Girona Old Town

Girona's old town sits on the east bank of the Onyar, with houses built out over the water in ochre, red and yellow, and behind them a dense medieval quarter climbing to the cathedral, whose eighty-six-step baroque stairway leads to a nave that is the widest Gothic single span in the world at nearly twenty-three metres. The Call, the Jewish quarter, is among the best preserved in Europe, a warren of stepped alleys with a museum of Jewish history in the last synagogue site. The Roman and medieval walls can be walked for over a kilometre with views across the roofs. The Arab baths of 1194 survive nearby. Game of Thrones filmed here in 2016, which brought a new wave of visitors.

What you actually see

• The river houses - coloured buildings hanging over the Onyar.
• The cathedral nave - the widest Gothic single span in the world.
• The Call - a well-preserved medieval Jewish quarter of stepped alleys.
• The wall walk - over a kilometre of Roman and medieval ramparts.

When to go

April to June and September to November; the Temps de Flors flower festival in May fills the courtyards and monuments with installations and brings very large crowds. Summer is hot and August quiet locally.

Honest expectations

The city is crowded during Temps de Flors and on summer weekends with day-trippers from Barcelona. The old town is steep and stepped throughout. The cathedral, baths and museums each charge separately.

Nearby

Besalu and the Garrotxa lie north; the Costa Brava is forty minutes east.