Perhaps you prefer small villages and towns? You'll stumble on hundreds as you drive through the region. Each one has its own unique charm. Algorfa, near Torrevieja, nestles in the shade of the Escotera Mountain and is surrounded by orange and lemon groves. Rojales is a small town on the River Segura with a huge personality. Almoradi is a lovely town with Moorish influences. Visit the huge market on Saturday, and check out the trees in the town square. Each one is hollowed out in the centre of the foliage, with a floodlight set into it. I've never seen anything like it anywhere else.

If you like beaches, you'll be spoilt for choice. Most of the beaches on the Costa Blanca boast fine golden sand. The jewel in the crown is Guardamar, with its 14 kilometres of unspoilt shore. Not a skyscraper hotel in sight! Then there's La Marina, Punta Prima, Playa Flamenca - the list goes on. And with 320 days of sunshine a year, you should find time to sample as many beaches as you want.

For the Shopaholics, there are the huge shopping centres in Alicante, Murcia and Torrevieja. Murcia boasts over 300 major stores, many of them familiar English names such as Primark, Ikea, Zara and H & M. Then there are the daily markets. There are at least 3 to choose from every day, including Sunday, when the huge Zoco Market, near Torrevieja, attracts people from all over the region. It's a day out on its own. As well as everything you might wish to buy, there are several cafeterias and bodegas where you can enjoy drinks, breakfast and lunch at very reasonable prices.

The area around Torrevieja is dominated by 2 large salt lakes, La Mata and Santa Pola. Salt has been extracted here since Roman times, and you'll see big white mountains of it as you travel around. The salt lakes are home to dozens of species of water fowl, and there is a big nature reserve at Santa Pola. You can walk all around the lake, and there are hides for you to observe the wildlife unnoticed. As the lake is right on the coast, you can go for a swim to cool down after your walk. If you're in Spain in a motor home, you can even park up for a night or two at Santa Pola, free of charge. With the salt lake on one side of you, and the Mediterranean on the other, you'll go a long way to find a better view!

For a really relaxed way to view the Costa Blanca, book a coach tour. They are very reasonable - between 10 and 15 euros (£8 -£12) for a full day - and there is a varied programme on offer, with pick up points all across the area. Visit Guadalest, a beautiful village in the mountains above Benidorm. All the houses and shops are set into the mountains, and the views are stunning. This is the place to buy your souvenirs, as the prices are cheaper than on the coast. If you want to visit the larger towns and cities in the area, a coach tour is probably your best option, as parking can be virtually impossible between June and October. In addition, the coaches will drop you off at the main tourist attraction, saving you a lot of walking in the Costa Blanca heat.

Terra Mitica, on the outskirts of Benidorm, is the area's main theme park. With themed areas Egypt, Greece, Rome, Iberia and The Islands, it's educational as well as entertaining. There are rides and shows to entertain you, but Disney World it isn't. Then again, the prices are very reasonable, and you can spend a full day there. If you're staying in Benidorm, it's better (and cheaper) to make your own way there rather than book an excursion.

For an extra special night out, try a dinner and cabaret at the Benidorm Palace. It will cost you around 40 euros (£32), but you get a fabulous evening's entertainment, and the food is great. However, you don't need to pay for entertainment at all, as even the smaller resorts have a wide variety of live entertainment, discos, karaoke and quiz nights throughout the season.

These are just some of the diversions on offer in this lovely part of Spain. I hope I've inspired you to try it for yourself.

Floridita, Hemingway's favourite bar in Havana, immortalised in the above line from his novel Islands in the Stream, became the inspiration for another bar nearly a world away - Boadas in Barcelona.

A 1930's atmosphere greets you as you walk in the door of this tiny bar tucked away in La Rambla in Barcelona. It's smoky, it's noisy. And it's entirely authentic. You would only be mildly surprised to bump into Hemingway at the bar. Surprise, surprise - he drank here.

Opened in 1933 by Miguel Boadas, this cocktail bar (cited by many specialised guide books as one of the finest cocktail bars anywhere in the world) remains exactly as it was in the year it was opened. Fitted out in brass and wood, with a curved bar counter and photographs and drawings covering the walls, you can immediately feel that this is the real thing.

Miguel Boadas was born in Havana in 1895 and by 1910 was head barman at the Floridita. He left Cuba to marry in the land of his ancestors, Spain, and after working in different bars, opened his own one at no. 1 Carrer de Tallers, on the corner of La Rambla.

73 years later Boadas is an "institution with cocktail drinkers the world over and the City of Barcelona alike. However, when it was opened , critics (and there were many) gave it a definite thumbs down. "People complained that it was too small, you couldn't sit down, and it was too modern,', says Dolores Boadas (current owner and Miguel's daughter). What's more, only three years after the original opening, the Spanish Civil War broke out! But even these turbulent times couldn't stop Boadas from opening its doors and serving cocktails and today, 73 years later, the bar has been awarded the Traditional City Establishment Award, granted by the Barcelona City Council to only 12 businesses with a long pedigree.

