Girona and the Costa Brava from Barcelona

Girona is forty minutes by high-speed train, a walled medieval town on a river with the best-preserved Jewish quarter in Spain and a cathedral that has been in more television series than most actors. The Costa Brava starts half an hour beyond it and is coves rather than beaches, pine trees down to the water, and a footpath that links them. They are two different days, and the tours combine them because the coast needs a car and Girona is on the way.

Girona on its own

Take the train. The AVE from Sants takes thirty-eight minutes, the regional an hour and a half for a third of the price. Walk the walls first, in the morning, when the light is on the cathedral and before the day trippers arrive. The Game of Thrones tour is a real thing and a good one, and the guides know the town beyond the filming spots.

The coast

Tossa de Mar is the coast the coaches reach: a walled old town on a headland and a beach below it. Calella de Palafrugell and Llafranc are the coast the locals mean, an hour further and prettier. The kayak-and-snorkel days from Barcelona go to the coves around S'Agaró and Tossa and are the best-reviewed thing on this page. They solve the one problem of the Costa Brava, which is getting there without a car.

How long to allow

Girona alone is a half day plus the train. Girona and one cove is a full day with a tour. Girona, the coast and Montserrat in one day exists as a tour and it moves quickly, with an hour at each. Take it if you have one day for all three; otherwise give each its own.