A Word of Advice

If you're planning on spending some time in the woods, please be careful how you dispose of matches, cigarettes and glass bottles. During the summer the woods are tinder dry and fires can start extremely easily.

One of the main attractions of Sitges is the large number of clean sandy beaches (see map). Between the distinctive Parish Church at one end of the promenade and the Terramar Hotel at the other there are no fewer than nine breakwaters, with gently sloping golden beaches in between, most of which offer sunloungers for rent, showers and refreshment kiosks.

Although there is only one predominantly gay beach in the centre of town - La Platja de la Bossa Rodona, directly below the Picnic Restaurant on the seafront - in recent years it has begun to be colonised by straights and their families and overspill during the height of summer means that you will find gay men and women just about anywhere along the whole stretch.

If you can't find a place to tan your tush on the central beaches, then it's only a short walk beyond the church to Platja Sant Sebastià, Platja dels Balmins (for mixed nudey bathing) and Platja d'Aiguadolç.

But that's not all - if you want to get an all-over tan away from the gaze of gawping straight tourists and you're feeling energetic, it's worth the effort heading out to the nudist beaches beyond the Terramar Hotel.

The first of these, about a 10-minute walk from L'Atlàntida disco along the hilly coast and railway lines, is mixed. Here you will find a beach bar serving a range of snacks and drinks. The beach itself is part sand, part pebbles.

Further up, the second nudist beach at Cala del Home Mort (Dead Man's Beach) is almost exclusively gay male. It too has a small bar, but the beach itself can be uncomfortably pebbly, and unless you bring a big enough towel or rent a lounger you may spend the rest of your holiday removing small stones from every orifice.

Fortunately, there is a wooded area on the other side of the railway line which provides shelter from the sun and, if nothing else, serves as a secluded place where you can extract those pesky pebbles.

There are a number of ways to get to these beaches, including walking from town, taking the local Bus Urbà from the Station to the Hotel Terramar and then walking to L'Atlàntida and beyond, or splashing out on a taxi to L'Atlàntida disco (about €7) and then finishing the journey on foot.