Girona. Spain

My wife and I decided we wanted a city break in late Jan 2009 and decided we would try Spain since we got a good deal on some flights on Ryanair from Leeds-Bradford to Girona Costa Brava (advertised as being for Barcelona). Having already visited Barca, we decided to stay in Girona itself as we had read something about the place.

The town itself has a new and an old part. The majority of the New Town is nothing special, and probably little different to any other working Spanish town. However, the main attractions are in the Old Town where there are narrow cobbled streets, a Cathedral, and oodles and oodles of history.

We were staying in a hotel called the Ciutat de Girona which was a very modern style, both stylish and comfortable. The rooms are a decent size, very pleasant and well equipped (to be reviewed later).

The location is excellent, right on the river at a bridge over to the old town, and just down from a main square which is rimmed with good restaurants.

As far as sites are concerned, there are the Banyas Arabs (Arab Baths) which go back a few centuries, and interesting to see at only 2 euros there is the Cathedral which apparently has the largest single-vaulted nave in the world. There is the Jewish Museum which has a lot of information on the pre-Inquisition Jewish population that were eventually driven out.

There are plenty of restaurants of various types: Indian, Chinese, Italian as well as the obvious Spanish. Spanish restaurants come in different varieties also. There are posh, places with menus of local specialties suitable for long sit-down meals, or there are a lot of tapas bars where you order small dishes and graze. This is a highlight of any visit to Spain, migrating from one tapas place to another instead of a formal meal. The best of these are the pintxos places that have plates of bite-sized food on the bar with a cocktail stick. You get a plate from the bartender and help yourself, with the bill depending on how many cocktail sticks are on your plate at the end.

In all I'd recommend Girona for anyone looking for a short break at any time of year. It's the smaller, quiet, interesting cousin of the absolutely fabulous big and brash Barcelona, but definitely worth a look.