Things to do in Girona Spain in One Day

The medieval city of Girona kept popping up during my search of great day trips from Barcelona. So, we made sure to put into our seven-day itinerary and it was worth the time and money to spend the day in the area. See some of the fun and unique things to do in Girona in one day with families, especially the old town area.

History of Girona

The city of Girona is also the capital of the Girona province in Catalonia. This semi-autonomous region in northeastern Spain has their own language, flag, parliament. Located by the Onyar River and with the mountains and coastal area nearby, Girona’s strategic location has made it a highly sought after territory.

Girona officially traces its founding back to around 79 BC, with various names attributed to it over the centuries depending on the ruling authority. The Iberians, Romans, Visigoths, Moors and French all had a turn in capturing or ruling it dating back to the 4^th century.

It has lived through many sieges and attacks for centuries. Today, Girona is a thriving city filled with many landmarks and attractions related to its rich and complicated history.

It’s a well connected and a popular city. But, it is less crowded than neighboring Barcelona while maintaining a charming small town atmosphere.

Visiting The Old Town of Girona

The city has three zones: the interior including the old quarter area, modern sector and the residential area. We spent most of our time in the Old Town area of Girona. The Onyar River divided the old and new areas.

Stroll the Plaza

Our starting point in Girona was Plaça de la Independència which was at the edge of the Old Town area and the river. We were glad to still see some vendors from their small Christmas market.

Many coffee shops, bars and restaurants surrounded the plaza. We actually ate here for lunch and dinner.

The plaza was built on an old convent (Sant Agusti) site. We enjoyed walking under the portico arches and seeing the beautiful architectural details of the buildings. A monument at the center commemorates the citizens who defended Girona in the early 19th century.

The Onyar River Banks

It wasn’t too far of a walk to the Onyar River banks from the plaza. We loved seeing the many bright and colorful houses known as casas penjades or hanging houses lining the river. They reminded us a lot of the houses along the Ponte Vecchio area in Florence, Italy.

These houses have been around for centuries and are one of Girona’s iconic images. In 1983, they restored the colors based on a palette reflecting the landscapes around Girona.

They have repainted them over the years using the same hues. If you’re curious to see the interior of one of these houses, Casa Maso is open to the public.

The colors were the most vibrant around sunset. A couple of the bridges were lit up too. We couldn’t get enough of their reflections and made for some beautiful images.

These colorful houses were in between the Pont de Pedra and Pont de Feliu bridges. There were 11 bridges in Girona. Several crossed the river that took us to the medieval old quarter area of town.

The most popular bridge here is the red Pont de les Peixateries Velles (the Old Fisherman’s Bridge), also commonly known as The Eiffel Bridge. Gustave Eiffel and his company designed and constructed this bridge in 1827 before building the Eiffel Tower. It’s also known as Pont de Ferro or the Iron Bridge.

We crossed the Eiffel Tower bridge and found ourselves in the Rambla de la Llibertat area which is the main shopping street in the city and runs parallel to the Onyar river. There were several souvenir stores, restaurants, bars and some unique shops. This area has serves as the meeting point for locals over the years.

The Jewish Quarter

The well-preserved Jewish Quarter, also known as El Call (The Call), was within the confines of the old city walls. Girona had strong Jewish presence between the 12^th and 15^th centuries.

The Jewish community was largely confined to this area due to religious and cultural differences with the rest of the city. Eventually, the Jews were expelled from Spain in the 15th century.

We loved walking around here in the midst of small, narrow alleys, courtyards and stone staircases that lead to some glorious buildings. It was a wonderful place to get lost with many pleasant surprises greeting us at the next turn.

If you have some time and enjoy visiting museums, this area also has the Museum of Jewish History inside an old synagogue and the City History Museum housed in an old convent. There is also the 12^th century Arabic Baths. Look for the main streets of la Forca, Carrer de Sant Llorenc and Carrer Manuel Cundaro in the heart of the quarter.

The well-preserved buildings and vicinity almost felt like we stepped back into the medieval times. It was no surprise Girona was a filming site for parts of the popular TV show, Game of Thrones during season six.

It doubled as the town of Braavos and some parts of King’s Landing. Visitors can take several Game of Thrones tours. We passed up on this since we had other places to see.

The Cathedral

The most imposing structure in the old town area is the Cathedral de Santa Maria and located adjacent to the Jewish Quarter. The cathedral was consecrated in 1038 and built between the 11^th and 18^th centuries.

A mix of architectural styles of Catalan Baroque and Gothic made up this cathedral. Its detailed exterior by then entrance was incredible.

The steps leading the cathedral looked very intimidating. Luckily, we weren’t here during the summer so the slow walk up wasn’t as bad as we expected.

The steps were a popular place for people to hang out and rest. If you’re a fan of the Game of Thrones show, Jamie Lannister used these same steps to ride up on horseback.

We didn’t go inside the cathedral.

but it is supposed to have the widest Gothic nave in the world and beautiful stained glass windows. It also houses the Cathedral Treasury Museum which has a vast collection of religious art including a medieval manuscript (Beatus) and 11^th-12^th century Creation Tapestry.

