Travel Journal: Girona, Catalonia, Spain

Every two years or so, my organization holds a World Staff Conference (WSC), bringing together staff from all of our 15 offices that are located around the world. Our most recent WSC was this year in late August in Barcelona, Spain! For this trip, I also brought along my mom for a vacation after the conference was done and my friend Jodi, who was also attending the conference as a consultant, also joined us for a few extra days. As usual with my travel journals I have split up my blog posts in a way that made most sense to this particular trip. Enjoy! 

Catch up on my other posts about this trip here:
Intro – Barcelona, Spain
Pals and Calella de Palafrugell, Catalonia, Spain
Palau de la Musica and the Arc de Triomf
Basilica de la Sagrada Familia
Montjuic and the Olympic Park
Gothic Quarter and the Mercat de la Boqueria
Doors of Spain
Park Güell
Montserrat

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Since we decided that we were flying in and out of Barcelona and had plenty on our to-do list there, we decided to not travel elsewhere in Spain or Europe overnight. But I knew I wanted to get out of the city at least once, and booking this day trip allowed us to do that! I have used Viator for booking tours/excursions in three countries now and highly recommend utilizing it when trip planning! This full-day trip included being picked up and dropped off right at the front door of our VRBO, transportation in a passenger van, a personal tour guide for our small group (the three of us plus five other people), and a meal at a restaurant where reservations were made for us in advance. Going this route allowed us to pack a lot more into a single day and not deal with the stress of figuring out all of the logistics, meaning we probably did things that we otherwise wouldn’t have been able to. Plus our tour guide was very knowledgeable, and you could tell that he genuinely enjoyed his job. I unfortunately had a head cold forming on this day, so I thought our tour guide was a little annoying and over the top, but Jodi and Mom thought that he was great.

Our first stop for the day was in Girona, which was a little over an hour’s drive from Barcelona in the Catalonia region. Personally, I was really invested in getting to Girona on our trip because several scenes throughout Game of Thrones Season 6 were filmed here, including the exteriors of the Sept of Baelor and parts of Kings Landing, Old Town, and Bravos. When I was looking up tour options, there were several that focused exclusively on Game of Thrones, but since Mom and Jodi hadn’t watched it and I wanted more than just that, this was a great option for us.

It was a beautiful morning there for us and relatively pretty quiet and not crowded.

The River Onyar

Right as you cross the river and into the historic part of the city, there is this pillar with a lioness at the top (if you ask me, it looks like a sloth). The legend is that if you visit Girona, you have to kiss the bottom if you want to visit again. No one who knows me should be surprised that I was not a fan of playing along, but Mom took one for the team.

The Girona Cathedral was used for the close-up exteriors of the Sept of Baelor in Season 6. So think about when Margery is about to do her walk of atonement and Jamie rides his horse up the stairs. I’ve always been super interested in behind-the-scenes stuff from television and movies that I watch, so this was pretty cool.

This is the view looking the other direction from the steps. In Game of Thrones, it is not a small enclosed courtyard but instead opens up to space for a large crowd and a view of the sea. Technology is pretty cool.

Girona Cathedral facade

Side entrance of the Girona Cathedral.

Backside of the Girona Cathedral.

The Passeig de la Muralla is a medieval wall with walkways along the eastern border of the city. It also has amazing views. We didn’t walk along the walkways, but we did pop up on top of one of the towers to catch the view.

The Girona Cathedral was the only specific set from Game of Thrones that the tour guide pointed out and spent time talking about. Before the tour, I looked up some of the other specific locations, and I am pretty sure that this staircase above is from the opening scene in Season 6, where Arya is blind and begging. Other than that, I don’t think we walked by any others that were distinct enough to spot without the dressings of a set.

Its Jewish Quarter is known as one of the best preserved in the world. The area, “El Call,” is a maze of several narrow, cobblestone walkways and staircases.

Neoclassical building facade in the Placa de la Independencia, a 19th-century square in the Mercadal district.

OK, that’s a wrap for today. I’ll be back tomorrow with Part Two of this fun day trip.

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And just for fun, here are some of my other past Travel Journal posts:

Italy -Six Day Self-Guided Hike, Rome, Venice, Florence and More
Nashville, Tennessee – Girls Weekend
London, England
Estes Park, Colorado
Thailand and the Philippines
Tumon Bay, Guam
New York City – Girls Weekend
Lake Tahoe, Nevada
Antigua, Guatemala