My discovery of Boadas was accidental. Having just celebrated a birthday in Barcelona, and in that birthday-high mood, the kind where you want to squeeze every last drop out of the day - and night - we stumbled upon this gem. Boadas is a bar for the locals and in spite of being just off of La Rambla, doesn't go out of its way to attract tourists.

The cocktail Gods must have known that our little party of two had a celebration going on as miraculously two seats became vacant right at the bar (and in a bar not more than a few square metres big, with standing room mainly, this truly was nothing short of a miracle). Seated in front of three barmen in full tuxedo and one sporting very snappy glasses, we had front row seats to some of the best entertainment in the city.

Ingredients mixed in cocktail pitchers shiny enough to reflect back at you, quick stirs where you are left in no doubt that it is all in the wrist, a julep strainer on top and with long arching motions the contents are poured into a pint glass held a metre or so below. This is done four times, then the drink is strained into your glass. Snazzy…

Not one menu makes itself known in Boadas. The barmen are passionate about cocktails, and Maruendo, Dolores' husband, admits to owning over 600 cocktail books from around the world. It's all in the head (although on a tiny board a cocktail of the day is written in block letters). The birthday boy has an idea in his head. He wants a cocktail that is creamy "with a different taste". I wonder secretly to myself what exactly that is and settle back to enjoy my Margarita. Some concessions should be allowed on birthdays. Within minutes the barman is serving the creamy birthday cocktail with a different taste. It's a frothy mixture with crushed ice and a hint of cinnamon and after one sip, I'm a convert. The barmen invent cocktails along with making the traditional well-known ones, and I'm sure the birthday cocktail has just been born. Another six follow between the two of us after the first one. I'm sure I feel Hemingway nod his approval.

Extremely well-priced at approximately 6 euros a drink, Boadas really is a must-do anytime you find yourself in Barcelona. You'll find yourself in the company of famous 20th century artists; Dali, Picasso, Garcia Márquez - who all had a seat on one of the six chairs at the bar (and stood far more than they sat) and who often left a momento on the walls of one of their favourite watering holes.

Ending the birthday close to 2 in the morning the following day, the birthday boy looks at me and says, "That was grand. We"ll be back'. I'm now certain Hemingway's nodding…

El Golfet Beach

Racing over land in the twilight hours, the first glimpse of daybreak clutches the curve of the earth and lethargically spreads, causing the waning moon to vanish behind a sheet of light. Heading north from our Andalucian home, we push past misty plateaus of row upon row of bare almond trees which just months earlier had burst with blossom and life. The early morning December chill blows across the jagged peaks, lit up with candyfloss shades of pastel, as nighttime eventually gives way to dawn. Leaving the whispering presence of the mountains of Andalucia behind, daylight is met with the less interesting coastal shelf of Valencia, swamped in concrete and cranes.

There is not just one Spain but many. The regions are distinct in culture and landscape. Catalonia is probably the most defined, proudly retaining an identity that borrows little from the rest of Spain. Instead, many parts of Catalonia remind me of Sussex, fertile, lush and affluent. As you cross its border you can sense a difference; an air of confidence and prosperity hangs over the rolling hills. It is the Costa Brava, which is our destination and for me is the most resonant of Sussex.

The Costa Brava is often snubbed, dismissed by many who believe it to be a brash stretch of multi-story concrete and English breakfasts. Although this was one of the first stretches of Spanish coast to be developed by mass tourism, the Costa Brava boasts many traditional fishing villages, encompassed by impenetrable forests of Mediterranean pine trees, sporadic clusters of wild flowers arbitrarily sprouting colour amongst the evergreen, rugged cliffs cascading down to rocky coves and coarse sandy beaches licked by crystal clear waters. In short, the “brave coast” is an oasis of rural tranquility and the vulgar “package-holiday” resorts it has become somewhat synonymous with are in a minority. Typical of this oasis are three of the most exquisite villages on the Costa Brava. Calella de Palafrugell, Llafranc and Tamariu and fortunately because of my partner's parents owning an apartment in Calella de Palafrugell we are able to visit regularly, allowing us to break up the 2,500 kilometer drive from Granada to Cheshire.

Having spent time in Calella de Palafrugell in each season of the year, early December is perhaps the most perfect time to experience the serenity and magnetism of the place. Blessed with blue skies, our walk to the utopia cove known as El Golfet beach on the southern side of Calella de Palafrugell was met only by a young Catalan, carelessly ambling across the empty white sands behind a dog excitedly exploring every rocky inlet and protruding pool.

