A scenic drive to Cap de Creus Lighthouse, an inspiration to Dali
Cap de Creus Lighthouse is located in a peninsula in the Alt Empordà comarca, in the province of Girona, at the far northeast of Catalonia, in northern Spain The nature has created here a scenery that is marvelous and other-worldly. The road pierces crazily tilted rocks and tapers to a single lane leading across a narrow isthmus.
Located on the Costa Brava of the Mediterranean Sea, the road to the lighthouse is called the Cami Antic 'the old coastal path'. It’s a single bitumen but very narrow coastal road to the easternmost point of mainland Spain. Not recommended to novice drivers. Situated 87 metres above sea level, the lighthouse was built in 1853 under the reign of Isabel II. Along the road you can see how the natural park landscape is shaped by the north wind; a cold wind and very turbulent present around. In 1971 the film The light at the End of the World, starring Kirk Douglas, was shot here and a fake lighthouse had to be built, only to be later destroyed.
Starting from Port Lligat a small coastal village north of Cadaqués, the road to the lighthouse is 5.6 km (3.47 miles) long. There's a restaurant inside the building of the lighthouse, located somewhere between the earth and the sea and offering a landscape of incomparable diversity and beauty. The peninsula is made up of the rocks of a mountain chain formed 400 million years ago. Parking space is quite small, but it's easy to wait that someone leave, as most visitors don't spend much time here. If you don't feel like risky, park on a road before reaching the parking lot--once parked cars become dense enough.
The area offers fascinating dives. The lighthouse sends his signals flashing twice every 10 seconds. The landscape headland was an inspiration to Salvador Dali, who made his home in a nearby bay. If you do not have a car, you can get here by a tourist train, which during the Summer season goes several times a day to the Cap de Creus and back.