Cambrils, Spain – An Essential Travel Guide for 2025

Cambrils is a fishing town on the Costa Dorada in Catalonia, Spain, 115km from Barcelona and 7km from the popular resort town of Salou. Its two main areas are the restaurant-lined marina and the much quieter old town. Although less popular than some neighbouring resorts, Cambrils’ location on the Costa Dorada means it boasts some of the best beaches in Europe. Social media is awash with pictures of the pretty marina but is there more to this resort than its collection of boats?

Read below to find out!

• Currency – Euro
• Language – Spanish but locals speak fluent English
• Time – One hour ahead of Ireland
• Plugs – Type F plug (the 2-prong rounded one) so be sure to pack an adaptor
• Cash or Card – Card is commonly accepted and ATMs are everywhere should you need cas
• Public Toilets – Common along the beach and free to use
• Tipping – Not always expected but certainly always appreciated

Reus Airport (REU) is the nearest airport to Cambrils (20 minute drive) but flights here can be expensive because it is relatively small. It is more common to fly to Barcelona Airport (BCN) which is a 2hrs 35mins trip from Dublin. Barcelona Airport is pleasant to navigate but queues can be lengthy at times. There are two terminals, with most short-haul airlines flying from Terminal 2. This is likely where you will be heading for your return flights to Dublin.

Find Cheap Flights to Barcelona

If you don’t hire a car then you have four methods of reaching Cambrils from the airport. Avoid getting a taxi however, due to the high costs.

By Bus: Plana run a direct bus to Cambrils from the airport for €20. The bus departs T1 which you can reach from T2 via a free shuttle bus. Although tickets can be bought at machines beside the bus stops we recommend buying them online through the below link instead. The trip takes 2 hours 10 minutes.

Buy Plana Bus Tickets

By Train: Cambrils Train Station serves the Barcelona to Valencia line but it can’t be reached directly from the airport. Instead, catch the metro from the airport to reach Barcelona Sants Train Station in 20 minutes. These metros depart the airport every 7 minutes and cost less than €5. Once there you can board a number of different trains that will have you in Cambrils in around 1 hour 20 minutes.

Buy Renfe Train Tickets

By Private Transfer: If you booked a package holiday then we recommend booking transfers, which are great value here compared to places like Sorrento. You will typically arrive at your hotel in around 1 hour and 20 minutes. We book our package holidays through OnTheBeach.ie who offer affordable transfers for Cambrils.

Check out our Travel Guide to Sorrento

There are plenty of great accommodation choices. We usually use OnTheBeach.ie to book our package deals because they are unmatched for price in Ireland at the moment for everything from all-inclusive packages to cheap stays at three star hotels and apartments.

Given that this resort is very quiet, we recommend picking a holiday resort a little further from town such as the Cambrils Park Resort. Designed so that you need never leave, the park features restaurants, bars, cafés, shops, four amazing swimming pools and plenty of luscious green areas for wandering.

Although it’s an hour’s walk to the town’s main area, it’s only 15 minutes from an amazing beach and the town can easily be reached in 10 minutes via taxi. It’s also handily located on the Salou side of Cambrils meaning you can access both resorts easily.

Check out the Cambrils Park Resort

This town is known as the culinary capital of the Costa Dorada due to its extraordinary seafood. Prices are very reasonable and you can easily enjoy a fancy meal for two for €50. There is a McDonalds on the eastern side of the town for those pickier eaters but for quality seafood head to somewhere like Acuamar at the port.

For dessert grab yourself some gelato at one of the many ice-cream shops near the marina.

Hot Beverages: Unlike neighbouring Salou, there are actually plenty of nice little cafés around here. Head a little further inland from the port to find coffee shops and bakeries, many of which serve delicious brews.

Alcohol: Drink is really cheap, with a local beer costing around €3. The beach bars or ‘chiringuitos’ offer cocktails but at a similar price to Ireland.

The town doesn’t have a great bar scene compared to resorts like Salou. The old town area has many authentic Spanish Bars where the locals like to congregate whereas the port area is aimed more towards tourists. There are no Irish bars and most of the British bars have closed down, with places like Molly Malones and the Rugby Tavern closer to Salou than Cambrils.

The area doesn’t really cater to younger visitors hoping to head partying and it is much more common to drink while dining. It doesn’t have a strip or nightclubs so party goers will have to head to Salou for these.

Sangria: Sangria is on almost every menu here. This tasty mixture of red wine and fruits is very popular with tourists and we highly recommend giving it a try while you are here. Save money by buying a bottle in one of the supermarkets because this is what most of the bars are serving you anyway.

From June to August the weather is glorious, with temperatures often upwards of 30 degrees. It gets busy but it doesn’t experience the mad peak season crowds that tend to blight other resorts. All of its amenities are still open in May and September but the weather can be unpredictable with rainfall a little more frequent. This time of year is cheaper to travel but draws a much older crowd.

