This latest trip to Europe is at an end and were it not for commitments at home we could easily have stayed longer. Our trip ended in Girona, which is just 38 minutes from Barcelona by express train, but as we found out this morning, nearly two hours by car to the airport. Traffic in Barcelona is horrible!

Girona is well-covered in guidebooks so we won’t repeat too much, but as is clear from our short train trip it can easily be visited as a day trip, which many people do. It’s become popular over the years with cyclists for the hilly terrain, especially some of the pros who as we understand it are also drawn by tax incentives.

We opted to stay three nights to make visiting Dali-related sites easier, as Pat related in her Dali post. We also wanted a final day just for some R&R time. Before we left on this trip we also expected our final day was going to be devoted in part to satisfying the then-required pre-departure COVID testing. The end of that requirement three days before our departure was a blessing that allowed us to just relax before the long slog home.

Girona is a medium-sized city, but visitors focus on the old quarter. It has a lot of the charm of the Gothic Quarter in Barcelona but without the throngs pouring off of the cruise ships. There are tour groups for sure, especially since Game of Thrones was filmed here, just not as many.

Highlights include a cathedral, a museum of Jewish history and some art museums that get good reviews. Girona is also known for the colorfully painted houses that line the rivers in town. There are four rivers in Girona.

But in all honesty we were toured-out by our final day. We did walk the wall that surrounds the old city, portions of which were started by the Romans, but we mostly relaxed at our inn, the Montjuic B&B, with one last dinner in town. Pat has more to say about the accommodations in her hotel wrap up, but suffice it to say it was an uphill hike to reach our inn from town, but an easy stroll of roughly 10 minutes down. Below is a last look at Barcelona from the air as we departed.