Full Day in Girona and Figueres from Barcelona

Transfer from Barcelona to Girona: 1h and 20 min
Time spent in Girona: Approximately 2 hours

Girona is crossed by the rivers Ter, Güell, Galligans, and Oñar. It is located 75 meters above sea level.

The city is also known because its old town was used as a set for some episodes of "Game of Thrones."

Its old town is delimited by the Paseo de la Muralla, the coastal walkway of the old Carolingian walls (9th Century) and the late Middle Ages (14th and 15th Centuries).

Its most memorable monuments include El Call, one of the best preserved old Jewish quarters in Spain, as well as the colorful Casas del Oñar, situated on the banks of the river Oñar and very close to the Cathedral of Santa Maria, which has the widest Gothic nave in the world.

The Cathedral of Santa Maria of Girona, built between the 9th and the 18th Centuries, includes three main architectural styles: Romanesque, Gothic and Barroque.

Its cloister is Romanesque, with interesting decorated capitals. Its wide Gothic nave stands out for being the widest Gothic nave and the second widest in the world, just after Saint Peter's Basilica in the Vatican.

To access the temple, there is a majestic staircase built in the time of Bishop Pontich, between 1686 and 1699, with ninety steps, divided in three sections, and a stone balustrade on its sides.

The Cathedral's main facade is Baroque.

The old town of Girona, the heart of the Roman city of Gerunda, contains the most relevant artistic heritage of the city.

It's limited by immense traces of the old wall, which can be traversed by the Paseo Arqueológico (Archeological Walk), which has a beautiful lookout over the city.

In addition to civil buildings such as the House of the Archdeacon and the Episcopal Palace, the old town also has important religious buildings. For instance, the Romanesque Monastery of San Pedro de Galligans, the Chapel of San Nicolás, or the Basilica of San Félix, with its slender and singular gothic tower truncated by a lightning.

In the square of the cathedral, we can also find relevant monuments like the Casa Pastors, a Renaissance building that today works as the courthouse, and the Pia Almoina.

Las Casas del Oñar (Houses of Oñar), also known as the Houses of the River or Hanging Houses, are those which have their facades facing the Oñar river.

They are located between la Rambla and Calle Argentería in the old town of Girona.

This complex is included in the Inventario del Patrimonio Arquitectónico de Cataluña.

All their river facades are painted following the color palette conferred by Enric Ansesa, Jaume Faixó and the architects J. Fuses and J. Viader.

One of the most relevant houses is the Casa Masó (Masó House), the birthing house of Rafael Masó i Valentí, an architect from Girona. It is located in the number 29 of the Calle Ballesteries of Girona; it is a symbol of the evolution of the artistic movement "Noucentisme" in the city.

From 2006, it houses the headquarters of la Fundación Rafael Masó (the Rafael Masó Fundation). Its facade can be identified thanks to its white and blue colors that made it stand out over the rest.

The Jewish History Museum of Girona, is located in the Centro Bonastruc ça Porta, in the middle of the old Jewish quarter of Girona.

The building is situated where the old synagogue and its annexes used to be in the 15th Century.

The main goal of this museum is to preserve and share the history of the Jewish communities of Catalonia, that during the Middle Ages took an important part and contributed to the historical trajectory and the cultural and scientific development of the country.

Girona's Roman wall was built to defend the city from invading armies. Being a border city, it had a strategic geographical location.

The Romans raised in the 1st century B.C. a mighty fortress that ran around an almost triangular perimeter. It was a kind of acropolis, la Fuerza Vieja, and it was very well protected by walls built with large blocks of stone. It is the first enclosure of the city of Girona, which remained unchanged until the 10th Century.

Transfer from Girona to Figueres: 40 min
Transfer from Figueres to Barcelona: 1h and 40 min
Time spent in Figueres: Approximately 2 hours

Figueres is a village located in the province of Girona, near the border with France. It is mostly known thanks to being the birthplace of the artist Salvador Dalí.

The most important place in Figueres is the Teatro-Museo Dalí, the final stop for this tour.

This is a Museum dedicated to the surrealist artist Salvador Dalí. It is located at la Plaza Gala-Salvador Dalí in Figueres.

The project started being conceived during the 60s, when the mayor of Figueres thought it would be appropiate to create a space in honour of the work and the character of Dalí, who was known on a world-wide level at that point. The Museum was inaugurated in 1974, but its construction ended fifteen years later, when the artist died. This architectural complex is considerated to be the last great artwork of the Catalan artist, a Total Work of Art.

The space that nowadays is used by the Museum was for many years used by the Municipal Theatre of the City, a neoclassical XIXth building.

The outside has a flashy red wall with giant eggs on the top that make the building stand out. Inside, the building contains artistic heritage donated by Gala and Dalí. Between its most important pieces we can find are Galatea of the Spheres (1952) or The Palace of the Wind (1973).