Even more places to visit outside Girona.
Flea market, Perpignan, France.
Held on every Sunday, early until 2pm in Perpignan, just across the border in France. Takes about 1hr.15mins by car from Girona, and I travelled with a friend who was driving and spoke some French, as we had to ask for some directions. The flea market area is huge and we managed to park the car easily, although even when we arrived at 9.30 it was already quite full.
It's roughly divided into two parts, one has all the flea market things and the other half is more modern items you'd expect to find in any street market in the U.K. WIthin the flea market area there was anything from old bric a brac to collectibles and antiques at all price levels. My friend stumbled across an old French magazine with a cover of the 1966 England world cup team, at only 1€ and an old Singer sowing machine for just 8€.
I picked up a nice old glass soda bottle but was surprised to see the price was 70€, so I came away with nothing that day. It made for an interesting morning and we were back in Girona in time for a late lunch. Well worth going and I plan to return again some day soon, as there really isn't anything like it here in the Girona area.
Vic
The provincial town of this area, Vic is noted for its large, old square which hosts a weekly market on Saturday and a good place to buy locally produced pork meat products like dry cured sausages. We spent a pleasant couple of hours walking around the streets that lead of the square, observing local life. It's about a 1 hour drive from Girona, heading upwards through some pretty rolling countryside.
Tordera
Head south from Girona towards Barcelona for about 30 mins, Tordera is a normal looking town more famous for its Sunday market which snakes around it's many streets. The market even has a section where you can buy a wide variety of fowl like chickens and ducks to pets like dogs and rabbits.
Andorra
Although it's a good 3 hour drive from Girona, I'll give it a brief mention here, as many locals seem to go there, for shopping, ski-ing and as a summer destination. Perhaps the lure of it's tax-free shops is waning as people tell me that prices area about the same these days, even if you buy the same things locally.