We also spent some time relaxing at the gardens behind the cathedral. Jardins de la Francesca or The Gardens of the French Woman offered an oasis from the tourists meandering around the cathedral area.

There were several benches here to rest from all the walking. Even in winter, the park has plenty of shade and filled with lush trees and plants. This would be a wonderful place to visit during Spring and Summer.

Walk The City Walls

One area where we spent quite a bit of time was walking the city walls that surrounded part of the old town. Known as the Passeig de la Muralla or “Walk of the Wall”, they built these city walls between the 9^th and 14^th centuries to protect Girona.

The walls span about 1.86 miles (3 km). These are what remain of the old city walls originally built by the Romans.

Some parts of it were destroyed in the late 19^th century as the city expanded and made room for houses and buildings. The remains were still quite impressive.

We enjoyed walking on the elevated pathway that looked out into the old town area and the Pyrenees mountains on the other side. It was a great and different perspective of the city.

I’m not sure how easy it is to walk through here when it gets more crowded during summer season. During our winter visit, we had some stretches of the wall to ourselves for a leisurely stroll. It gave us some time to stop in many areas and enjoy the views.

The Wall Entrances

There were several entrances to walk along the walls. We entered near the French gardens by the cathedral and exited at the stairs near Placa de Catalunya. I’m glad we entered via the cathedral route because those steep stairs would not have been fun to climb.

Seven towers connect these city walls and visitors can climb them. We found spiral staircases and rickety wooden steps that took us to observation towers. Of course, my kids had to climb each one we passed. The views were almost the same but a more 360-degree perspective.

We were here late in the afternoon with the sun blinding us sometimes and hiding some parts of the city. Since the city walls undoubtedly offer the best panoramic views, this was a very popular area to watch the sunset.

Girona was a beautiful city to visit that offered plenty of landmarks for visitors to discover particularly in its old town area. Its rich culture and history make it a wonderful day trip from Barcelona.

You can’t go wrong exploring the alleys of the Jewish Quarter or walking its old city walls among other things. Don’t miss this on your Spain trip.

Getting to Girona from Barcelona:

• By Train: There are over 15 trains that depart from Barcelona throughout the day. It is about a 40-minute train ride one way.
• By plane: Girona has an airport that serves several airlines with flights connected to many other European cities.
• By car: We rented a car and drove to Girona. This gave us some flexibility to see other nearby medieval towns like Besalu. Drive time is about an hour from Barcelona for the 100 km distance. The roads were well-maintained and we drove through some toll highways. We paid less than 20 euros in tolls for the roundtrip.

Tips for Visiting Girona

• There are also several guided tours for a day trip from Barcelona.
• Visit the tourist information center on Rambla de la Libertad and get a map to explore the city and old town area.
• Wear comfortable walking shoes. You will be walking a lot and this was the best way to explore the cobblestone streets and alleys.
• Take some time to enjoy the river views or find some quiet time in some of its green spaces.

Where to Eat in Girona

There was no shortage of places to eat in Girona from Michelin rated restaurants to tapas bars and some international cuisines. Since we were traveling with teens, we were aiming more for convenience and budget.

We stayed around the Placa de la Independencia to eat only because we were there during lunch and dinnertime. There were quite a number of options though.

Frankfurter König

We ate lunch at Frankfurter König. Yes, it totally sounds German but they actually had a lot of Spanish staple options. This is a Girona-based family company of restaurants and also found in Barcelona. König is the German word for King.

They had many sandwich and flatbread options and some German-style sausages. But, they also had plenty of tapas and Spanish staples. We stuck to mostly tapas and they were all delicious especially the grilled octopus, grilled beef and garlic shrimp.

Rocambolesc Gelateria

Several Barcelona residents told us not to miss Rocambolesc Gelateria when visiting Girona. Luckily, this was just down the street from Placa de la Independencia and very close to the Eiffel Tower Bridge. One of the Roca brothers, known for their Michelin rated restaurant, created this ice cream shop with a twist.

They had unique,ice cream flavors from baked apple pie to mandarin and apricot sorbet to mango and lavender and come with a variety of toppings including cotton candy. All ice cream were made with natural ingredients and only six flavors are offered daily.

But, we really liked the gourmet popsicles that ranged in shape from Darth Vader to Michelangelo’s David. Despite it being cold outside, we really enjoyed our popsicles and ice cream.

Xibarri

We ended our day with dinner at Xibarri which was closer to the river with a terrace looking out into the historic center and the cathedral. The restaurant is known for Spanish dishes, tapas and pinxos.

Our mouths started watering as soon as we walked in and saw the bar area with many plates filled with sliced bread and a variety of toppings. These were Spanish pinxos (pronounced “peen-choos”).

And they all cost 1 euro! They charged us based on the number of toothpicks we had on the plates after we finished eating.

My husband and son certainly took advantage and grabbed every type of pinxo available to sample each one. Everything we had was delicious.

The toppings ranged from jamon (ham), manchego cheese, seafood to meatballs. Tapas and other Spanish staples were also available to order.

*Any other attraction to add for things to do in Girona?

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