Spain / Barcelona & Catalonia / Girona & the Costa BravaGirona & the Costa Brava
A Medieval River City and the Coves of the Costa Brava
Girona's old town of coloured houses on the Onyar river, its cathedral steps, city walls and one of Europe's best-kept Jewish quarters, 38 minutes from Barcelona by high-speed train; and the Costa Brava's pine-backed coves and fishing towns half an hour to an hour away: walled Tossa de Mar, Calella de Palafrugell, Cadaqués and the Dalí Theatre-Museum at Figueres. Base in Girona and take buses or a hire car to the coast. The beach towns are busy in July and August and quiet, with many hotels shut, from November to March.
Highlights
- Walk Girona's city walls
- Cathedral steps and the Jewish quarter
- Painted houses on the Onyar
- Dalí Theatre-Museum in Figueres
- Swim in a Costa Brava cove
- Tossa de Mar's walled Vila Vella
- Camí de Ronda clifftop path
Things to do
- Girona Cathedral, the Call and the city wallsMorning · 3h
- Dalí Theatre-Museum, FigueresMorning · 3h
- Costa Brava coves: Calella de Palafrugell and LlafrancAfternoon · 5h
- Camí de Ronda coastal walkMorning · 3h 30m
- Tossa de Mar and its walled old townAfternoon · 4h
Tours & tickets
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When to go
Best time: May – June, September – October
Worth knowing
August: Spain on Holiday
August is when Spain takes its holidays: beaches, islands and coast towns are at their fullest and dearest, ferries to the Balearics and trains to the coast sell out, and in Madrid and other inland cities many family restaurants and small shops close for two or three weeks. Book rooms, ferries and trains months ahead, or come in June or September.
- Sant Jordi — Catalonia's day of books and roses: the streets of Barcelona fill with book and flower stalls, people give each other a rose and a book, and Casa Batlló is decked in roses. A working day, but a joyful one; La Rambla and Passeig de Gràcia are crowded.