Catalonia & the Pyrenees Best - Discover Spain: Experience the Best of Spain - page 195

( www.mjc.cat ; Carrer de Sant Pere 1; adult/child €5/free; 10am-7pm Mon-Sat,
11am-6pm Sun Jun-Sep, shorter hr rest of yr) Spain's only toy museum has more
than 3500 Catalonia- and Valencia-made toys from the pre-Barbie doll 19th and
early 20th centuries. The Groucho Marx doll is an odd one!

Sleeping & Eating
Most people treat Figueres as a day trip from the coast, and unless you're a diehard
Dalí fan who really wants to get under the skin of the town to see if you can work
out what made the man tick, we recommend you do the same. If you do choose to
stay, there are around two dozen generally uninspiring but fair-priced places about
town.

MAS PAU €€
( 972 54 61 54; www.maspau.com ; Avinyonet de Puigventós; s/d €88/110;
) Four kilometres west of Figueres along the road to Besalú, Mas Pau is an en-
chanting country hotel-restaurant, created inside the rough-hewn stone of a 16th-
century masia, and set amid soothing gardens. The Michelin-starred restaurant
(meals €60 to €85; open Wednesday to Saturday, lunch only Sunday, dinner only
Sunday in summer) has a great local reputation and offers elegant dishes based on
local products and traditions.

Boutique Hotel

HOTEL DURÁN €€
( 972 50 12 50; www.hotelduran.com ; Carrer de Lasauca 5; d from €79; ) In
business since the mid-19th century (on the site, it is said, of a wayside inn as far
back as the 17th century), this hotel offers comfortable rooms with modern decorat-
ive touches (all soft beiges, browns and white), satellite TV and hairdryers in the
bathroom. The dining room of the attached restaurant is like a royal banquet hall
and the chairs like something from Alice in Wonderland, all of which helps make the
€18 lunch menu well worth partaking in.

Hotel

Information
Tourist office ( 972 50 31 55; www.figueresciutat.com , in Catalan; Plaça del Sol;
9am-8pm Mon-Sat, 10am-2pm Sun Jul-Sep, shorter hr rest of yr) Hours can be unpredictable.

Getting There & Away