Salou, Spain is it a dump?

UN Ops Cyprus

some Friends booked a week in Salou through a travel agent ( The agent saw them coming ) and i decided to tag along however i have been doing some reading online and getting alot of bad reviews and awful holiday tales of diaster. Has anyone been to Salou recently. Is it a complete dump as some stories have mentioned it is?. I am starting to think maybe i should pull out of the Holiday altogether. any info on the place would be great along with your experience there.

thanks

Redlimo

The place itself is a dump, but if you're willing/able to hire a car there are plenty of places worth a visit within easy driving distance. And portaventura is great for a day. Seven full days only in Salou will drag though.

UN Ops Cyprus

Great so will need to hire a car. whats the best beaches there, any good water sports places?

abouttobebanned

I lived there for a year...loved it.

Redlimo

Levant (or something like that!) is the main beach in the town and in fairness doesn't seem to lack for water sports. There's also a water park with slides and the like- worth a visit but bear in mind it will be the coldest water you'll be in all week! Barcelona is near enough for a day trip and if you're into historic stuff Tarragona is good. We drove up as far as Montserrat monastery, also pretty cool and good for a spot of hill walking if you like that.

scamalert

UN Ops Cyprus wrote: »

some Friends booked a week in Salou through a travel agent ( The agent saw them coming ) and i decided to tag along however i have been doing some reading online and getting alot of bad reviews and awful holiday tales of diaster. Has anyone been to Salou recently. Is it a complete dump as some stories have mentioned it is?. I am starting to think maybe i should pull out of the Holiday altogether. any info on the place would be great along with your experience there.

thanks

depends what you want to do there ?
Salou has best theme park in Europe especially with the new ride that reaches 130km/h in free fall and other more that take nearly two full days to get all the thrill of em.some hotels are crap others are great ,especially the closer ones to the sea,plenty of bars clubs and prices dont bite like here food is decent,also one of the better go kart tracks in Europe but very expensive.dont buy stuff on the streets as few meters away the price of same item could be more then half of it.Beaches are great and plenty of buses that go along the cost through all the towns on the way,only minus is that the place is riddle with Irish English tourists their bars and restaurants calling you in on every corner,but as suggested Barcelona is only 2-3hours away and plenty of surrounding areas to visit.

UN Ops Cyprus

Excellent thank you all for the information, i think a Day trip to the Nou camp might be in order.

harr

Have gone to salou twice 4 years apart,the first time we had a great time with the parks and salou its self was very family friendly but the second time around it had got very tacky and a lot more suited to a lads week away.
There is a area just outside salou called cambrils which is a lot more relaxed and it has a water park and a lovely beach and is the same distance to all the parks as salou and if you want to head into salou its only a 10 min bus ride.
The beaches in Salou are fine and there are plenty of good restaurants which are good value for family meals.
Plus one for Tarragona it a good day out away from the beaches

annieoburns

We were there many years ago a couple of times with young children and thought the place was lovely with fine promenade that had a music/light/water entertainment each evening and a beautifully maintained beach, hoovered ever night of fine sand. It was marred only by rough element of fellow holiday makers. One year we had inadvertantly clashed with UK May midterm week. Other plus point was closeness of airport (Reus?) that meant we might have not bothered with delay of package holiday coach as a taxi might have been good bet. We stayed in same place, a block from the seafront and had a fine apartment for first trip but not so nice/maintained on repeat trip 7 years later. Great weather both times, fine sea swimming....

finbarrk

Nothing wrong with Salou. We have been there a few times over the years. Plenty restaurants, bars, night clubs. Lovely beach too.

BlimpyBoy

Was in Salou two years ago. Plenty of decent pubs and clubs. You get a fair few club reps trying to talk you into places with free drinks but its no different from other places in Spain.

There's a restaurant called Uncle Sam's that does great surf and turf!

Port Aventura is definitely one of the best theme parks in Europe and also has a huge waterpark.

I'd go again.

Savman

Salou is considered a dump now? Compared to where exactly, Monte Carlo?? Miami Beach? Neilstown?

FWIW I was there twice, it was sunny, beachy and all the other things you'd associate with a Spanish costa. Nice enough place.

dodzy

Redlimo wrote: »

The place itself is a dump, but if you're willing/able to hire a car there are plenty of places worth a visit within easy driving distance. And portaventura is great for a day. Seven full days only in Salou will drag though.

