Girona is 38 minutes from Barcelona on the high-speed train. Close enough to function as a day trip; far enough to have maintained its own identity entirely. A 2,000-year-old walled city of 100,000 people on the Onyar River, with four distinct historic layers - Roman, Moorish, Jewish, and medieval Christian - stacked in a way that rewards slow walking. Two days is the right amount of time.
Getting There
AVE from Barcelona Sants to Girona: 38 minutes, approximately €12-20 in advance (Renfe app or website). Trains run up to twice per hour at peak times. Girona station is five minutes walk from the old town bridges.
The Onyar and the Old Town
Girona's defining image is the Onyar River - the coloured houses (cases de l'Onyar) lining the western bank in ochres, yellows, and terracottas. The Pont de les Peixateries Velles (Eiffel Bridge, 1877) and the adjacent stone footbridges give the primary views: the coloured facades reflected in the river, the old town walls rising behind them, the cathedral tower above everything. The path along the eastern bank of the Onyar is flat and gives the full sequence of river-facing facades.
The Jewish Quarter
The Call - the Jewish quarter of Girona - is the best-preserved medieval Jewish urban space in Western Europe. The community was established here by the 9th century and expelled in 1492; what remains is 800 metres of narrow, interconnected lanes, courtyards, and stairways climbing the hill behind the cathedral. The Museum of Jewish History on Carrer de la Força presents the history of the Girona community - which included the 13th-century Kabbalist Nahmanides - in a building whose courtyard contains traces of the original medieval synagogue. Entry approximately €4.
The lanes of the Call involve some short flights of steps. At post-marathon pace, manageable.
The Cathedral
The Catedral de Girona stands at the top of a famous staircase of 86 steps. The alternative approach is through the Passeig Arqueologic - the walk along the outside of the city walls - which reaches the cathedral grounds from the north on a gentler gradient. The nave, at 22 metres the widest Gothic nave in the world, is worth the approach by whatever route the legs allow. Entry approximately €7.
The Arab Baths (Banys Arabs) near the cathedral - built in 1194 by Christian craftsmen in Romanesque style with Moorish influence - are one of the more delicate Romanesque spaces in Catalonia. Entry approximately €4.
The Eixample and Cycling Culture
Girona is one of the most important professional cycling bases in the world - a disproportionate number of the WorldTour peloton live or train here. This is visible in the infrastructure: La Fabrica coffee shop on Carrer de la Llebre was co-founded by retired Tour de France contenders and is the reference point for cycling culture in the city. Plaça de la Independència, the main square with covered arcades on all four sides, is the social centre.
March in Girona
Early March: 10-15°C, sheltered by the Pre-Pyrenean hills. Rain possible; the old town's covered lanes provide shelter. The Temps de Flors (Flower Festival) runs in May - in March the courtyards are quiet and accessible.
Where to Stay
Hotel Llegendes de Girona Catedral on Carrer del Portal de la Barca, in the old town below the cathedral steps. Hotel Historic on Carrer Bellmirall, smaller and quieter.
Where to Eat
Divinum on Carrer l'Albereda: serious Girona cooking using Emporda province produce - salt cod, local prawns, Emporda rice. For breakfast: the xuixo (a cream-filled, sugar-dusted fried pastry) at Antiga Pastisseria Turo on Carrer de Santa Clara.
Getting Back
AVE from Girona to Barcelona Sants: 38 minutes, every 30-60 minutes. From Barcelona Sants, Metro L9 runs to El Prat Airport in approximately 35 minutes.