Travel on Foot: Cambrils can be roughly broken up into two main areas; the port and the old town. The shops and restaurants of the marina can easily be explored on foot. The pretty streets of the old town area are beautiful to explore on foot also but this area is 1km inland, which is a a trek for older visitors.

Public Transport: Public transport is cheap and easy to find. There are plenty of cheap taxis around the resort and the bus company Plana connects it to Barcelona, Tarragona and Salou.

We recommend buying a T10 card for around €15 because the bus drivers don’t seem to want cash. The card gets you 10 trips at a discounted rate and you just tap it when you board the bus. You can even tap it multiple times for different travellers so there’s no need to buy multiple cards. You’ll find the cards at any of the Plana offices dotted around Salou and Cambrils.

Check out our Travel Guide to Salou

Vehicle Hire: There aren’t many car hire providers in Cambrils so if you need one head to nearby Salou instead. Good public transport options means there is thankfully no need to hire a car in our opinion. One of the nicest things to do here however is to rent a bicycle and cycle to Salou for the day. Bikes are very cheap to rent and the entire journey is coastal, offering gorgeous views of the sea.

Cheap Bicycle Rentals in Cambrils

The beaches in Cambrils are among the best in Europe for soft golden sands and calm waters. Away from the beaches the atmosphere is very relaxed as older couples stroll through the quiet streets around the port or the serene passageways of the old town.

The Passeig de Miramar is the promenade running along the Cambrils Marina. This is where most of the touristy restaurants are located and directly behind this street you’ll find the town’s main shopping areas. It’s a relaxing place for an evening stroll when music spills onto the streets from its restaurants.

The Parque Del Pescador or Fisherman’s Park is a large park near the Cambrils marina featuring playgrounds, a pond, a café and a stage that regularly hosts Spanish classical music performances. It’s a really peaceful place to sit and watch the world go by.

The red lighthouse is considered symbolic in Cambrils and sits at the end of a pier off the marina. Although the leisurely stroll to the lighthouse offers some gorgeous views, the structure itself isn’t much to behold. The area is well lit at night so this is probably the most vibey time to visit it.

The town has 9 blue flag beaches, each of them stunning in their own right, but head to the Salou side of the resort (the east) to find the most popular ones. The main beach, the 1.2km long Platja Del Regueral, is in the centre of the resort and features shallow waters, golden sands, sunbed rentals and plenty of shops and restaurants nearby. Although a busy beach by Cambrils’ standards, it doesn’t get uncomfortably thronged and is a stunning place for a stroll after dark.

The cobbled old town is the most beautiful part of Cambrils and El Carrer Major is its prettiest street. Residents here take great pride in the street’s beauty and you will easily recognise it for the lovely flowers on display.

This walled area is 1km inland and is quite a walk for the elderly from the marina. You’ll know you have reached it when you come across the gorgeous old gates, or nucli antics. The entire old town is a fantastic glimpse into traditional Spanish life and is very much untouched by tourism.

Cambrils isn’t the melting pot of nationalities that some of its Costa Dorada neighbours are, with many visitors being older couples from inland Spain. The marina area feels like more of a fishing village than a resort and the old town is even sleepier! You won’t find a huge selection of shops selling swimming floats or restaurants with annoying greeters outside them here.

Cambrils isn’t about partying – it is about relaxing and appreciating the Spanish way of life, with the town almost completely dead around midday as locals head for their traditional siestas, unlike in touristy resorts nearby.

You probably won’t leave here having made new friends in pubs but you will leave it refreshed and ready to attack life again!

Of the multiple blue flag beaches in Cambrils Regueral Beach is the best to visit with its 1km of pure golden sands and clear waters. The warm Mediterranean Sea is shallow here so the waves are relatively small, making it a great place to head with children. Despite being the busiest of the beaches, it rarely gets overcrowded and the area is cleaned each morning.

Superb facilities include lifeguards, playgrounds, sun loungers, toilets and showers. You can make use of the fun inflatable water park offshore or head to the Club Nautic nearby to try your hand at water sports.

The beach is also tremendously accessible. It is fronted by a wide promenade and there is a ramp to the sea for those with accessibility issues. Keep an eye out for the amphibious wheelchair sites, where trained professionals help those with reduced mobility enjoy the water.

The bustling resort of Salou is just 7km from Cambrils and the flat cycling lanes mean it can be reached in 20 minutes on a bicycle. You’ll want to allow much more than 20 minutes though as you make regular stops along the seaside route to admire the Mediterranean Beauty.

Once you reach Salou you will have no end of places to visit. Check out the buzzy Llevant Beach with its incredible beach bars, or the more relaxed sites of the traditional Carrer de Barcelona area. Chain your bicycle up and walk down the Carrer de Saragossa, grabbing some gelato and making use of the indoor arcades on this busy street.

Aim to return around sunset to experience the serenity of the sea views while the wind blows in your face. Then, wake up tomorrow and do it all again!

Parc Sama is an exotic 14 hectare garden built in 1881 located 5km from Cambrils. The park is brimming with rare flowers, lime trees, old palaces, bridges, caves and romantic gardens, some of which were designed by Antoni Gaudi himself! It also has its own zoo and aviary where you can see a variety of plants and animals.

