Fodor's Travel Talk Forums - Short Report on Girona and Figueres, Spain

This report is largely a vote for Figueres!

After spending four nights in Barcelona (click on my name to see that report), we moved on to these two cities. As our next destination was in southwest France, I chose a hotel in Figueres, Hotel Duran (rather than in the more notable Girona, which is a little closer to Barcelona).

From all I read before our trip, Girona is a small city with a delightful old city center, and Figueres is a more modern, dull large town (small city?) with one main attraction, the Dali Museum.

IMO, only partly true! Girona is a delight, and we enjoyed our short afternoon there. The streets are narrow and pedestrian-only, lined with medieval buildings of various shapes and sizes. People were out and about (it was a Saturday), and there was some sort of market with delicious foods and more average crafts along one of the main streets. And there was an arranged flower show located in historic buildings throughout the old city. So not only did we get to see the beautiful cathedral and cloister, and the wonderful Arab baths, but in each were arranged a variety of flowers.

But I really liked Figueres, too. It is a much more average place, and the buildings that I saw were kind of dull. But it's a real town, where real people live, and I think about half of them were strolling along and through the main piazza, the Ramblas (which was scenic in its own way). There are several nice-looking piazzas; those adjoining the Dali Museum seemed much more tourist-oriented, but as close as one or two blocks over, were other cafe-filled piazzas. We hung out at a cafe for a long time, eating a variety of tapas and people-watching. Later, we came upon a large street festival (for the town's patron saint), and we had a great time comparing it to the local street festivals near where we live. (Biggest difference: at the street festivals where we live, there's always beer and soda, and sometimes wine; here we saw only one booth selling hot tea, and another selling bottled water.)

The Hotel Duran, while I believe has been around for a long time, was decorated in a modern style, and our room was spacious, as was the bathroom, and bed and bath with good linens. The pictures and letters from Dali scattered throughout the lobby were fun to look at. Our dinner there was ok, and a bit overpriced.

The Dali museum was, of course, the highlight of our stay. It was great fun, even from my perspective as someone who likes but not loves Dali's work (I like it more now that I've been to the museum). I got the impression that Dali must have had a lot of fun designing the museum. Do not miss the room with the sofa, pictures on the wall, curtains and fireplace, in which, when you look through the special lens, is composed into a face.

Another highlight of our visit was our breakfast just around the corner from Hotel Duran, at the locals' favorite (per the hotel staff) chocolateria, Xurreria Cafeteria Casa Vostra, on c/Vilafant. A small, smokey place that was almost full on Sunday morning. Most people were having (hot) chocolate and churros, though the guy at the table next to us ordered a plate of jamon. Delicious (though the chocolate was so rich that this was the only morning that I could handle it)!