El Call (barrio judío)

The cathedral with the widest Gothic nave in the world, atop 90 Baroque steps. Inside, the famous 11th-century Tapestry of Creation.

Despite the name, these are 12th-century Romanesque baths inspired by hammams. The cold room with its domed octagonal lantern is the most photographed.

The colourful houses over the river and the red iron bridge built by Eiffel's firm in 1877. Girona's definitive postcard view.

Romanesque-Gothic church with a bell tower truncated by lightning, the tallest in the city. It holds Roman early-Christian sarcophagi.

Free walk along the top of the old Carolingian walls, with towers to climb and the best views over the rooftops and surrounding hills.

The Nit de Sant Joan is free and open to all, lighting up Girona on the night of 23–24 June (the 24th is a public holiday across Catalonia). Bonfires blaze in neighbourhoods and squares, the Flama del Canigó arrives at the Plaça del Vi, and coca and cava fill the tables: an inland midsummer festival, no beach, right beside the Onyar.

Every May, Girona's Barri Vell becomes an ephemeral garden: Temps de Flors fills more than 100 spaces across the medieval old town — the cathedral, the Arab baths, private courtyards that only open for the occasion — with around 140 floral installations. Nine days, free admission, and over 400,000 visitors at the last edition.

The Fires de Sant Narcís are Girona's Festa Major: roughly ten days in late October, around the 29th, with over 200 free events. Documented since the 14th century, it is the oldest fair in Catalonia, featuring the famous fira d'atraccions in the Parc de la Devesa and the old town spilling out into the streets.

December turns Girona into one of Catalonia's most beautiful postcards: the Barri Vell and the bridges over the Onyar are lit up from late November, there's a free Christmas market in the Plaça de la Independència, and the Cathedral can be visited without queues — all with tourism at its lowest and crisp, dry cold.

The medieval heart of the Ciutat Vella: stone alleys, the cathedral, remains of the Roman wall and hidden squares. The best place to get lost on foot in Barcelona.

Fishermen's quarter with the best seafood and the afternoon fish auction.

The medieval heart of Valencia, with streets dating back to Roman and medieval times, Arab towers such as the Torres de Quart and Torres de Serranos, art galleries and tapas bars. It's the epicentre of Valencian street art and the city's liveliest neighbourhood after dark, buzzing from the afternoon right through to dawn.