Girona & Costa Brava Guide

A self-guided audio tour through Girona, the medieval villages of the Empordà, the wild coves and beaches of the Costa Brava, the Dalí Triangle, and the volcanic landscape of La Garrotxa — fifty stops across one of the most layered and beautiful corners of Catalonia.

Girona is a thousand-year-old city of pale stone and painted houses reflected in the slow green water of the River Onyar. Its cathedral — home to the widest Gothic nave on earth — crowns a hill above one of the best-preserved medieval Jewish quarters in Europe. Behind it lie Romanesque cloisters, Arab baths, and narrow lanes that Game of Thrones turned into Braavos.

Beyond the city stretches the Costa Brava, a coastline of pine-covered headlands and turquoise coves running from Blanes north to the French border. Hidden calas, the whitewashed village of Cadaqués, the cliff-edge Camí de Ronda, the marine reserve of the Medes Islands, and the rugged headland of Cap de Creus give this coast a character that pulled Picasso, Chagall, and above all Salvador Dalí into its orbit. Three of Dalí's great sites — the Theatre-Museum in Figueres, his home at Port Lligat, and Gala's castle at Púbol — form a triangle across the region.

Inland, the medieval villages of the Empordà — Peratallada, Pals, Besalú, Monells — sit in golden stone among rice paddies, cork oak woods, and vineyards producing the bold Garnatxa wines of the DO Empordà. Further west, La Garrotxa rises into a quiet landscape of dormant volcanoes and beech forests. And throughout it all runs an extraordinary food culture: the anchovies of L'Escala, the red prawns of Palamós, the rice of Pals, three-Michelin-star El Celler de Can Roca in Girona, and the calçotades and havaneres that mark the Catalan year.

ACCESSIBILITY

Girona is a thousand-year-old city of pale stone and painted houses reflected in the slow green water of the River Onyar. Its cathedral — home to the widest Gothic nave on earth — crowns a hill above one of the best-preserved medieval Jewish quarters in Europe. Behind it lie Romanesque cloisters, Arab baths, and narrow lanes that Game of Thrones turned into Braavos.

Beyond the city stretches the Costa Brava, a coastline of pine-covered headlands and turquoise coves running from Blanes north to the French border. Hidden calas, the whitewashed village of Cadaqués, the cliff-edge Camí de Ronda, the marine reserve of the Medes Islands, and the rugged headland of Cap de Creus give this coast a character that pulled Picasso, Chagall, and above all Salvador Dalí into its orbit. Three of Dalí's great sites — the Theatre-Museum in Figueres, his home at Port Lligat, and Gala's castle at Púbol — form a triangle across the region.

Inland, the medieval villages of the Empordà — Peratallada, Pals, Besalú, Monells — sit in golden stone among rice paddies, cork oak woods, and vineyards producing the bold Garnatxa wines of the DO Empordà. Further west, La Garrotxa rises into a quiet landscape of dormant volcanoes and beech forests. And throughout it all runs an extraordinary food culture: the anchovies of L'Escala, the red prawns of Palamós, the rice of Pals, three-Michelin-star El Celler de Can Roca in Girona, and the calçotades and havaneres that mark the Catalan year.

HOW TO REACH

Girona-Costa Brava Airport (GRO) is 12 km south of the city; Barcelona-El Prat (BCN) is 100 km south with frequent AVE high-speed trains reaching Girona in 38 minutes. Within Girona the Old Town is fully walkable from the train station. For exploring the Costa Brava beyond Girona a rental car is strongly recommended; SARFA buses connect Girona to the main coastal towns but with limited frequency.