In its heyday this was a stunning place to head for an idyllic wander on a sunny day with family. Nowadays the park has fallen into disrepair slightly, with some areas very poorly maintained and many of the animal enclosures quite murky.

Parc Sama can be reached from via a Plana bus and tickets cost €12 for an adult while entry is free for children under 7.

Buy Parc Sama Tickets

You can’t visit the Catalonia region without spending a day in beautiful Barcelona, reachable from Cambrils via a Plana bus day trip excursion for €29. The bus excursion gives you some free time to explore but if you want to make the most of the visit make the 90 minute train journey yourself instead!

There is too much to Barcelona to cover here in detail so check out our full travel guide to Barcelona. Below are some of the highlights.

Read our Travel Guide to Barcelona

Barcelona’s most unmissable attraction is Antoni Gaudi’s La Sagrada Familia, the largest unfinished gothic church in the world. Admission tickets cost around €34 with an audio guide and are worth every cent.

Purchase La Sagrada Familia Tickets

Next head to Park Guell, a Gaudi designed park, that costs €13.50 and treats you to mesmerising views of Barcelona. The colourfully tiled buildings are instantly recognisable as Gaudi’s work and he actually lived here for over 19 years. Allow yourself at least an hour and a half to explore here.

Purchase Park Guell Entrance Tickets

Visit the bustling La Boqueria, Barcelona’s world famous market, just off the city’s 1.2km long main street La Rambla to buy some crafts and delicious grub. Then head over to the Gothic Quarter to marvel at its gorgeous narrow streets and stunning facades. You’ll also find the Cathedral de Barcelona here, where the archbishop of Barcelona sits. Entrance tickets for the cathedral cost around €14.

Portaventura World is a famous theme park resort located just outside of Salou and around 13km from Cambrils. Although taxis are the quickest means of getting here, they can be costly so catch a Plana bus outside the Club Nautic instead.

The site consists of two theme parks and Caribe Aquatic Park. Spain’s first theme park, Port Aventura Park, is the star of the show here with over 5km of heart-stopping rollercoasters! It opens daily from 10:30am to 10:30pm and features six fun worlds showcasing over 40 attractions. The most celebrated attractions include the 135km/h Furius Baco rollercoaster and the Hurakan Condor tower drop, which can be seen for miles around.

The place is incredibly busy during the summer when queues for rides can be over an hour long, so arrive early! There are lots of restaurants and shops onsite but their prices can be ridiculously expensive.

One day tickets cost €52 and do not allow access to the other parks, so if you plan on seeing more than one buy a combination ticket below.

Buy Port Aventura Park Entrance Tickets

Buy Port Aventura and Ferrari Land Combined Tickets

PortAventura’s second theme park is dedicated to the Italian motorsport giants Ferrari. The park opens from 2pm until 10pm each day and features shows and rides as well as expensive shops and restaurants. The catch here is that you will have to pay for many of the rides on top of the ticket price!

One day tickets cost €19 and do not allow access to the other parks. You can skip the entrance line by buying your ticket below.

Unless you have children with you there is no need to visit both Ferrari Land and Port Aventura Park in our opinion

Buy Ferrari Land Entrance Tickets

You can skip Ferrari Land if tight for time but make sure to visit the brilliant Caribe Aquatic Park at Port Aventura World. From 10:30am to 6:30p daily this 50,000 square meter water park offers electrifying slides, wave pools, rapids and plenty of children’s attractions.

As with many water parks, the queues can be agonisingly long and there are few shaded areas to escape the sun on a hot day. The queues can really ruin your day if you don’t arrive early. The restaurants and shops here are also extremely expensive.

One day tickets cost €33 for Caribe Aquatic Park and do not give access to the other parks.

Purchase Tickets for Caribe Aquatic Park

The compact city of Tarragona is around 22 kilometres from Cambrils and can easily be explored on foot. The roman architecture of Tarragona’s streets and buildings is a sight to behold in itself, meaning there is no need to spend much money during your visit.

Visit the Tarragona Market for a coffee (or a wine) before browsing the crafts at its many stalls. Head to the city’s main street La Rambla Nova for its shops and restaurants. This 160 year-old 1km street is pedestrianised and offers a lovely stroll from the city centre to the sea. Head inland along La Rambla Nova to find the Roman Walls of Tarragona’s Old Town. These are the oldest Roman construction still standing outside Italy.

Since its construction in 1334 Tarragona Cathedral has been the largest cathedral in the whole of Catalonia and it perches imposingly atop the acropolis hill.

Check out the famous Circ Roma, the open-air and underground ruins of a Roman Circus. From its summit you will get wonderful views of Tarragona and its Roman Amphitheatre. Make the short stroll from here to the Roman Amphitheatre, which sits against the backdrop of the sea. The amphitheatre is open to visitors from 9:30am to 9pm most days.

Purchase Tarragona Cathedral Entrance Tickets