Things to do
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Arab Baths
Despite the name, this is a Romanesque bathhouse built by Christian Girona on the Roman model, with rooms for cold, warm and hot water. The draw is the apsidal room, where slender columns ring a pool under an octagonal skylight. The building is small and a visit takes half an hour, so arrive at opening or late in the day to avoid queues filling the rooms.
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Basilica of Sant Feliu
Below the cathedral, this church has a truncated bell tower that marks the skyline of the old town. Inside, early Christian and Roman sarcophagi are set into the walls of the presbytery, and the chapel of Sant Narcís draws a steady stream of locals. Half an hour is enough. Entry is included in the cathedral ticket, so see both on the same morning.
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Besalú
Cross the fortified Romanesque bridge over the Fluvià, with its gate tower midway, to enter one of the best kept medieval villages in Catalonia. Stone lanes, porticoed squares and a medieval Jewish ritual bath fill a compact centre that takes two or three hours. Drive or take the bus north from Girona, and come on a weekday morning, as weekend afternoons bring coach parties.
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Cases de l'Onyar
Painted houses in ochre, red and yellow line the Onyar river, their back walls rising straight from the water. They are the postcard view of Girona and best seen from the footbridges, especially the Pont de Sant Agustí and the red iron bridge further downstream. Come in the early evening when the colours warm up, and look again after dark when the windows light the water.
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Dalí Theatre-Museum
Housed in a former theatre in Figueres crowned with giant eggs, this museum was designed by Salvador Dalí himself, and he is buried in a crypt beneath it. Rooms of paintings, installations and the Mae West room take around two hours. Book a timed ticket ahead, as entry slots sell out in summer, and take the train from Girona to avoid parking in Figueres.
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El Call
Narrow stepped lanes climb away from Carrer de la Força through what was Girona's medieval Jewish quarter, one of the best preserved in Europe. Passages tunnel under houses and open onto small courtyards, and the slope is steep enough that flat shoes matter. Walk it early in the morning or after six in the evening, when the day groups have gone and the stone is quiet.
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Girona Cathedral
Climb the long baroque staircase from Plaça de la Catedral to reach a Gothic nave so wide it is held to be the broadest of its kind in the world. Allow over an hour for the nave, the Romanesque cloister and the treasury, which holds the Tapestry of Creation. One ticket also covers the Basilica of Sant Feliu down the hill. Arrive at opening to have the steps without tour groups.
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Lake of Banyoles
Calm, spring-fed water makes this the largest natural lake in Catalonia and a rowing course used at the 1992 Olympics. A flat path circles the shore and suits walking or cycling, with wooden piers for swimming at the public bathing area in summer. Rowing boats can be hired on the eastern side. Banyoles is a short drive or bus ride north of Girona.
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Museu del Cinema
Built around a private collection of optical devices, this museum traces moving images from shadow puppets and magic lanterns through to early film cameras. Many displays are hands-on, which makes it one of the better rainy-day options in the city for families. Plan on just over an hour. It sits in the newer town across the river, a short walk from the old quarter.
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Museum of Jewish History
Set in the Bonastruc ça Porta centre in the heart of El Call, this museum tells the story of the Jewish community that lived in Girona until the expulsion of 1492. Medieval gravestones carved in Hebrew and a courtyard reached from the lanes are the highlights. An hour is enough, and it gives the quarter's stepped streets their context before walking them.
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Pont de les Peixateries Velles
Red-painted iron girders carry this footbridge across the Onyar, built in 1877 by the workshop of Gustave Eiffel before his Paris tower. Stop in the middle for the classic view of the coloured riverside houses in both directions. It takes a few minutes to cross, but photographers linger at dusk, so expect a queue for the centre spot on summer evenings.
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Sant Pere de Galligants
North of the cathedral, outside the line of the old walls, this Romanesque Benedictine monastery houses the Girona branch of the Archaeology Museum of Catalonia. Finds from Greek, Roman and medieval sites fill the nave, but the cloister capitals, carved with beasts and biblical scenes, are the reason to come. Allow an hour, and pair it with a walk up to the walls behind.
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Walls of Girona
Walk the Passeig de la Muralla along the top of the old town's ramparts for views over the rooftops to the cathedral and, on clear days, the Pyrenees. The path runs for a long stretch with towers to climb and several points to join or leave it, including the Jardins dels Alemanys. Entry is free. Late afternoon light is the best for photographs, and the towers have steep, narrow stairs.
