Girona is a great place to visit on your first trip to Spain. It’s a city of a quite a few attractions and hence is a good place in its own right. Some people simply land up right here as a result of it’s near Barcelona. But when you’re going to have a Spanish tour, you possibly can easily spend your first day and night here.
The city has three museums so that you can visit. There’s one on Artwork, one on Cinema and one on archeology. The Museu de Cinema is actually the only one of its kind in Spain. It is a current development and features exhibits that date as far back as nineteen seventy.
Just these three museums can take an entire day to fully appreciate. Then there are vibrant squares in the city which can be fascinating locations to go to and sit at. There are fashionable cafes and bars throughout these places so it’s also possible to enjoy a heat café environment whereas watching the world go by. The squares which might be recommended for this are Plaça del la Independencia and Plaça del Vi. Plaça del Catedral is another excellent spot for this.
If you intend heading for Barcelona then a handy way of getting there’s to make use of a automotive hire Girona service. Girona Airport is about a one hundred kilometre drive from Spain. Drive time must be around one hour. Barcelona certainly doesn’t have to be the extent of your travels however as there is a lot to see in and around Girona.
You possibly can then go to the Cathedral which has the widest Gothic Nave in the entire of Europe measuring in at twenty three meters. It is a stunning construction and is actually worth a visit. The Cathedral might be reached provided that you climb ninety steep steps. It’s true seventeenth century baroque type architecture. The Cathedral itself dates way again to the 14th century and hence is a good combination of Gothic, Roman and Catalan Baroque styles.
The Cathedral additionally houses a museum and a cloister. The Museum displays objects that date from the 10th up to the 13th century which is completely outstanding and makes for an thrilling visit.
Right beside the Cathedral is one other excellent web site – the Passeig Archeologic. It’s a lovely set of gardens which can be certain to mesmerize you at first sight.
Eglesia de Sant Feliu is another major cultural attraction that you should go to while you’re in Girona. The Churches dates between the 14th and the seventeenth century and might be discovered on the Pujada de Sant Feliu. The church was built over something that was then believed to be the tomb of none aside from Feliu of Africa.
So once you land in Girona, you will note that there is truly loads to do here. So take your time and luxuriate in this lovely city.
Trips from Girona
FIGUERES
Is 47km from Girona along the C-250, N-11 and N-260 motorways.
It is the birthplace of the great artist Salvador Dalí and a very attractive town, with shops, open-air cafés and some majestic houses.
The Dali Theatre-Museum in the town centre has the distinction of being the largest surrealistic object in the world. The site originally housed the Municipal Theatre which was destroyed at the end of the Spanish Civil War. Where everyone else saw ruins, Dali saw an opportunity to create a piece of history and built his museum which currently houses approximately 1,500 pieces of art ranging from sculpture to painting and drawing, from engraving to photography and much more.
Some of the works being exhibited include Galarina, The Spectre of Sex Appeal, Atomic Leda; Rainy Taxi, the Mae West room and the figure of Gala.
The Dali Theatre-Museum is child friendly and a great way to spend an afternoon because it is crammed with optical illusions, stunning sculpture and unusual paintings.
OLOT
Is an 80km drive from Girona via the N-11A, C-66, E-15/AP-7 and A-26 / N-260 motorways.
It is an historic town of Olot situated in an area of dormant volcanoes, with the last eruption occurring 11,000 years ago. It does suffer from earthquakes with the last major one being in 1427 when the town was virtually destroyed.
During the 18th century Olot had a thriving textile industry which led to the Olot School of art which was founded by a group of local artists led by Joachim Vayreda. They produced some stunning fabrics decorated with coloured drawings which can be seen in the Museu Comarcal de la Garrotxa, in the 18th century Carrer de l’Hospici 8. Here you can also see a diverse range of paintings and sculptures by such local artists including Ramón Amadeu, Miguel Blay, Josep Berga I Boix and Joachim Vayreda.
The charming narrow streets of Olot’s old town are clustered around the Plaça Major and the Sant Esteve church, where you will find a number of small and unusual shops and art galleries. Nearby is the Rambla (Passeig Miguel Blay) which is an attractive walkway lined with smart cafés and tree-shaded tables for dining or having a coffee and watching the world go by. The 19th century Teatre-Principal and some fine Modernist architecture are on the Rambla.
Other places to visit in Olot include the Casal dels Volcans (House of Volcanoes) which describes the volcanic history of the town: the Jardí Botanic (botanical gardens), and the Museu Interactiu (Carrer Dr Zamenhoff), which is an interactive museum offering information on the bird and animal life in the area.