Pineda de Mar is the last town of the Maresme — the stretch of coast running north out of Barcelona — and the one thing worth knowing before anything else is that the train stops there.
That makes it a beach day you can do without a car, which puts it in a very small category.
The essentials
- Where: the Maresme coast, north of Barcelona. Blanes, a few kilometres further on, is where the Costa Brava starts — Pineda is the town just before it
- Distance: about 55 km from Barcelona
- By train: the R1 from Plaça de Catalunya, Arc de Triomf or Clot-Aragó. Roughly an hour, and the line runs along the sea for most of it
- By car: about 50 minutes.
- Parking: free, right in front of the beach
- Best for: a proper beach day rather than sightseeing
Maresme or Costa Brava? The difference matters
Almost every English-language article about this coast calls everything north of Barcelona “the Costa Brava”. It’s worth knowing the difference, because it tells you what kind of day you’re going to get.
- The Maresme runs from Barcelona up to Blanes. Long, wide, open sand beaches. The R1 railway runs the whole length of it, often within metres of the water. This is the coast Barcelona families actually use, and you can reach it on a travel card
- The Costa Brava starts at Blanes and runs to the French border. Coves, pine-covered cliffs, no railway. Beautiful, and you need a car
Pineda de Mar is Maresme, and that’s the good news: it means a train, not a hire car. If you want coves, go further north to the Costa Brava proper.
The beach
A wide open Maresme beach with plenty of room, and the two things that decide whether a beach day with children works:
- Free parking directly in front of the beach. On this coast that’s worth a lot — in summer you still want to arrive in the morning
- Space. Maresme beaches are long rather than pretty, which means you can put your towel somewhere without negotiating
Where to eat — the beach bar
Xiringuito L’Escora is a beach bar right on the sand, and it does the thing that makes a Catalan beach day worth the trip: proper paella and fideuà, eaten a few metres from the water.
If you only know paella, fideuà is the same dish made with short noodles instead of rice — and on this coast it’s frequently the better order. Seafood, cooked in the same wide pan, and Catalans eat rather more of it than they do paella.
A note on paella generally: paella is Valencian, not Catalan, and the best versions on this coast are the seafood ones at places like this rather than anything on La Rambla.
Sailing — the thing nobody expects
This is the part of Pineda de Mar that genuinely surprised us, and the reason the post exists.
Base Nàutica Pineda de Mar hires out catamarans. Around €60 an hour for the boat — which sounds like a lot until you divide it: four people is €15 each, for an hour on a catamaran on the Mediterranean.
Compare that with almost anything ticketed in Barcelona and it’s remarkable value. It is also the sort of thing children remember for years, which is not true of most museums.
A small piece of trivia we’re quite proud of: the main photograph on the sailing company’s Google Maps listing is one of ours.
What else there is
We first came for a company beach party, and the kit that was set out that day is a fair guide to what the beach supports:
- Water-splash play equipment for toddlers
- An inflatable castle
- Banana boat rides — ours were 10 and 11 and this was the highlight of their day
- Beach volleyball
- Salsa classes on the sand
Some of that was laid on for the event rather than permanently there, so don’t arrive expecting an inflatable castle. What it tells you is that this is a beach set up for activity — banana boats and the like operate along this coast in season.
Is it worth the trip from Barcelona?
Honestly: for a beach day, yes — and mainly because of the train.
Pineda de Mar has no old quarter, no monument and nothing to visit. It’s a beach town, and the article that tells you otherwise is selling you something. What it has is a wide beach, free parking, a beach bar that cooks properly, catamarans at €15 a head, and a railway station.
Come here if: you want a real beach day out of Barcelona without hiring a car, you’d like to eat fideuà on the sand, and you have children who’d rather be in the sea than in a museum.
Go elsewhere if: you want coves and cliffs (that’s the Costa Brava), or you want a town with something to look at (Tossa de Mar).
Closer options: El Masnou is on the same R1 line and much nearer, and Barcelona has its own beaches if you don’t want a train at all.
All our days out of Barcelona, compared.
Frequently asked questions
How do you get to Pineda de Mar from Barcelona?
Take the R1 train from Plaça de Catalunya, Arc de Triomf or Clot-Aragó. It takes about an hour and the line runs along the sea for most of the way. By car it is roughly 50 minutes, with a toll of around €4 on the fast route, and there is free parking directly in front of the beach.
Is Pineda de Mar on the Costa Brava?
No. Pineda de Mar is the last town of the Maresme coast. The Costa Brava begins a few kilometres further north at Blanes. The difference matters in practice: the Maresme has long open sand beaches and a railway running along it, while the Costa Brava has coves and cliffs and needs a car.
How far is Pineda de Mar from Barcelona?
About 55 kilometres by road, which is roughly 50 minutes by car or an hour on the R1 train.
Can you hire a boat in Pineda de Mar?
Yes. Base Nàutica Pineda de Mar hires out catamarans. When we went it was around €60 an hour for the boat, which split between four people works out at about €15 each for an hour on the water. Check current prices before you go.
Where do you eat on the beach in Pineda de Mar?
Xiringuito L’Escora is a beach bar on the sand that does proper paella and fideuà. Fideuà is the same dish made with short noodles instead of rice, and on this coast it is often the better order.
Is there free parking in Pineda de Mar?
Yes, free parking directly in front of the beach. In summer you still want to arrive in the morning.
Very usefull information. Thank you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Thank you Beatrice!
