About Girona and surroundings

GIRONA. More than a thousand years of history watch over this small, harmonious city, which has managed with the utmost of care to preserve the legacy of all the eras and sensitivities that have left their mark on the city: in an old quarter that takes pride in each and every one of the stones that dress its medieval facades, the most notable attractions include the Jewry, an exemplar of the Jewish quarter that is unique in the world, the cathedral (http://www.lacatedraldegirona.com), a singular example of Gothic architecture, its museum, with the Creation Tapestry and the Beatus, the wall enclosing the old quarter, and the recently inaugurated Cinema Museum, the only one of its kind in Europe.

If you have never been to the regions of Girona, then we must start by explaining that the word that best defines them is DIVERSITY. Don't expect to find one landscape, one light, one vegetation... what you will find is a multitude of changing landscapes, evolving as you advance in one direction or another. Like a kaleidoscope, your senses will receive an avalanche of sensations, shapes, colours. And not only your eyes - your ears, your nose, your skin and your heart will absorb a multitude of impacts capable of producing the most pleasant emotions and the most diverse experiences.

The city of Banyoles (http://www.banyoles-agenda.com/ingles.htm), is situated 20 km. from Girona. Its most famous landmark is the lake of Banyoles: a stopping off point of unndeniable interest for tourists thanks to its beautiful surroundings, its natural heritage due to its ecology, and of great importance to the world of sport in its being able to offer the ideal environment for both training and competition.

The city of Figueres, is situated 40 km from Girona, is known world-wide for being the site of the Dalí Theatre Museum, one of Spain's most frequently museums, which houses a great deal of the painter's works. From here, one can embark on a journey covering the life of Salvador Dalí (http://www.salvador-dali.org/), including a visit to the Púbol castle (in the Baix Empordà region) and to his home in Portlligat, in Cadaqués. Other interesting attractions in Figueres include the Catalonia Toy Museum, which displays all kinds of miniature toys made by the world's most prestigious toymakers.

The coast of Girona, the Costa Brava (http://www.costabrava.org/) includes picturesque coastal towns and fishermen's havens like Cadaqués, the charm and scenery of which captivated the maestro Salvador Dalí himself, or like Calella de Palafrugell, whose winding streets and coves echo the sounds of the "Habaneras". you also can visit the Cap de Creus Natural Park, whose landscape suggests what the earth must have been like in its origins, or the marshes of the Aiguamolls de I'Empordà, the Medes islands (in L'Estartit) and the coves and inlets of Begur and Palafrugell, and the citadel of Roses, the Greek and Roman ruins of Empúries (in L'Escala) or the medieval villages of Pals and Peratallada, and the Iberian remains of Ullastret, the old town of Tossa de Mar and the beautiful botanical gardens of Blanes and Lloret de Mar.. What we're getting at, in a nutshell, is that at the Costa Brava, you probably enjoy the biggest concentration of enchanging sights and experiences in the shortests possible distance.

In the Pirineu de Girona you will find all the shades of green: the mysterious, deep green of mountain lakes and streams; the soft, soothing green of the fields and meadows the bold green of the treetops as march up sheer mountainsides...

Everything in the Pirineu de Girona speaks of nature, of life, of scenery. Amidst this mighty, sometimes fierce setting an authentic, warm spirit has thrived, capable of inspiring a mountain culture based on honesty, peace and respect for things and people.

It is thanks precisely to this respect that today it is still possible to retrace the medieval steps from village to village and from monastery to monastery, following the Romanesque Route through such extraordinary sites as Ripoll or Sant Joan de les Abadesses.

The mountainous region of Girona stretches in an east-west direction from theMediterranean up to the Cadí-Moixeró Natural Park. Its proximity to the Mediterranean is what provides such a bening clime to thid part of the Pyrenees.

Beneath these natural skyscrapers, the territory spreads out like an enormous vegetal stain towards the Pre-Pyrenees areas which offer such notable treasures as the Garrotxa Volcanic Area (with its spectacular beech forest known as Fageda d'en Jordà), Beget, Oix, Besalú, Santa Pau... It would be unreasonable to overfill this introduction with the great number of villages, towns and sites that can be sited, but we would not want you to turn the page without us getting the chance to recommend, once again, one of the area's most cherished treasures: its cuisine. There are so many restaurants where cooking has achieved an art form that you will not have to go out of your way or sacrifice other activities to enjoy the delicious local fare. Whether you're in the Cerdanya a region or in the Camprodon valley, or visiting Núria valley (http://www.valldenuria.com/), enchanted by the unique scenery that unfolds before you as you climb the miraculous layout of the only rack railway in Spain, or if you reach Olot drawn by its pictorial tradition and by its galleries and exhibitions... be loyal to our cuisine, and you will thank us for it when you think back on your holidays.

Finally, the city of Barcelona (http://www.bcn.es/english/ihome.htm) is situated 100 Km from Girona, Barcelona is a city shaped by the '92 olympics with a Roman subsoil and living in the 21st century, where Gothic architecture stands alongside the most contemporary buildings and modernism constructions by Antoni Gaudí and other architects, where economic dynamism blends with intellectual effervescence, and where the sea is a stage and the mountain its backdrop. Today's Barcelona is living one of its finest moments.