Dali's costa bravo: The craggy stretch of Spain full of strange and inspiring sights

 You need a pretty good imagination to see the form of an animal shaped out of a heap of crumbly rocks. It’s like spotting objects in clouds — you either see something, or you don’t.
‘There’s a moose head!’ yells my wife, Sarah. ‘And a turtle,’ points my mum, Christine. ‘Oh yes,’ I nod. I can’t see anything, of course, other than a big old cracked rock. My dad Bob remains wisely silent.

Slice of culture: The port town of Cadaques, once described by Salvador Dali as 'the loveliest place in the world'

There are dozens of these animal-like rock formations on this stretch of the Costa Brava, a desolate 6km-long spur called Cap de Creus. It’s the most easterly point in Spain - and is marked by a stubby lighthouse.

My wife, six-month-old son Will and I were here as part of a week exploring this haggard, overlooked stretch of coast. We’d also invited my parents.
‘It will be like a Spanish fly-drive holiday,’ I said. Though I’m sure they realised what I actually meant was: ‘It would be great if you could come and babysit.’
Having flown in to Barcelona, our base for the week was a villa in the town of Roses, an hour and a half’s drive north. Villa Margarita is glamorously perched high on a hill overlooking the bay of Roses and the mountains beyond. The windows of the top-floor master bedroom give a panorama of the bay.
It must be what standing on top of a lighthouse feels like. It’s quiet, with sprawling outside balconies and mercifully big enough so that when Will spent the night screaming with teething pains, the whole household wasn’t woken. There are vast communal areas, including a swanky modern kitchen for family meals.

A good egg: The Teatre-Museu at Figueres, Spain, which houses much of the art and sculpture of Salvador Dali

Helpfully, owners Diane and Clive were a fount of expertise on the local area - recommending walks and little medieval towns worth visiting. One tip was to explore the hill on which the villa is perched. Ten minutes from the front door and you’re walking along stone paths with rock menhirs and little stone hut dolmens, dating from 3000BC.
Roses itself is a pleasant, functional place with a plentiful supply of seafood restaurants and enormous sandy beaches. The town marks the end of the bar-lined party towns to the south and the start of a more serene and craggy coastline.
There’s a bustling indoor food market, and seafront cafes selling delicious finger-sized doughnuts called churros, which are served with hot chocolate. The historic centre is the 16th century ciutadella - a dilapidated fort, currently being restored and largely out of bounds for now.
More rewarding was the string of little coves to the north of town. The trek between them around the headlands was an unchallenging afternoon walk, even for grandparents and with a small child strapped to my back, but you need a car to discover the true beauty of this coast.

Surreal thing: Salvador Dali produced some of his finest work on the Costa brava

A 13km drive along a perilously winding road is the town of Cadaques, which sits on a pretty bay. Wobbly, pushchair unfriendly, slate tiles are dug in to the footpaths, making the crooked streets appear all the more ramshackle.
These paths loop around in front of the town that’s marked by a series of distinctive, ornate houses. Outside the Café de la Habana all becomes clear. ‘These homes belong to Americanos, our name for people who moved here from Cuba,’ explained a local.
Cadaques is a peaceful place to while away a day, but the real  reason we came was to make the short walk over a steep hill to the charming hamlet of Port Lligat.
There on a beachfront that looks as though it has remained unchanged for a century is the house where Salvador Dali lived with his wife Gala.

It’s as quirky as you would expect and, creditably, is presented as though Dali has just left - and was about to return from the local moustache twirler at any moment. There are some original works of art, and a rude-shaped swimming pool.
For those on the Dali trail, this complements a trip to his museum in Figueres, a  20-minute drive inland.
After spending half a day shopping and eating tapas, we hit the museum which is at the heart of this bustling town.

Peaceful: Cadagues is a slice of Spanish Costa life at its quietest

This is where the true scale of Dali’s bonkers-ness comes to life. Yet scattered among sculptures made of tyres, holograms, surreal masterpieces and art that plays tricks on your eye are some very ordinary landscapes and portraits. It’s nice to know that he could paint properly, too, observed my wife.
Just off a bustling dual carriage way on the way back, we stopped off at Castello d’Empuries. A giant, Gothic 14th-century cathedral dominates this little medieval town. It’s one of those eerie places where you see more cats in the streets than people.
It sums up the region perfectly, as my dad put it: ‘It’s like the real Spain has fought off the tourists.’