We arrived in Besalu early in the morning. From my experience it's the best time to visit relatively popular places, especially in mid summer - it gives you time to take in the atsmophere of the town, while enjoying a relatively cool morning breeze. And most importantly, it gives you a couple of hours before the tourist masses storm the gates.
Especially in Spain, this is quite worthwhile as it doesn't require you to get up at dawn. In most places you will be relatively undisturbed until almost 10 am (the Spanish lifestyle is a bit shifted - late nights, long mornings and a siesta in between). Also, the amount of tourists that might show up later in the day, especially during peak season, can be quite overwelming.
Besalu in an old Spanish township situated close to Catalunya's border with France. Serving as a gate to it's inner center, the most striking feature of this medieval town is without a doubt the Romanesque 12th century bridge spanning over the Fluvia river.
But the the rest of the town is just as impressive. Besalu had almost no expansion since it was founded, leaving it's original design almost completely preserved. There are no newly built structures worth mentioning, and most of the older buildings give the impression that they haven't been touched since the middle ages.
We had a great time wandering around the old streets, enjoying drinks and snacks in the cafes nearby. There are a couple of nice shops around town as well, selling all kinds of vintage looking or leather bound articles. I suggest windows shopping though, unlike the rest of the city the prices here are quite modern.
