need to drive down to anything.
Practical
What you actually need to know
- Girona airport
- About 37 km, roughly forty minutes by car. The most useful airport for anyone coming regularly.
- Barcelona airport
- About 145 km, an hour and three quarters on the AP-7 outside August.
- Girona city
- 32 km inland. Hospital, station on the Madrid line, and the nearest place for anything the coast does not have.
- Getting to the coves
- Ten minutes by car from the square to most of them, on narrow roads. Parking in August is the real constraint, not distance.
- Out of season
- The old town stays open all year. Several of the cove restaurants do not, which is worth knowing before you buy somewhere for the winter.
- The tramuntana
- The north wind matters here. Which side of a hill a house sits on changes how usable its terrace is in spring and autumn.
Good to know
Buying in Begur: the questions we get
Is Begur a good place to buy on the Costa Brava?
It is one of the most sought-after municipalities on this coast, mainly because the coves are small and protected and very little new gets built next to them. That also means less comes up for sale than in the larger resort towns, so buyers here are usually waiting for the right house rather than choosing between several.
What kind of properties come up in Begur?
Three broad kinds. Stone village houses in the old town, apartments and detached villas in the wooded urbanisations on the hillsides, and occasionally a house in one of the coves. Plot sizes and sea views vary enormously between them, and so does what you can do with the building.
Which part of Begur should I look in?
It depends on how you will use the house. Sa Riera and Esclanyà work best for people who want somewhere liveable all year. Aiguablava and Sa Tuna are the addresses people fall in love with and are correspondingly scarce. The hillside urbanisations give you space and a pool for less than a cove address costs.
Can I rent my house out in Begur?
Holiday letting in Catalonia requires a tourist licence registered against the specific property, and licences are not issued freely everywhere. Never assume a house comes with one. We check the position for any property before you commit, and our sister company Quality Renting handles the letting itself.
How far is Begur from the airport?
Girona is about 37 km, roughly forty minutes. Barcelona is about 145 km and takes an hour and three quarters outside the August traffic. Most owners who come several times a year use Girona.
Do you look after houses in Begur out of season?
Yes. We hold keys, check houses after storms, deal with the pool and garden and handle repairs, which is what most owners here need given that the house stands empty for much of the year. It is the same team that sells the houses.
Next step
Thinking about Begur?
Come and see it with someone who lives here. We will show you the parts of Begur that suit what you are after, and say so when something does not.