Things to do in Girona

Four rivers meet at Girona: the Ter, the Onyar, the Galligants and the Güell. Things to do in Girona gather in the old town on the Onyar's east bank. Just over 100,000 people live in the city.

The old town on foot

The cathedral, the Jewish quarter and the baths stand a few minutes apart on foot.

• Cathedral. Ninety steps climb to its baroque façade, a set in season 6 of Game of Thrones. The single nave, 22.98 metres wide, is the widest Gothic nave in the world. The museum holds the Tapestry of Creation, an embroidery from about 1100.
• El Call. The medieval Jewish quarter. A Jewish community lived in these lanes until the expulsion of 1492, and a history museum now stands in the Bonastruc ça Porta centre.
• Banys Àrabs. Despite the name, a Romanesque bathhouse, first recorded in 1194.
• Passeig de la Muralla. A path along the old walls, which go back to Roman Gerunda, with views over the roofs.
• Onyar houses. Painted façades on the old-town bank, built over the medieval wall. Beside them, Eiffel's firm finished an iron footbridge in 1877, over a decade before the Eiffel Tower opened.

Beyond the old town

La Devesa is Catalonia's largest urban park. Its 40 hectares, west of the old town, hold over 2,500 plane trees, mostly planted in 1850. El Celler de Can Roca, run by the three Roca brothers, topped the World's 50 Best Restaurants list in 2013 and 2015.

Where the day tours go

Day trips from Girona are mostly full days, nine to ten hours long, in small groups or privately. Two audio-guide apps cover Besalú and Rupit. Both come in six languages.

• Figueres. Dalí's Theatre-Museum, about 40 km north.
• Besalú. A medieval town 34 km north, about 35 minutes by road.
• Pals and Peratallada. Medieval stone villages of the Empordà, east of the city.
• Rupit. A village in the Collsacabra hills, about 90 minutes by road.

Practical

• Weather. July and August afternoons average about 30C, and January ones about 13C. October is the wettest month, with about 85 mm of rain.
• Getting there. Girona-Costa Brava airport is about 12 km south-west of the centre. From Barcelona Sants, high-speed trains take about 40 minutes and regional ones about 80.
• Temps de Flors. Each May, for about nine days, this flower festival fills monuments, courtyards and gardens around the city with floral installations.
• Pick-up. Some day tours start at Palamós, where cruise ships call, not in Girona. Check the meeting point when you book.