Girona (city)

Photo © margaretm

Travel Guide Europe Spain Catalonia Girona Girona

Introduction

Girona

Girona is a city in the northeast of the Spain and capital of the province with the same name. The city itself has about 100,000 inhabitants. Located only about an hour from Barcelona, it makes for a great way to combine both cities and as there is a growing amount of flights it can be cheaper flying to Girona as well. The city is relatively small but has an attractive old town and some fascinating architecture, dating back to the old days as well some more art nouvea collections.

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Sights and Activities

The Eiffel Bridge was constructed at the junction of four rivers by the famous Gustave Eiffel just before the construction of Eiffel Tower in Paris.
The Cathedral of Girona, perhaps one of the worlds most improtant Gothic monument was built between the 14th and 17th centuries. Its salient feature is the immense single Gothic nave, which is nearly 23 metres wide and is perhaps the broadest Gothic nave ever built. The cathedral museum contains some of the priceless works of the medieval European Art.
Jewish Quarter is one of the best kept in Europe and is full of streets and squares. There is also a Catalan Jewish Museum which is worth a visit.
The Cinema Museum has a collection of 30,000 objects relating to the history of cinema.
The Collegiate Church of Sant Feliu
The Benedictine Church of Sant Pere de Galligants
Arab baths of Girona date back to the 12th century and are well preserved.
Quart located around 5 kilometres from Girona is a traditional town, famous for making ceramics ever since the 16th century. These pieces are mostly balck with some decorations.

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Events and Festivals

Girona Film Festival - second week of October
Temporada Alta - Theater and dance
Festival of Religious Music of the World - First 10 days of July

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Weather

Girona has a typical Mediterranean climate with warm and dry summers from June to September and relatively mild but wetter wintermonths from December to March. Average daytime summer temperatures are around 30 °C. Winters are a little colder compared to coastal cities like Barcelona though with temperatures at night around or close to zero.

	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Avg Max	12.8 °C	13.9 °C	16.2 °C	17.8 °C	21.6 °C	25.4 °C	29.2 °C	29 °C	25.7 °C	20.9 °C	16 °C	13.4 °C
Avg Min	1 °C	2 °C	3.9 °C	5.8 °C	10 °C	13.9 °C	16.7 °C	16.8 °C	14 °C	9.7 °C	4.8 °C	2.1 °C
Rainfall	65 mm	44 mm	53 mm	67 mm	80 mm	66 mm	30 mm	48 mm	68 mm	83 mm	70 mm	63 mm
Rain Days	6	5	7	9	9	7	4	6	7	8	6	6

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Getting There

By Plane

The Girona - Costa Brava International Airport (international code: GRO) is located about 10 kilometers south of the city centre and is getting more and more popular as a start of a trip in the region as there are quite a few low-cost airlines serving the city. [[Ryanair serves dozens of cities in Europe, including London, Brussels and Rome. A few others include Jetairfly, Transavia and Star1.

To/from the airport

Car: The airport can be reached by the E-15/AP-7 toll road (Perpignan, France - south of Spain), C-25 (Lleida - Girona) and N-11, (Madrid - Barcelona - Perpignan, France).
Bus: Buses go to Barcelona (1 hour 10 minutes, departure times depending on flights. On Sunday the last bus leaves Barcelona at 7:15pm), Costa Brava/Maresme (Stops at Tossa de Mar, Lloret de Mar, Blanes, Malgrat de Mar, Santa Susanna, Pineda de Mar and Calella de la Costa), North Costa Brava (Stops at Figueres, Roses, Pineda de Mar, Calella de Palafrugell and Tossa de Mar), Girona city centre(25 minutes, one every hour) and Perpignan in France (6 times daily).

By Train

Trains to Barcelona leave regularly and take just over an hour. In the near future, Girona will be getting its share of high speed train services on the Madrid - Barcelona - Avignon (France) route.

By Car

Girona is near the main highways towards the coast, France and the south of Spain.

By Bus

Buses connect Girona to many provincial towns, but for longer distances it's better to use cars, train and plane.

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Getting Around

By Car

A car is not only unnecessary in Girona, but also quite cumbersome. Rentals are available for those wishing to make day trips to the outlying villages and castles in the area. Girona has the same problems that plague other major European cities, but in a minor scale; traffic jams and narrow streets in some areas, coupled with a very complicated road system. Having a driving map is essential as few bridges over the river makes it difficult to get from one riverside to the other. Navigating with an average tourist map is frequently misleading: many streets are one-way; left turns are more rare than rights (and are unpredictable).

By Public Transport

There are local buses, but their routes can be quite confusing for non-locals. Furthermore, all touristic areas are near one from another. Single ticket is €1,30.

By Foot

Both the Old Town and the New Town across the river are highly pedestrianized.

It should be noted that most of the streets in the Old Town have large cobblestones and steep stairs going up the hill upon which Girona is built. Walking in high heels or with rolling luggage is quite difficult at some points, so plan accordingly.

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Eat

In the old town, many touristy cafes offer menu del dia for €10-13, even on Sun. Areas with dense coverage of faceless touristy cafes are: Plaça Independencia; Rambla de la Lliberitat (near cathedrals). However, try to avoid the restaurants at and near Rambla de la Llibertat, they are very touristy, waiters do not speak English and even if you do find menus in English they are usually poorly translated and the dish you get can vary substantially from its description in the menu. Especially avoid tapas at these restaurants, aside that it is not an authentic Catalunian dish, you will get just a poorly styled mish-mash at one small plate.

Like any other Catalan city, cafes are closed from 4:00pm until dinner time (about 8:00-8:30pm). Exceptions are only touristy cafes at Rambla de la Lliberitat.

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Sleep

Upscale

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Keep Connected

Internet

Internet is widely available within Spain. Most airports have wifi-zones and in most towns there are internet cafés or shops where you can use internet for a fixed price. Wi-Fi points in bars and cafeterias are available after ordering, and most hotels offer Wi-Fi connection in common areas for their guests.

Phone

Post

If you want to post a card, you can head to the post office (Correos). The Spanish post is not yet as efficient as colleagues in other countries so receiving a card can take a bit longer than the number of days that it should take. On the website of Correos, you can find the locations of nearby post offices.
Post offices are generally open from 8:30am to 2:00pm, although times will vary according to the size of the city/town and the main post offices might be open until the early evening. Most will also open again on Saturday mornings, but in the smaller towns will close as early as 12 noon. When posting a letter, look for a yellow box and, if possible, post at the post office itself where there will also be divisions for local, national and international mail. Be prepared for long queues at the post office. This is why tobacco shops sell stamps and many will also have the facility to weigh packages. Standard letters/postcards of up to 20 grams sent within Spain are €0.34. However, non-standard letters/postcards of up to 20g are €0.39. Letters/postcards of 20 to 50 grams are €0.45. In the case of international shipping, the price is €0.64 to most countries within Europe for standard envelopes (letters/postcards) up to 20g, for a few European countries and outside Europe it is €0.78. If you want to send a package you are probably better off with a private courier company like TNT, DHL or UPS, as they offer quick and reliable services against competitive prices.

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