Girona day trip questions

There is enough to do in Girona for 3 days. We absolutely loved it. Also, there are a few day trips, including Besalu, that work well from there. We were in Girona the very first day of our trip. We were exhausted and hungry. We tried to find a place to eat at 6pm, and came up with nothing. I'm sure gelato places would be open mid day.

Make sure to walk the city walls. We did it at dusk and it was gorgeous. We went to the cathedral and the other small church that was with the ticket. We also went to the baths for a tour. Walking along the river is nice (Eiffel designed one of the bridges) and we tried to walk every little street in the medieval center. The TI is wonderful. They gave us a map for a walking tour.

Agree that Girona alone certainly has enough to fill the entire day.

If you arrive at 10 am and leave around 7 pm, what are your plans for lunch? Lunch is usually at 2 pm in these parts. Perhaps you should just focus on a good lunch around 2 pm like the locals do? And eat dinner when you arrive back in Barcelona, where there are more options friendly with American dinning schedules.

As for a restaurant in Girona, I recommend Casa Marieta, in the Plaça de la Independencia. It's a venerable establishment with more than 100 years of history. For a traditional Catalan treat, try the Canelones de ceps (if in season), which are pasta tubes stuffed with ceps, which are local mushrooms from the area, and baked with a béchamel sauce on top. You can read more about the history of the place here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Casa_Marieta

For places to eat outside of normal Spanish meal times, consider Pans and Company, which is a local sandwich shop chain. Also Kabab shops could be an option too.

Carlos has just offered the dining advice that is the strategy we have developed for dealing with restaurant hours in much of Europe, namely make your mid-day meal the main one of the day. As to the main thrust of your question, yes, there is plenty to fill a day in Girona. We did a day trip and wished we had had more time there. An easy way to see a list of attractions is to go to Trip Advisor. Click on “Girona/things to do.” Scroll past all the listings for paid tours. Eventually you will come to a list. In addition to the wonderful historic sites, we quite enjoyed the Cinema Museum.

To the places mentioned by Jules I would add the art museum, which is nice and not overwhelming in size.

The medieval center is quite large. To walk every street (which I also like to do) would probably take a full day by itself.

Thank you for all the responses. We are definitely looking forward to our Girona day trip!

Ah, Pans and Company - my lifesaver!

1.) Girona (http://infocatalonia.eu/w/aj5on) is unofficially considered the second capital city in Catalonia after Barcelona. if you catch my drift, its "vibe" is that of a 'small city' rather than a 'large town'. I should point out that many cities and towns outside Barcelona have earlier lunchtimes than in the capital city. In fact, in small towns across Catalonia people tend to eat from 12:30 to 1:30-2pm meaning one will come across open eateries at those times. In Girona, you'll be able to have lunch proper from 12:30 onwards in a number of eateries.

2.) In Girona, the neighbourhoods of Centre, Montjuïc and Eixample are the ones you're going to be moving around as these are the ones having things worth seeing: http://bit.ly/GIRhoods ---yes, same names as in Barcelona, cause those are 'generic' words in Catalan, the local language, "eixample" means "widening" and "montjuïc" means "mount of the Jews". Worth mentioning Girona had one of the most important Jew neighbourhoods ("call" in Catalan, very loosely pronounced "cah-lee") in Europe during the Middle Ages. There are plenty of vestiges in the labyrinthic streets of the Centre neighbourhood.

3.) Explore at https://www.girona.cat/turisme/eng/activitats.php to plan your visit. There's even a free app you can download that will offer you several routes you can do at your pace.

HAVING SAID THIS...

There's an alternative arrangement I recommend for visiting Girona so as to get more out of your day.... and that's to combine a visit to Besalú first and then Girona. BESALÚ (beh-sa-loo) http://infocatalonia.eu/w/2MR8p

Assuming you are in Barcelona, you can take a bus to Besalú -which stops at Girona's station on route to Besalú- arriving there at 11 or so if i recall correctly, tour the town and then head to Girona at 2pm or so. You'll be arriving to Girona one hour later and will have 5 or 6 hours to visit Girona before taking a fast train to Barcelona (just 40'). If you're interested, I can give you some more details -which I'd have to search, so just if you are truly interested :)

Note though this alternative visit will require you get up earlier as the bus departs Barcelona at 9ish I believe.

Ah yes, I forgot... taste an ice cream from one of the best chefs in the World at Rocambolesc. This video features the shop in Barcelona, but the first one was opened in Girona where the Roca Brothers are from and where the famous Celler de Can Roca is located.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pANBa6UAEgU

Enric, I love your ideas and will look into it. Thank you!

@quanmama

Quick draft...

• 09:30-11:11 bus from Barcelona to Besalú (http://www.teisa-bus.com/en/)
• Visit Besalú: http://www.besalu.cat/turisme-2/oficina-de-turisme-2/
• you have a few restaurants in Besalú, such "CalTronc", "Pont Vell", "Oliveras"... or "Quina llauna", for tapas among other (*)
• either 1:05-1:55 or 1:57-2.55 bus from Besalú to Girona, get off at stop "Girona-Jutjats" (http://www.teisa-bus.com/en/)
• Visit Girona: https://www.girona.cat/turisme/cat/index.php
• 9:10-9:48 fast train AVANT from Girona to Barcelona, stop Sants station (https://www.renfe.com/es/en)

Do double check the schedules when booking. Also, avoid travelling on Sunday, many shops are closed and it somehow 'blurs a bit' the ambience in the streets in Girona, which is part of the charm of the experience.

(*) Given the tight schedule (barely 2-3h in Besalú), I either would go for some very quick nibbling (f.e. a tapas bar) or, even better, wait to arrive in Girona -where you'll have plenty more options- and have a late lunch there.

Another reason not to take this bus-dependent trip on Sunday: In (literally) years of traveling around Europe I've had just one inter-city bus simply not show up. It was in Catalunya in 2016 as I was heading back to Girona from points west. I got marooned in Ripoll (which turned out to be a nice little place, at least) and ended up paying for two hotel rooms that night. I'll be more cautious about that sort of bus trip on Sundays in the future, though I've traveled on Sunday on other occasions without difficulty.

Enric, Thank you so much for posting the details. We will definitely consider this!