Hostal Blau
Why we like it: A small hotel in a 16th-century house on Carrer del Forn, inside Peratallada’s centre, with breakfast included and free parking.
Duration2 nights
Best timeSeptember – June
Budget€180–320 pp with the balloon
Getting thereBy car
The plan
The plan, hour by hour
Designed for arriving on Friday evening and flying at dawn on Saturday. If you don't want the balloon, sleep late and start Saturday with Ullastret. Book the flight and the tables before you leave.
Friday
- 118:30Arrival and a stroll round the old town
Leave the car in the Dalt or Baix car park and walk in. Take your time over the castle-palace, Plaça de les Voltes and Sant Esteve: with few people about you can see the cart marks in the rock.
- 220:30Dinner in the El Pati courtyard
The hotel restaurant opens in the evening from 19:30 to 22:15 and closes on Wednesdays. Go to bed early: tomorrow is an early start.
Saturday
- 107:00Balloon flight from Colomers
Twenty minutes by car to the Parc del Ter. An hour in the air and a toast on landing. Bring a jacket: it is cold at dawn even if the day turns out fine.
- 211:30The Iberian city of Ullastret
On the Puig de Sant Andreu, 4 km from the village: the wall, the streets, the silos and the cistern cut into the rock, and the museum at the top. Admission €7, free for under-16s. From October to May it is open Tuesday to Sunday from 10:00 to 18:00. Allow an hour and three quarters.
- 314:00Lunch at La Roca
Seasonal Catalan cooking in a family house on Carrer de la Roca: canelloni made from the roast, Empordà duck with apple or the house paella. It doesn't publish opening times: call to book.
- 417:30Moat, wall and Torre de les Hores
The moat carved into the rock, seven or eight metres deep, and the clock tower, which you can climb free from 10:00 to 20:00 until the end of 2026. From the top you see the rooftops and the plain you flew over in the morning.
Sunday
- 110:00The Fitor dolmens, in the Gavarres
Forest tracks from Fonteta to Santa Coloma de Fitor. The short route is 1.62 km and 45 minutes, with a dolmen that looks like a little stone house. Download the track first: up there there is no reliable signal.
- 213:30Farewell lunch at D.O. Candelaria
Sharing plates in a 15th-century house on Carrer Major. In winter it opens on Sunday at midday; closed Monday and Tuesday. Home in mid-afternoon.
Peratallada is a small village of golden stone set inside a moat cut into the rock. You can walk round it in two hours, but at night, when the day visitors' cars leave, it falls silent. That is why it works as a base: you sleep inside the old town, set off at dawn to fly in a balloon over the Baix Empordà, climb to the biggest Iberian city in Catalonia, 4 km away, and on Sunday get lost among the dolmens of the Gavarres. You are 48 minutes from Girona and a little under two hours from Barcelona.
Is the balloon worth it?
It is the activity that makes sleeping here make sense. Globus Empordà takes off from the Parc del Ter flying field, in Colomers, about 20 minutes from Peratallada, and flies for an hour over the patchwork fields, the Ter and the villages on top of their hills, with the Medes Islands and, on clear days, the Pyrenees in the background. The shared flight costs €170 per adult and €105 for ages 5 to 12; groups of four or more, from €160. All told, with the transfer and the landing, it takes two or three hours.
The time rules: from September to February it flies at weekends at 7:45; in March and April, at 7:00; from May to August, every day at 6:30. From Barcelona you would have to leave in the small hours, hence the weekend. If the wind doesn't allow flying, the company changes the date: keep Sunday as plan B.
Where to sleep?
What changes the trip is sleeping inside or outside the old town. Inside, everything is on foot and the village is empty at dusk; outside, a garden, a pool and parking at the door.
| Accommodation | Where | For whom |
|---|---|---|
| Hostal Blau | Carrer del Forn, a 16th-century house | Couples who want the old town at the door; the triple room has a fireplace |
| Ca l'Aliu | Carrer de la Roca, seven rooms and a garden | Families: a double with a sofa bed for a child and a shared kitchen |
| Hotel El Pati | Carrer Hospital, an 18th-century house | Sleeping and dining in the same courtyard |
| Hotel Aatu | 400 m from the village, three hectares of garden | Couples: only admits over-14s |
| Mas Generós | Fonteta, a few kilometres away | Rest, a vegetable garden and its own restaurant |
The old town is pedestrian. Guests of the hotels in the village centre park free in the municipal car parks; ask the hotel how to prove it on blue-zone dates.
If you don't fly: Saturday another way
Without the balloon, the plan loses the early start but not its point. Do Ullastret first thing, when the hill is quiet, and spend the afternoon on the long dolmen route in the Serra d'en Cals: 10.38 km and about four hours from Fitor, with ten megalithic monuments. It is for teenagers and adults with strong legs; small children are better off on Sunday's short route.
