One of the larger resorts north of Barcelona on the Maresme coast, Arenys is a popular place with…read morelocals in the summer, thanks to a long beach and a large harbour and marina. It's one of the more interesting resorts on this otherwise rather dull coast, though to be honest that is not saying much.
However, the main drawback is that the town is (alas) completely cut off from its beach by the combination of the busy N11 road and the railway line and station, which rather spoil the overall feel of the place, and certainly makes for a very unprepossessing welcome.
Cross the N11 and walk into town a little, and things pick up a bit: the older parts date from the 16th century, and consist of a group of narrow streets, with an 18th century watchtower, and a 16th century church. This is the town's main highlight, as the florid 18th century baroque altarpiece is reckoned to be one of the best pieces of this style of sculpture in Catalonia. It's situated off the tree-lined main street which leads from the seafront (it's known as the Riera - a sort of Rambla, but it's not quite as attractive as it sounds, thanks to lots of traffic and parked cars). Opposite the church, in a modernista-style building, is an impressive market selling fresh produce.
Other attractions include a museum of lace-making, and Los Baños de Can Titus, a spa hotel which offers various thermal treatments. Like most Catalan towns, there is a sprinkling of modernista-style buildings, though none is especially notable.
The harbour offers rather more attractive prospect, with a modern marina full of expensive yachts located next to the more traditional fishing port. The substantial daily catch supplies several good fish restaurants in the harbour area.
Practicalities
Arenys is under an hour from Barcelona by train on the suburban line north to Blanes, with trains every half hour off-peak, and every ten minutes in the rush hour. Tickets are very cheap - around EUR3 for an adult single.
By car, take the N11 north from Barcelona via Mataro, but, be warned that it is built up for almost the entire route, with concomitant endless speed restrictions, and traffic slows to a complete crawl at busy periods and weekends. A slightly less terrifying alternative is the C-32 motorway, but this also gets very busy, and coping with the poor lane discipline of other drivers which seems to plague this road, requires nerves of steel. Once you get there, there's an underground car park at the end of the Rambla. My advice would be to take the train...
Accommodation options include campsites (slightly out of town) and some traditional hotels and pensions in town. The majority of visitors are, however, day-trippers from Barcelona. Most package tourists will end up staying further north in the Costa Brava.
