Girona
Spain
A walled medieval city on a river, forty minutes from Barcelona by train and a fraction of the crowd
Photo by Lucas Gallone on Unsplash
Photos by Joshua Kettle, Enric Domas, MARKO MAKAR and Arnout van Nieuwkoop on Unsplash
Best time to visit all of Spain
April to June, and September to October — high summer is hot inland and the old town is full
Climate month by month
The next sixteen daysOpen-Meteo
Average high and low · °C
Rainfall · mm per month
Best months to visit This month · wettest 95mm in Oct
Where it is
41.98°N, 2.82°E Open in Google Maps
Things to do
A week easily- Walk the city walls from end to end, early, before the heat
- Climb the cathedral steps and see the cloister
- Stay the night rather than coming for a day from Barcelona; the old town empties in the evening and is at its best then
- Hire a road bike for a day on the climbs that the professionals use
- Come for Temps de Flors in spring, when the old town is filled with flowers, and book early for it
Girona travel tipsthe general rules
Currency budget Spain
Mid-rangeEuros, cards everywhere. Catalonia charges a tourist tax per person per night on top of the room rate, collected by the hotel or rental.
ATMs & cards
Bank machines throughout the centre and the Mercadal across the river. Decline any machine's offer to convert, and take the euro amount.
Avoid these
- Euronet and other independent machines that push conversion
Use these instead
- CaixaBank
- BBVA
- Sabadell
- Santander
Decline the machine's offer to convert into your own currency and take the euro amount.
Wherever you are: if the machine offers to charge you in your home currency, decline. That is dynamic currency conversion and the rate is set by the ATM's operator, not your bank.
Safety all of Spain
Very safeVery safe. Pickpocketing is far less of a problem than in Barcelona, and the old town is fine to walk at night. The things that catch visitors are the stairs and cobbles, which are slippery in the rain, and the summer heat inland, which is several degrees above the coast.
Where to walk, and where to pay attention (7 areas)
Comfortable, including after dark
Worth more attention
- Pujada de la Catedral — and the other old-town stairs, which are polished stone and slippery in the rain
- The hill roads around the city, which fill with fast groups of cyclists — drive as if one is around every bend
- The old town during Temps de Flors, when the crowds are as heavy as Barcelona's and pickpockets follow them
Our own assessment, not a sourced index.
Entry & visa Spain visa rules
No visa needed
Freedom of movement — no time limit, and no visa. Bring a passport or national ID card.
Other passports
No visa neededup to 90 days
90 days within any 180-day period, counted across the whole Schengen area, not per country. ETIAS, a paid online authorisation, is being introduced for these passports — check the official link for whether it applies to your travel dates.
Visa required in advance€90 (Schengen short-stay visa)
A Schengen short-stay visa is applied for before travel, at the consulate of your main destination.
How to get it: Apply at the consulate or visa centre of the country you will spend most time in, typically 15 working days ahead and no more than six months before travel.
Entry rules change often and depend on your passport, not where you live — the official page above is the authority, and the airline checks before you board.
Health & emergencies all of Spain
Excellent and cheapRequired to enter
No vaccinations are required for entry from Europe or North America.
Jabs worth having, and what happens if you need a doctor
Worth having
- Routine vaccinations up to date (MMR, tetanus, polio)
Getting treated
EU/EEA and Swiss visitors are treated on the same terms as residents with an EHIC or GHIC card; UK visitors use a GHIC. Everyone else pays, and travel insurance is worth having for the repatriation cover rather than the treatment.
Orientation, not medical advice — entry rules change and what you need depends on your own history. Check with a travel clinic four to six weeks before you go.
Food tip
Very goodA xuixo, a sugared pastry filled with custard, is Girona's own and is eaten for breakfast. El Celler de Can Roca, regularly ranked among the best restaurants in the world, books up many months ahead; its family's ice-cream shop, Rocambolesc, in the old town, does not. Catalan cooking otherwise — botifarra, pa amb tomàquet, and the Empordà wines from just north.
Travel tipsGetting around
Easy- UberWorks here
- BoltWorks here
- CabifyWorks here
- FREE NOWWorks here
- Against a taxi
- About level with a metered taxi, and where a city sets a flat airport fare the taxi usually wins.
Several cities cap private-hire licences hard, so at peak the app may simply have nothing to send.
Time zone and your working day
Europe/Madrid — 6 hours ahead of you
2 hours of overlap with a 09:00–17:00 day where you are — 09:00–11:00 your time, 15:00–17:00 theirs.
No overlap with a 09:00–17:00 day where you are. Working from here means one of you keeps odd hours — their day starts at 03:00 on your clock.
office hours both at once night
Their 09:00–17:00 is 03:00–11:00 on yours.
The difference from the UK, Europe, the US and ten more
Worked out against America/New York, which is where this request looks like it came from.
eSIM
A data eSIM for Spain, installed before you fly and working the moment you land:
Works here
Works hereRevolutIn the app
Must-see
Travel tipsNearby day trips
Travel tipsSay a few words
Spanish
- HelloHolaOH-la
- PleasePor favorpor fa-VOR
- Thank youGraciasGRA-thyas
- Yes / NoSí / Nosee / no
4 more phrases
- Excuse mePerdónper-DON
- How much is it?¿Cuánto cuesta?KWAN-to KWES-ta
- The bill, pleaseLa cuenta, por favorla KWEN-ta
- Cheers!¡Salud!sa-LOOD
Religion
Catholic
Nominally Catholic and deeply secular in practice. Churches are working buildings as well as sights, and Semana Santa is taken seriously even by people who never attend Mass.
Travel tipsDo's and don'ts
Do
- Eat late — lunch from 14:00, dinner rarely before 21:00
- Greet with two cheek kisses, right cheek first, between women or a man and a woman
- Stand at the bar to drink; it is cheaper than sitting and more sociable
- Say buenos días on entering a small shop, and adiós on leaving
Don't
- Do not expect anything to be open between 14:00 and 17:00 outside the big cities
- Do not order sangria in a serious restaurant — it is a tourist drink; ask for tinto de verano
- Do not tip heavily; rounding up or a euro or two is normal
- In Barcelona, do not assume Catalan and Spanish are interchangeable — the distinction matters to people
Where to stay in Girona
No Holistay rentals in Girona yet — the platform is just opening up. Every listing here will have a video tour and the option to negotiate the nightly price directly with the host.
In the meantime, here is Girona on the sites that do have the inventory — each search is already filled in:
- Booking.com hotels, guesthouses and apartments — the widest coverage almost everywhere
- Airbnb whole homes and apartments, and the better option for a week or more
How to get there
Fly into Girona–Costa Brava GRO
25 minfrom the airport· 10 km as the crow flies
25 min by bus to the railway station.
Also worth pricing: Barcelona–El Prat BCN — far more flights; about two hours by train via Barcelona Sants, or by bus.
Google Flights · Rome2Rio for the trains, buses and ferries as well as the flights
