Sitges Beaches: Sun Sand & Sangria!

So you've poked your nose in the Church of Sant Bartomeu on the promontory, and you've feigned an interest in the art work on display at the Cau Ferrat... Now that the culture is out of the way you can start to enjoy what you really came to Sitges for: the beaches.

There's seventeen of them in total (in case you haven't already been told a thousand times) with eleven them counting as urban beaches, and the rest just about in walking distance too. With cleaner sands and clearer water than Barcelona up the road, these natural beaches appeal not just to the residents of Sitges but to city slickers from the Catalan capital, and of course tourists from every corner of the world. Even the odd celebrity is known to have descended on Sitges' golden sands, including the rather sexy Heather Graham (sadly she came with her boyfriend, otherwise we at Sitges Life would have swept her off her feet of course!).

With such a large number of beaches on offer, fussy sand-dwellers are sure to find one worthy of their towel, whether they are looking for a friendly family-orientated beach to go paddling and grab an ice-cream, or a gay beach where hunky toy boys strut around in tight-fitting speedos - or less. Many of Sitges beaches are nudist after all. Below we list some of the more popular places.

Platja Sant Sebastia
On the east of the Baluard headland, Sant Sebastia is an isolated beach right below the Old Town and as such popular with tourists and local kids of all ages. Behind the beach a number of laidback restaurants and cocktail bars do a thriving trade in mojitos and snacks.

Platja de la Fragata
The first of the 11 Western beaches that stretch right up to the Terramar Hotel, La Fragata is located directlyt underneath Sitges Church and is popular with youngsters on account of its volleyball nets (which are often used for beach tennis as well). Pedalo are also available for hire if you're coming to Sitges with kids.

Platja de la Ribera
The next beach along to the West is La Ribera was is the first nice and open stretch of the sand in this direction. If you're not too comfortable with complete nudity you'll find most people keep a little something covering their modesty. La Ribera is very popular so you may have to fight for a sun lounger.

Platja de la Rodona
Topographically speaking La Rodona is very similar to the adjacent La Ribera - ie. long and thin - but demographically it's a bit different. La Rodona is Sitges' main gay beach, and this stretch of sand is full to bursting with gym-primed pecs and taut Brazilian-style trunks.

Platja dels Balmains
Follow the train of gay men and couples eastwards to reach this more secluded beach, which is one further than San Sebastian. Backed up by rocks, rather than hotels/flats it's the perfect place to let it all hang out - which is what most of the sun bathers and swimmers here do. Probably the most popular nudist beach in Sitges, although as ever there's still a mix of gay/straight and nudist/non-nudists.

Right, that's another sun sea and sand for you for now... we'll round up the best of the rest shortly!