Salou

Introduction

Sunset in Salou

© cpt.grace

Salou is on the Spanish Costa Dorada in the region of Catalonia. It's a seaside town popular with tourists because of it's extensive array of bars and clubs.

Sights and Activities

Apart from the excellent nightlife and several sandy beaches, the nearby Port Aventura theme park is the biggest attraction.

Getting There

By Plane

Reus Airport is the main gateway. Ryanair flies to/from Alghero, Birmingham, Bournemouth, Bristol, Brussels-Charleroi, Dublin, East Midlands, Eindhoven, Frankfurt-Hahn, Glasgow-Prestwick, Liverpool, London-Luton, London-Stansted, Marrakech, Memmingen, Nador, Palma de Mallorca, Paris-Beauvais, Poznan, Santander, Santiago de Compostela, Seville and Weeze (near Düsseldorf). Thomas Cook Airlines and Thomson Airways have many flights to British destinations like Belfast, Cardiff, Leeds, Sheffield, Dublin, Aberdeen, London and Birmingham. Cork and Bucharest have direct flights as well to Reus Airport.

Barcelona Airport (BCN) is the second biggest airport in Spain and the 9th biggest airport in Europe. It handles over 30 million of passengers every year and it is perfectly connected to the other main European airports by direct flights operated by either low cost airlines or regular ones. It is about 75 kilometres from Salou, or about an hour travel time.

Drink

Undoubtedly one of the biggest attractions of this little town is the nightlife, and there are pubs, bars and clubs in abundance. If you have a few nights in Salou, the best approach is to wander the streets near the beachfront and look out for the best deals on drinks when you get there. There will be people trying to lure you into their venues with offers of free shots or cocktails, but this doesn't always guarantee it'll be a good place.

Sleep

Upscale

Keep Connected

Internet

Internet is widely available within Spain. Most airports have wifi-zones and in most towns there are internet cafés or shops where you can use internet for a fixed price. Wi-Fi points in bars and cafeterias are available after ordering, and most hotels offer Wi-Fi connection in common areas for their guests.

Phone

See also: International Telephone Calls

The international access code for Spain is +34. The emergency number for police, ambulance and the fire brigade is 112.

In cities you can find plenty of public phones, and 'locutorios'. The latter are small shops where you can use the phone and use internet. Most of them also sell prepaid cards for mobile telephones. These shops are used a lot by foreigners to call to their mother country.

The main mobile network operators in Spain are Yoigo, Vodafone, Movistar and Orange, as in most of Europe voice and data coverage is generally good in urban areas however it can be patchy in rural locations. Cheap mobile phones (less than €50) with some pre-paid minutes are sold at FNAC or any phone operator's shop (Vodafone, Movistar, Orange). Topping-up is then done by buying scratch cards from the small stores, supermarkets, vending points (often found in tobacco shops) or kiosks.

Post

If you want to post a card, you can head to the post office (Correos). The Spanish post is not yet as efficient as colleagues in other countries so receiving a card can take a bit longer than the number of days that it should take. On the website of Correos, you can find the locations of nearby post offices.
Post offices are generally open from 8:30am to 2:00pm, although times will vary according to the size of the city/town and the main post offices might be open until the early evening. Most will also open again on Saturday mornings, but in the smaller towns will close as early as 12 noon. When posting a letter, look for a yellow box and, if possible, post at the post office itself where there will also be divisions for local, national and international mail. Be prepared for long queues at the post office. This is why tobacco shops sell stamps and many will also have the facility to weigh packages. Standard letters/postcards of up to 20 grams sent within Spain are €0.34. However, non-standard letters/postcards of up to 20g are €0.39. Letters/postcards of 20 to 50 grams are €0.45. In the case of international shipping, the price is €0.64 to most countries within Europe for standard envelopes (letters/postcards) up to 20g, for a few European countries and outside Europe it is €0.78. If you want to send a package you are probably better off with a private courier company like TNT, DHL or UPS, as they offer quick and reliable services against competitive prices.