Girona?

Girona Tourism Board

A traveller’s view of Girona

Flower Festival in Girona in May

Romantic Girona

Nearby escapades: Besalú or Museu Salvador Dalí in Figueres among many others. Girona is the "door" to the area of Costa Brava.

Girona is an historic city within Catalonia, 103 kilometres from Barcelona. This medieval walled city has a rich cultural heritage with diverse influences from the ancient Romans, Moorish-era Arabs, and a Jewish population. The Old Town was built on the right bank of the Onyar River with colourful houses flanking the waterside. Girona has two areas enclosed within ancient ramparts: the Força Vella, which outlines the original Roman city founded more than 2,000 year ago, and the Medieval Quarter, which expanded the city in the 14th and 15th centuries. These atmospheric historic quarters are filled with narrow pedestrian streets and impressive medieval buildings. The fortress-like Romanesque cathedral was built in the 11th century and updated through the 17th century. The facade is Baroque and the interior is Gothic. The massive nave is the widest medieval sanctuary in Europe. Among the artistic masterpieces displayed in the sanctuary is a Catalan textile of the Romanesque era called the Creation Tapestry. Other important religious monuments are the 12th-century Benedictine monastery de Sant Pere de Galligants; the Romanesque church of Sant Nicolau, now used as an exhibition room; and the medieval Gothic convent of Sant Doménech surrounded by beautiful gardens.
The main drag of the Old Town is the Rambla de la Libertat, an arcaded pedestrian street lined with shops and pavement cafés. Another interesting area to explore is the Jewish Quarter (El Call), one of the best preserved in Spain. During the Middle Ages, this quarter had an important synagogue and centers of Kabbalist study. The squares of Placa del Oli and the Placa del Vi have maintained their original ambience. Near the Jewish quarter, visitors can uncover the cultural legacy of the Moors. The Arab Baths, now housed in a Capuchin convent, feature a pavilion of Islamic-style columns topped with an octagonal cupola.

Source: 16 Best Places to Visit in Catalonia, written by Lisa Alexander
http://www.planetware.com/tourist-attractions-/catalonia-cataluna-e-cat-cat.htm

Did a day trip to Girona last October, loved the river view & glad we went. We pre-purchased train tickets at home on the Renfe website though you can just go to the Sants train station. The Ave train gets you there in 40 minutes, then took a short cab ride to the Cathedral.

If I'm remembering correctly, there's also an interesting motion picture museum there.

Thank you, everybody, for your helpful replies! It sounds like Gironia definitely a place for me to see. In fact, I wonder if it wouldn't be a nice place to go first, to adjust and get over jet lag, before plunging into Barcelona?

Caroline

Caroline, I am just finishing Day #3 of the Best of Spain trip right this minute. I spent a week before the tour in Barcelona, with one day trip to Figueres and Girona, another to Tarragona, and a third on a "Medeival Villages" bus tour to Besalu, Rupit and Tavernet, all of which were very enjoyable. If you leave on the 8:25 am fast train to Figueres, you can visit the Dali Museum, then catch about a 1:00 pm normal train to Girona, and have the afternoon and evening there if you like. The old quarter of Girona is very interesting, some of the scenes along the river and Placa de la Independencia are very nice, and the modern city is an enjoyable place to wander too. Hard to go wrong in Barcelona and nearby, have a ball!

As mentioned above, there are a lot of bus tours out of Barcelona that include short guided walks in Girona as part of a day that includes Figueres and Besalu.

So, just like Toledo, the tourism infrastructure has geared up to serve daytrippers.
If that's what you're looking for, it's enjoyable.

If you want to get beyond the bus tours, then you'll want to avoid Placa de Independencia and most of the rambla, and instead go to the Jewish museum, the fine arts museum, the cathedral, and the walls. Good galleries and cultural centers in the newer part of town just west of the river as well.

I notice that a lot of visitors to places like these and Avignon and many other important cultural/historical cities tend to get much better experiences when they stay overnight than when they do the shorter canned daytrip. That's been my experience, too.

Thanks again, everybody, for the helpful advice. My tentative plan is to fly to Barcelona, arriving early in the day, stash my bag at the trains station and wander around until I get too tired (I'll be jet lagged). Late afternoon-ish, I'll take the train to Girona and stay there for two nights.

Caroline

When I went in 1995, my Let's Go: Spain said Girona was "a world class city, patiently waiting for the world to notice" and they were 100% right. I was just there in September 2015, and while it was still wonderful, the world has definitely noticed - there were tour groups galore (although, as said above, they are concentrated in just a few places). If you climb up above the main drag where the tour groups are, you will escape them easily (and it is a climb, but you then arrive at the cathedral entrance level, rather than at the bottom of steep stairs to the cathedral).

The cinema museum is different from most others, in that it's extensively focused on precursors to the movies (persistence of vision toys, lantern shows, and still photography), and only has a small amount on movies themselves. For this reason, I found it highly worthwhile, but those looking for a more conventional movie museum (like the ones in Astoria NY or Berlin) may be disappointed.

I was only there for a daytrip each time, but an overnight sounds great (I wish my recent trip there had been longer).