Girona

About Girona

Girona can be walked in a day, but it stays with you far longer. The first image is always the same: the colourful houses leaning over the river Onyar, the faded ochre and washed-out reds reflected in the water that appear on every postcard of the city. You cross the Pont de les Peixateries Velles —the red Eiffel bridge— and suddenly you are inside the old town, a stone maze that climbs and drops without pause. What surprises about Girona is not a single monument but the density: within a handful of streets you have a cathedral with one of the widest Gothic naves in the world, Arab Baths that are actually Romanesque, a Romanesque-Gothic basilica, and El Call, the best-preserved Jewish quarter in Europe, with alleys so narrow the light barely reaches. Walking the Passeig de la Muralla, the path along the top of the old city walls, gives the best view over the rooftops and the surrounding hills; it is free and almost nobody rushes it. Girona shot to fame when Game of Thrones filmed its sixth season here, and you still see groups hunting for the cathedral steps. But the city is much more than that: it has a serious food scene —El Celler de Can Roca, for years rated the best restaurant in the world, is here— and a university buzz that keeps it alive off-season. The honest part: the centre is small and fills up in high season or during Temps de Flors, the slopes punish your knees, and many people visit only as a half-day trip from Barcelona, which is a shame. Give it at least one night. Seeing it empty at dawn, the river still and the stones cool, is when you understand why it grabs you.