After the Marató d'Empúries: Girona
The Route: L'Escala → Girona → Girona-Costa Brava Airport Logistics: Moventis bus line 11 from L'Escala to Girona, about an hour. One night in the city, then the airport bus. Marathon Month: April Duration: 1 night
L'Escala ──(about 1 hr Moventis line 11)──> Girona (1 night) ──(about 25 mins airport bus)──> Girona-Costa Brava Airport (GRO)
Most runners at the Marató d'Empúries fly into Girona or Barcelona, and Girona is on the way home. It is a compact walled city on the River Onyar, with a medieval old town rising steeply on one bank and a flat modern town on the other, which is exactly the right split for legs a day after a marathon.
April in Girona is spring: afternoons in the high teens or low twenties, cool nights, and occasional showers. The city's flower festival, Temps de Flors, is held in May, so in April the courtyards are ordinary and the streets quieter. Easter weekends are busy.
Moventis buses on line 11 run from L'Escala to Girona's bus station, next to the railway station, in about an hour. Services are less frequent at weekends; check the timetable. From the station the river is about 15 minutes' walk on level streets.
Night One: Girona
Start on the river. The houses along the Onyar are painted in reds, ochres and yellows, and the best view of them is from the bridges, especially the red iron Pont de les Peixateries Velles, built in 1877 by the company of Gustave Eiffel. The riverside and the bridges are flat.
The old town, the Barri Vell, is not. Its streets climb steeply from the river, with steps and cobbles. Girona Cathedral sits at the top of a Baroque stairway of about 90 steps, and its nave is one of the widest Gothic naves in the world. On post-marathon legs, climb the stairs slowly and use the handrail, or go up by the lanes to the side, which are sloped but have fewer steps. The Call, the medieval Jewish quarter below the cathedral, is a maze of narrow passages; the Museum of Jewish History at its centre explains the community that lived here until 1492.
The walk along the old city walls is not for the day after a race; it is a long series of steps.
For the flattest walk in the city, cross to the Parc de la Devesa on the west bank, a large park of plane trees planted in long straight avenues, some of them among the tallest in Spain. It is level and shaded, with benches.
Where to stay: Hotel Nord 1901, near the Rambla on the flat side of the river, is a short walk from both the old town and the station. Hotel Ciutat de Girona, also in the modern town close to the river, is another level base.
Where to eat: Rocambolesc, the ice cream shop of the Roca brothers, whose restaurant El Celler de Can Roca is among the most celebrated in the world, sells inventive ice creams on Carrer de Santa Clara near the river. El Celler itself books up many months ahead. The Rambla and the old town have plenty of restaurants for an ordinary dinner of Catalan food.
Getting Home
Buses run from Girona bus station to Girona-Costa Brava Airport (GRO) in about 25 minutes, timed around flights. For Barcelona Airport (BCN), take a high-speed train from Girona to Barcelona Sants, about 40 minutes, then the airport train or metro. Book high-speed tickets in advance for the best fares.