Girona houses on river
A city as pretty as Barcelona throws a long shadow, making it easy to forget anything else in the region, but if you’re a curious traveler interested in exploring different destinations, you should definitely consider visiting Gerona (Girona in Catalan). It’s an easy day trip north of Barcelona, but it’s really worth more time, especially if you can arrange a few more days to explore the surrounding area.
Girona city has a long history – Iberian, Roman then briefly Muslim; a wealthy city with a large Jewish population during most of the Middle Ages. The legacy of that long history is a beautiful medieval quarter, old churches and parts of city walls from different periods.
What to see, some highlights: Cathedral: Widest Gothic nave in Europe, with a lovely Romanesque cloister and the famous Creation tapestry; impressive views of the Cathdral from the bottom of the stairs leading up to the main façade. Sant Feliu church, a little downhill from the Cathedral, another mixture of Gothic and Romanesque, often closed but with automatic lighting arrangement at the door. “Arab Baths”, unusual 12th century Christian baths from a period when failing the sniff test was part of Christian cultural identity. Cinema Museum, educational and fun, relatively kid-friendly. Centre Bonastruc Ça Porta, museum explaining the Jewish history and culture in Spain. Sant Pere de Galligants monastery, interesting 12th century church “recycled” as an archaeology museum.
What to see, wandering: Girona’s medieval Jewish quarter is one of the best in Spain. Centered on the carrer Força (good restaurants), this neighborhood is full of narrow, twisty streets: plan some time to get lost, soak up the atmosphere and relax at sidewalk cafés. Recommended: Sant Llorenc, the street perpendicular to Força along one side of Jewish history museum; views of the houses overlooking the Onyar river from any of the footbridges (photo above), pedestrian Rambla Llibertad for a rest with a drink or food. Other places to wander: gardens behind the Cathedral apse, with access to the top of the old city walls, should-do if you have kids. Good views of surrounding countryside from the walls and back view of the Cathedral showing different construction periods (the wall walk continues quite some distance but the best part is right behind the Cathedral, it gets less fun farther away, and accesses are few). Archaeology walk, up the stairs from near the “Arab Baths”.
What to see/do, nearby: Most or all accessible by train or bus from Girona city. Figueres, a little north of Girona: Salvador Dali Theater-Museum and Toy Museum. Besalú, a little west of Girona: charming small town with small medieval quarter. Garrotxa volcanic area, west of Girona (mostly a little east of Olot): natural park with extinct volcanic cones, mostly covered with forest including a large beech forest, great walking and some options for horseback riding. Caldas de Malavella, a little south of Girona: small city with two spas. And lots more!
Insider tips: wear good shoes in Girona cityas streets are often cobbled and hilly. And do try to arrange an overnight instead of just a day trip from Barcelon, the old quarter is even better at night.
Getting to Girona: Lots of trains every day from Barcelona-Sants station, usually around 60 minutes, less if you take a high-speed train. Some direct service from Madrid on high-speed trains. Train schedules: http://www.renfe.com/EN/viajeros/horarios.html
More about transportation: The bus and train station are together in Girona. Luggage lockers in Sants train station (Barcelona) and also in Girona station (dump your stuff and explore unemcumbered until train departure time). Having a car is not an advantage in Girona unless you plan to explore the surrounding area – and even for that, the excellent bus and train network can take you to most of the places listed above.
Places to stay: The city website shown below has an almost-complete list of hotels but does not seem to show one charming place: Pension Bellmirall, http://bellmirall.eu/ In Girona’s old quarter, this is an old mansion near the Cathedral. It has some only-ok things: no elevator, bathrooms not fab on my last visit, Cathedral bells most of the night, no front-door car access BUT only seven rooms, nice shared space (breakfast in the private courtyard!) and lots of atmosphere, inside and right outside the door
More tourism info: http://www.girona.cat/turisme/eng/index.php Local tourism office (get your map and additional info): Rambla de la Llibertat, 1 / Tel. 972 226 575 Email turisme@ajgirona.cat