Done 2 weeks there with the family a couple of years back. Grand place. Theme park is fab. Beaches super. Bars / food were plentiful. Weather fantastic. A Dump?? Bullsh1t.

mary21

i have been to this area 4 times, once for a 2 week family summer holiday when I stayed in Cambrills (resort next to salou) the other times were short holidays going to Portaventura in April and october. i stayed in Salou and in site in Portaventura.

I would see Salou as a bit grotty. it is handy if you want to visit the parks and it has a good beach. it is probably the place to go if you are looking for night life. but i would hate to stay here in the hight of summer.

for a family holiday i would stay in somewhere like cambrils(5k from salou ), i though it was more upmarket. it is just down the coast and a bus runs in to salou and the theme park.

tourist train to Barcelona well worth it at about 5 Euro going form salou or cambrils.

Daisy M

Honestly dont worry about it there are lots of nice hotels in Salou and even if it turns out yours is not that great you dont need to spend much time there anyway as there is so much to do.

I would reccommend a trip to Tarragona to see the roman ruins they are fab. You can buy T10 bus tickets for about 12e for a book. This entitles you to 10 bus rides in the salou, cap salou, cambrills, Tarragona area. You can buy them in the tobacco shops and it saves a bit of money if you use the bus a lot. This book can be shared between a grop and topped up for around 10e when used up.

The theme park and water park is great. We always stay in their hotels and spend a lot of time there. Dont try and do it in one day as you will miss out. There are lots of great shows to see and fab theming along with really good rides. Take a look on the Salou forum on tripadvisor for more ideas on things to do.

gerbilgranny

My last sun holiday was in Salou - 15 years ago - yikes! We used it as a base, and reckon we got excellent value. Took a bus to Barcelona - it was like a Bus Eireann sort of coach - scheduled service - cost very little and was really comfortable.

Barcelona was amazing. One of the best places I've ever visited.

The previous week we hired a car and went to Montserrat (think that's what it was called). That was lovely etc, but it's impressive what you can do via public transport and little cash.

Woo Woo

Anyone recommend a nice hotel in Salou/Cambrills (budget wont stretch to park hotels!)

xzanti

My Parents have just come back from a week in Salou and they loved it.. and they'd be fairly fussy tbh..

EdenHazard

its your typical solid spanish beach resort. Its got what you want if your looking for a great beach and awesome weather. wouldn't go back but not the worst place. just annoying is the english presence there

Mola1

I'm just back from salou and we had a great holiday, it's what you make it! The hotel we stayed in was beautiful as is the beach and a walk along the promenade at night is lovely there is some good shops along the way also however u do get the same annoying people as any tourist resort offering you sunglasses watches etc it was the only thing bothered me. As a previous poster said terragona,Cambrills and barcelona aren't too far away and are worth a visit. Portaventura is a good day out but I'd been there the year before so it was
abit repetitive. It all depends what you will be going for there is loads of good bars and restraunts in town also with entertainment at night! Don't worry it's not as bad as people make out iv been to quite a few tourist resorts and it's definitely not the worst. Enjoy your holiday

Daisy M

Woo Woo wrote: »

Anyone recommend a nice hotel in Salou/Cambrills (budget wont stretch to park hotels!)

Check out vil-la romana, it is outside salou and near the theme park. The las vegas hotel is nice, golden avienda is popular with families. The dorada palace and salauris palace get good reviews. For good prices on the theme park hotels check out www.thompsonsholidays.co.uk hotel only and www.portaventuraholidays.ie Also Cambrills park gets rave reviews.

mossy464

Thinking of going to Salou myself but the accomodation in Salou itself is a bit out of our budget.

Me and my girlfriend are in our early 20's so would be looking for good nightlife.

Can anyone say if it would be a pain staying in Cambrills and going into Salou for the nightlife?

i.e. Does the bus from Cambrills to Salou run all night?

Daisy M

Mossey I don't know if the buses run through the night. Which hotels have you been looking at in Salou? Try Thompsons for accomodation also portaventuraholidays.ie . There are a few threads on the tripadvisor salou forum at the moment covering where to find budget price accomodation.

shadowcomplex

How does salou compare to magaluf