Without any true coastal road, the winding coastal path that traverses from El Golfet to Calella's equally charming neighbouring town, Llafranc, is made from natural local resources, in keeping with the surroundings. The path steeply ascends pretty stone steps and descends around a string of coves with well-maintained mallorquinas (traditional fishing boats) orderly moored on the beaches. The whitewashed archways line the beachfront, bowing over the many elegant boutiques, bars and restaurants. In contrast to the simple white pueblo, the hillsides behind, stand rich and elaborate villas of rose, yellow and stone with impressive turrets and vibrant gardens, fringed by tropical cacti. Hundreds of tasteful terraces create magnificent vistas of the Mediterranean Sea and vertical, rocky cliffs of shimmering eucalyptus.

Ivy creeps up the walls of the flower-banked apartments, many of which belong to affluent Catalans who escape here for the weekend. Nests of green are repeated in endless variations with neatly pruned privet hedges resonant of an English country garden. It is the well thought out, subtle architecture and the dependence on gardening and trees, which enhances the nature and beauty of Calella de Palafrugell. High above the secluded bay of El Golfet are the Jardins de Cap Roig, a cliff top botanical garden displaying a wide variety of plants and trees indigenous to the Mediterranean, alongside species from all over the world. The gardens were started in 1927 by an exiled colonel from the Tsar's army and his aristocrat English wife.

Calella de Palafrugell

Development in this part of Spain has been low-key and low-rise, escaping mass tourism. By complete coincidence both my family and my partner's family visited Palafrugell and its surrounding areas many years ago. Because my grandfather worked for Transfesa, a Spanish exporting company, he brought my father on holiday to Tamariu in the 1950s. My partner's parents also came here in the 1960s, and fell in love with the place so much that they bought an apartment in Calella de Palafrugell thirty years later. On a recent visit to the area my Dad remarked how little had changed especially in Tamariu. Tamariu, whose name comes from the presence of many tamarind trees along the promenade, is a tiny fishing village and a secluded bay, emerging from a clearing of trees, north of Llafranc. The only real change my Dad noticed was the dual carriageway from Palafrugell to Calella de Palafrugell, which in the 1950s was a dirt track full of donkey carts. Even so, the dual carriageway is in harmony with the area, lined with trees and well-maintained gardens neatly trimmed in the central reservation.

With the snow-capped Pyrenees dazzling in the distance, the journey out of Calalla towards Palafrugell is stunning. The town of Palafrugell, four kilometers inland from Calella, does not quite have the elegance and grace of the coastal resort, but does possess character, maintaining a cluster of old streets and shops around its sixteenth century church. The town's famous son is the prolific Catalan writer Joseph Pla, who was one of the most popular Catalan writers of the twentieth century.

What I really like about this area are the hectares upon hectares of peaceful paths and trials through wild flower meadows and shady dense woods, set back in the forested outback. These networks of paths connect between the coastal villages and inland towns and are ideal for walking, cycling and horse riding. We often take the bikes the scenic route to get to Palafrugell and Palamos without using the car, but be warned it is very easy to get lost.

Llafranc

Palamos is a major port with one of the last remaining fishing fleets on this part of the Mediterranean coast, situated south of Calella de Palafrugell. Originally founded in 1277, Palamos has seen a rapid growth of tourism but its architecture has remained relatively unchanged. With plenty of good bars and restaurants surrounding the old port, Palamos has ample character and is well worth a visit.

Many Spaniards often talk of “Las Espanas”. Spain would not be the same without the distinct regionalism it proudly possesses, and each region providing different and fascinating landscapes. Having lived in Andalucia for four years, I have visited a lot of Spain. I love the vastness of the mountains and the gulch-like desert landscapes of Andalucia, but I have not come across any quite as beautiful a coastline as that of the Costa Brava.

However, it is unlikely that a place can possess the up-market affluence of Sussex, without the prices to match. House prices in Catalonia are high, being closer to those of England than other parts of Spain. A two-bedroom apartment in Calella de Palafrugell will set you back at least 300,000 Euros, for which you could own a four-bedroom villa in parts of Andalucia, a traditionally cheaper region of Spain. In all honesty, we would have relocated to the Costa Brava four years ago if we had been able to afford it. Having said that, it would be now hard to give up our six-bedroom Andalucian farmhouse for a pokey two-bedroom apartment, regardless on how stunning the vista may be.

This prosperity Catalonia possesses is a relic of the early industrial era when the region developed far more quickly than the rest of Spain. As the Catalans want to retain their independence, the Costa Brava preserves villages and towns unique and individual on a rolling coastline of immense natural beauty. Impeached by many as mass commercialism and vulgar, the real Costa Brava is a potency of charm without any pretension.

Twilight was approaching as we stopped at the harbour at Palamos. The evening was hazy and fuchsia-coloured, as delicate hues of purple slowly ran across the sea and sky, melting together like oil. The lights of the boats docked in the harbour winked back at the neon lights of Palamos, preparing for another evening's activity. We were reluctant to leave this captivating scene, but as the final hints of colour were replaced by blackness, we continued our long journey north.

Twilight at Palamos