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Getting around Girona
Girona city with a population of around 100,000 is much smaller in comparison to somewhere like Barcelona and the locals refer to it more as a 'village'. If your'e a visitor then driving around Girona is a hassle, especially in the morning and early evening rush hour. Your'e better of parking somewhere, which in itself can be a bit hard the majority of the time unless you opt for one of the many underground, paid parking places.
Locals seem to avoid these underground car parks and choose to drive around the block looking for any tiny, 'free' parking space. A good place to leave your car and where there's always places is behind the Parc de la Devesa. A road runs adjacent to the river Ter right up to the Auditori de Congressos, Girona's newest concert hall. Even from here, areas like the old town are only a ten minute walk away.
For able drivers beware of parking your car in disabled bays as they do use tow-trucks, and try to avoid parking-up on kerbs and on zebra crossings as they tow these cars too. If it happens, look at the kerb where your car was and there should be a plastic 'info' pack stuck to the pavement telling you what to do.
It really is very easy just to walk around Girona and you can reach most of the important tourist sights on foot. Visitors would be well-advised to choose a hotel with a central location. Even living here as I do, I find that everywhere I need to go to, whether it's just shopping, the doctors or the dentists is a pleasant short walk away, or I use my bicycle.
The river Onyar seperates the old town from the more modern areas, which you'd appreciate more if you just walk around. There are several bus routes which cover most of the city and you'll find bus maps (and general city maps for free) in the Tourist information office in the Rambla, the city hall 'ajuntament' building or you can view the bus routes on the back of most bus stops.
Buses in Girona
Most have the prefix L and then a number eg. L-5 and run about every 15 mins. You buy the ticket (tiquet) on the bus, a single fare is currently 1.15 € both adults and children pay the same. If you use the bus a lot you can ask for a bus pass or 'abontament' which you can buy from the driver, from 20 trips up to 66 trips (viatges) being the maximum, which is about 44 € for adults. (The kids buss pass is also about 44 € but you get more trips, a total of 88 for the dearest) The prices are normally displayed inside the bus, behind the driver.
Update Dec.07 If you live here and take your kids to school by bus you can now get free kid's bus passes from the town hall.
To reach other local villages, towns and coastal resorts you'll need to leave from Girona's main bus/coach station. Bus timetables are available inside, from the ticket counters. Some go by the name Sarfa Bus, Teisa or Transports de Catalunya. For some reason they won't sell you a ticket until about 15 mins. before the bus's departure time. Check www.ajuntament.gi/mobilitat/ for routes and the Sarfa Bus Co's site at www.sarfa.es
The Bus Co. Eurolines operate between the major European cities and serves Girona www.eurolines.es
Old train outside (now
removed)
Girona Bus & Train station.
Taxi's.
Girona taxi's are white with a blue stripe on the side and you'll find plenty outside the train station (which also adjoins the Bus and Coach station). There aren't that many dedicated taxi ranks around town, but you can also order a radio taxi by phone, at anytime eg. Tel. 972 22 2323 or 97220 33 77.
Bikes
To get around Girona by bike you could try contacting this company, they rent bikes by the day or week or, can tailor a biking holiday for you or your group, and they speak English! Use the 'Contact Us' form to request more info.
Tourist road train.This is
a fun, comfortable and easy way of seeing the old
quarter of Girona if your'e not in the mood for doing
too much walking. These green road 'trains' depart
from the stone bridge (Pont de Piedra) and the tour
lasts about 40 minutes, a static booth at one end of
the bridge displays departure times and pricing
information.
There's also a company that offers tours of Girona using small electric trikes with two large tyres, where you stand on a platform and steer standing up. They call themselves Segway tours Girona and the 2 hour tour costs about 60 € and covers 8 kms. Tel.972 218 144
Girona Street Art
I mention it here as an aside from what you normally read and hear about places you visit. Some of the street art is really very good!
Numerous wall spaces, mostly temporary hoardings in front of building sites around Girona are adorned with legal and not-so-legal wall art and graffiti. Here are some examples I've photographed whilst on my travels around the city. It's not to say that its that prevalent or obvious here just a common problem shared by cities everywhere these days.
Judge for yourselves, walls and shutters that have random graffiti scrawls are just outright forms of vandalism.
Further afield- places and regions outside of Girona.
Girona city lies within the county or 'comarca' of Girones and is its capital. The other surrounding comarcas include the following:
El Baix Emporda. El Pla de l' Estany, El Ripolles, L' Alt Emporda, La Cerdanya, La Garrotxa and La Selva.
They stretch from the coast right up to the lower Pyrrenean mountains, each with a regional capital and will be featured in more details in these pages over time. Each has it's municipalities, own traditions and places of interest that we will cover as and when we travel around them all!
El Baix Emporda
North of Girona La Bisbal is its regional capital. Known for its ceramics, even as you just drive though you'll see there are numerous road-side shops selling all sorts of ceramic wares.