Tag Archives: Girona

  • 0
Girona transfers from airport

Girona transfers from airport 🚌 and onward to Barcelona

Tags : 

Located within sight of the Pyrenees in the northeast of Catalonia, Girona is a great place from which to start a journey to some really exotic locations.

This is due to Girona’s proximity to Barcelona – a main Spanish hub from where many flights depart in the direction of South America, Latin America and beyond. Luckily, Girona transfers from airport and onward to Barcelona are straightforward enough if you do some planning in advance.

Highlights

 

Our Itinerary

In our case, we were looking for an inexpensive way to travel to the Canary Islands. We also quite liked the idea of a stopover in Spain. When we found Ryanair flights to Girona for €27, and ongoing flights from Barcelona to the Canaries for €71, we had the makings of a perfect trip.

Girona transfers from airport and onwards to Barcelona

View from Girona city walls

Barcelona is 99 kms south of Girona, so we just needed to find the easiest connection between the 2 locations.

In the meantime, we planned to enjoy a 36-hour stopover in Girona, to see what the city had to offer.

Girona Airport to City Center

On arrival at Girona airport, our first task was to find the best way into Girona city. There are no train connections between the airport and the center of Girona, and a taxi costs around €25.

Airport Taxi Prices

By far the cheapest way of getting into Girona city center from Girona airport is by bus. There are regular bus services from the airport to both Girona and Barcelona. On exiting the arrivals hall, we turned right and walked around 100 meters to the bus station. The bus destinations are clearly marked: Girona city on the left and Barcelona city on the right.

The buses to Girona run every 30 minutes between 6 am and 10 pm, Monday to Saturday. The fare is just €2.25 one-way, and the bus takes you to Girona’s central bus/train station. The buses are modern and comfortable, and the journey takes around 25 minutes.

Girona transfers from airport and onwards to Barcelona

Girona City bus and train station

Girona City Center to Barcelona Airport

If you are flying in or out of Barcelona airport (Barcelona-El Prat), the easiest and most reliable way to travel to or from Girona city center is by train, This avoids traffic congestion and delays when travelling by bus, taxi or rented car.

Barcelona-El Prat airport is 13 kms south-west of Barcelona city center.

Girona's main train station

Girona’s main train station

If you are travelling by train between Girona city center and Barcelona airport, you need to choose a train going to Barcelona Sants (aka Estacio de Sants – most of the trains stop here).

At Barcelona Sants you need to change trains. There is an Airport train which runs regularly between Barcelona Sants and Barcelona airport (Terminal 2). The journey takes 20 minutes and costs €4.

The price you pay to travel between Girona and Barcelona Sants depends on the time it takes to arrive. This can be anything from 30 minutes to over 2 hours. You pay more for the Express trains.

We chose a Regional train with around 8 stops that took 1 hour 20 minutes. The price was €12 per person.

Girona to Barcelona Tickets

Regional train from Girona to Barcelona

Regional train: Girona to Barcelona

The trains are modern, fast and smooth with clean toilets and individual power sockets for your electronic gadgets.

On arrival at the Airport train terminal, there is just a 10-minute walk to Terminal 2. However, if you need to get to Terminal 1 you will have to take a shuttle. This will add another 20 minutes or so to your journey.

Of course, all the above applies in reverse when travelling from Barcelona airport to Girona.

Save time – Book train tickets in advance

If you know your travel plans in advance, you can book your train tickets online. The official Spanish online portal is Renfe. If your Spanish language skills are a little rusty, you can also make your booking in English from the Loco2 website.

After booking and payment, you receive a PDF ticket which you can print out and use directly on the train.

After enjoying our short break in Girona, the onward journey by train to Barcelona-El Prat airport went smoothly. We arrived at Terminal 2 in good time for our evening flight to the Canary Islands. We were scheduled to arrive in Tenerife South just after midnight. Accordingly, we had booked an Aparthotel located not too far from the airport.


Hotel Deals in Girona

If you enjoyed Girona transfers from airport, check out our other Short Breaks & City Stops. You may also like:


  • 0
Girona City Stopover

Girona City Stopover – Where to Stay & Eat

Tags : 

Our Girona city stopover allowed us just one night in the city, before heading south to Barcelona-El Prat airport later the following day.

