What to do: Holiday & Tourism guide for Girona town, Catalonia

Girona is a handsome town, one of the finest and most interesting in all Catalonia. Historic districts and viewing points from  the ramparts, the cathedral, or the bridges over the River Onyar all provide rewarding experiences for the visitor.

 The busy café terraces and shops of the old town and the Rambla de la Llibertat turn to relative silence as you emerge onto one of the bridges spanning the River Onyar. The façades of the tall apartment buildings lining the waterfront, hung with washing, shine in warm pastel shades.

It’s an inspiring sight, one you’ll find repeated in the city’s Museu d’Art (Art Museum). Girona was founded by the Romans. Enormous original foundation stones can still be seen at the north gate and near here, by the Església de Sant Pere de Galligants (Church of St Peter of the Cock Crows), begins an Archeological Walk which goes all the way round the city (Passeig de la Muralla), largely along the raised Roman ramparts. From the wall’s towers, you can look down on the everyday life of the city, gardens and patios.

El Call, as the old Jewish quarter is known, is a good place to wander with its maze of alleys and cobbled streets. Here, the Centre Bonastruc Ça Porta acts as a history museum for the Jewish population that was expelled in newly Christianized Spain in 1492.

A town of rich culture in northern Catalonia

The Cathedral is quite unusual, a single but massive Gothic nave – the widest of any such church worldwide – and its museum holds significant examples of Romanesque art, notably “The Creation”, a 12th century tapestry, and a medieval manuscript, the 10th century Beatus. The manuscript’s illustrations bear witness to the abiding artistic legacy of the Moors and the name Ende to the rare instance of a woman being permitted to take part in the ecclesiastical work.

Those interested in the history of Girona can visit the city museum (Museu d’Història de la Ciutat), where one curious item is the Tarlà, a puppet representation of a character who entertained quarantined citizens during an epidemic. Although history is everywhere you go here, from the street names of the commercial district, such as Carrer de l’Argentaría (Silversmiths Street) or Plaça del Vi (Wine Square), to the old buildings of the Sant Pere district, where you will find the Catalan Archeological Museum and Banys Arabs – so-called “Moorish” Baths, which actually post-date the Moorish presence and whose architecture is 12th century Catalan Romanesque. From the baths, a walk out along the valley (valle de Sant Daniel) takes you to a Benedictine nunnery.

Girona has its parks, too. We recommend the Parc de la Devesa with its giant plane trees, especially on Tuesday and Saturday mornings for the riverbank market.

There are plenty of cafés, many with terraces, for a respite from the walking itinerary, and you will find a host of restaurants offering fixed-price 3-course lunches around Girona, especially in the old town: it’s simply a question of taking your pick.


One last stop is said to be necessary for a visit to Girona to be complete and that’s Sant Feliu Church. It’s dedicated to Girona’s patron, Saint Narcissus (Sant Narcís), who they refer to as the saint of the flies. A swarm of flies is said to have emerged from the saint’s tomb in 1285 and tormented the besieging French troops so fiercely that they withdrew.
In Sant Feliu square (Calderers Street) is the famous column of the Lion, of which it is said, “You can’t be a proper Gironian until you’ve kissed the lion’s bottom.” A kiss as a visitor guarantees that you will come back one day. Girona has its own international airport, also known as Costa Brava Airport. It’s situated just 12 km from the city, to the south-west.

It is a very convenient point of entry for holidaymakers staying in holiday villas in Girona province and the Garrotxa area of northern Catalunya. Car hire can be arranged at the airport from a choice of firms.

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