With children and with a dog
Children can fly from age 5, always with an adult. Ullastret is free for under-16s and works well with children who ask questions; the short Fitor route is designed for them. Hotel Aatu doesn't admit under-14s: choose Ca l'Aliu. Dogs can go through the old town, the moat and the Gavarres paths, and at Ullastret around the site on a lead, but not in the museum or the balloon.
Map
The stops, in order
What to do
Eat
88 €Stay
Services
Plan the trip
Peratallada, step by step
Each choice narrows the next: the season shapes how best to travel, and how you travel decides where you stay and where you eat.
When to go
When to go to Peratallada
J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
Best timeGood timeLow season
How you travel
The same break, your way
The plan stays the same. What changes is where you sleep, how you get there and how much you spend.
A base for the inland Empordà
With a car, Peratallada is the centre of a half-hour circle: Ullastret, the Gavarres, Pals and the coves of the Costa Brava.
90–150 €per person per day, approximate
- Where to sleepGuesthouses and houses in the…
- Getting aroundThe centre is pedestrianised: three…
- Where to eatMarket and Catalan cuisine in…
- ServicesBlue zone at Easter, in…
Where to sleep
- Guesthouses and houses in the centre: you don’t pay for parking
- A hotel with a garden and pool 400 m away, adults only
- Farmhouses and rural hotels in Fonteta
Getting around
- The centre is pedestrianised: three car parks around it
- To Fitor, by tracks from Fonteta or Mont-ras
Where to eat
- Market and Catalan cuisine in the centre, €25 to €50
- Takeaway pizza on Carrer Mas Bou
Services
- Blue zone at Easter, in summer and during the Fira Medieval
- Public toilets in the Dalt and Baix car parks
How much does it cost?
People2
Nights2
Where to stay
Where to stay if you're driving
We show you what suits the way you travel.Change how you travel
Ca l’Aliu
Why we like it: A rural guesthouse on Carrer de la Roca in Peratallada, with seven rooms, breakfast included, a shared kitchen and a garden.
Hotel Aatu
Why we like it: A four-star hotel for over-14s only, 400 metres from Peratallada, with three hectares of gardens and two saltwater pools.
Hotel El Pati
Why we like it: A two-star hotel in an 18th-century Catalan house on Carrer Hospital, in the centre of Peratallada, with a courtyard restaurant.
Hotel Mas Generós
Why we like it: A sustainable rural hotel in Fonteta, near Peratallada, with a naturalistic garden, an organic vegetable garden and a garden-cuisine restaurant.
Services for this trip
Where to eat
Where to eat in Peratallada
D.O. Candelaria
What to order: sharing plates made with local produce; the menu changes with the market.
C/ Major, 9 · closed Monday and Tuesday; in winter, lunch Wednesday to Sunday and dinner only Friday and Saturday · 635 30 39 11
Restaurant La Roca
What to order: seasonal Catalan cooking with local produce.
C/ de la Roca, 8 · 972 63 41 72
L’Eixida
What to order: local produce with flavours from elsewhere, according to the menu of the day.
Carrer del Forn, 4 · 972 63 48 06
Restaurant El Pati
What to order: lunch or dinner in the courtyard, between rock and walnut trees, inside the centre.
C/ Hospital, 13 · 12:30 to 15:15 and 19:30 to 22:15 · closed Wednesdays · 972 634 069
Pati Pizza
What to order: Neapolitan wood-fired pizza, on the courtyard terrace.
Carrer Mas Bou, 4 · 663 05 29 61
Tips
Worth knowing first
Local tip
Book in this order: the flight, the accommodation and the two lunches. The balloon depends on the wind; if it is postponed to Sunday, swap the day of the dolmens and leave the farewell lunch as it is.
We'd skip it
The first weekend of October, unless you are going on purpose for the Fira Medieval: the village fills up, parking is paid and the night-time silence disappears. And weekends in July and August, with the heat and the old town full of visitors from the coast.
Questions
Frequently asked questions
How long does it take from Barcelona?
An hour and fifty minutes by car. From Girona, 48 minutes. Without a car the plan doesn't work: the balloon takes off at dawn and the dolmens are reached by tracks.
How much does the balloon flight cost?
The shared one, €170 per adult and €105 for ages 5 to 12; from €160 per person in groups of four or more. A private flight starts at €870.
What day is Ullastret closed?
Mondays. It is open Tuesday to Sunday, and on the first Sunday of each month admission is free for everyone.
Can I drive into Peratallada?
No. The old town is pedestrian: park in the car parks around it. Guests of the hotels in the village centre don't pay on blue-zone dates.
Do I need to book for lunch?
Yes, especially on Saturday. There are few tables and many day visitors; La Roca and D.O. Candelaria are booked by phone.