We therefore needed a hotel that was close to the bus and train stations, and still within easy reach of the attractions and restaurants that the city has to offer. We were also on a budget, so we wanted to keep the price down to around €50.

Girona City Stopover – Where to stay & eat

Girona City Stopover – Lazy afternoon on the High Street

After making a shortlist of 3 or 4 hotels that fit our bill, we finally settled on the Hotel Margarit. This small hotel is centrally located in Girona, next to the Onyar river, and close to the steps leading up to the old city walls.

After arriving at the central bus/train station, we reached the hotel with just a 10-15 minute walk.

Hotel Margarit – Ideal for a short Girona city stopover

Hotel Margarit was very reasonably-priced at €51 per night (including the €1 city tax). Breakfast was extra at €8.50 per person.

Our room was clean and comfortable, with a bright and spacious bathroom. To save time, we took our breakfast in the hotel and we were not disappointed. They offered us a buffet of cheeses, hams, fresh crispy bread and sweet pastries, with fruit, yogurts and cereals.

Everything we needed to set us up for a day in the city.

Girona Stopover – Where to stay & eat
Girona Stopover – Where to stay & eat
Girona Stopover – Where to stay & eat
Girona Stopover – Where to stay & eat
Girona Stopover – Where to stay & eat
Girona Stopover – Where to stay & eat
Loading image... Loading image... Loading image... Loading image... Loading image... Loading image...

 

During our Girona city stopover, we checked out 3 restaurants we had earmarked before the trip. Unfortunately, the Restaurant l’Alqueria – which came highly recommended – was closed for refurbishment.

In Girona, many restaurants do not open till late evening

Towards the evening, we located the other 2 restaurants and checked their opening times. This being Spain, people tend to eat late and its not always easy to find a restaurant that opens before 8 pm. We arrived at the 8de7 restaurant at precisely 8 pm, but it was still closed, with not even a sign of activity inside.

This made our restaurant choice easy – we would try the Curcuma restaurant (if they were open…)

Curcuma Restaurant – Small pretensions, Big delivery

The Curcuma restaurant is a little gem of a place, hidden away in the backstreets of the Barri Vell (old quarter) of Girona.

It took us a while to find it, but at least it was open for business at 8:30 pm. We were given a table in a very modern and stylish room, and introduced to their menu.

This is one of those restaurants where the menu descriptions are so tantalizing you just want to try everything. In our attempt to do this, we selected a good variety of offerings from the menu, and shared everything between us.

Girona Stopover – Where to stay & eat
Girona Stopover – Where to stay & eat
Girona Stopover – Where to stay & eat
Girona Stopover – Where to stay & eat
Girona Stopover – Where to stay & eat
Girona Stopover – Where to stay & eat
Loading image... Loading image... Loading image... Loading image... Loading image... Loading image...

 

This included Xupa xups de formatge (goatcheese lollipops), Croqueta XL CurcumaLlonganissa organya (organic catalan sausages), Patatas bravas, Vedella teriyaki (veal), and Magret d’anec xocolata cervesa (duck breast in chocolate beer).

We finished off our meal with a “tasting” assortment of deserts, and a local digestif offered to us on the house. Our bill for 2 came to €53, including a bottle of local wine and sparkling water.

Rambla Restaurant

On our second day in the city, before leaving Girona by train, we checked around the main high street for somewhere to eat.

Again, the 8de7 restaurant was late opening, so we went in search of other eating options around Llibertat street.

After a short wander around, we chose a table outdoors at the Rambla restaurant. There, we enjoyed their daily selection of tapas accompanied by a few glasses of red wine. Very good value, at around €10 per head for the food.

Girona City Stopover – Where to stay & eat

Girona city stopover … and yet another food pic – we like the Spanish tapas

This would be the last meal of our Girona city stopover. From here we were heading to Barcelona El Prat airport, for a flight to the Canary Islands, where our main vacation would begin.

Girona was nevertheless a great start to our trip. A picturesque, charming and inexpensive city, well-worth a longer visit. Even though we didn’t actually kiss Lleona’s bottom, we will be back…

Hotel Deals in Girona


If you enjoyed Girona city stopover, check out our Short Breaks & City Stops. You may also like:


________________________________________

Short Breaks Asia

Tropical Accessories

Short Breaks Europe

The SandSpice Shop