Inland Girona
The Garrotxa: volcanoes and medieval bridges.
When the beach day is done, inland Girona hides forty dormant volcanoes, a beech forest on lava and one of Europe’s great Romanesque bridges — all within 40 minutes of Girona.
The volcanoes
The Garrotxa holds the best volcanic landscape of the peninsula: some forty dormant cones covered in beech forest. The two essentials are Santa Margarida (with the hermitage inside the crater) and Croscat (the youngest volcano, with visitable extraction scars).
La Fageda d'en Jorda
The beech forest on lava: flat, shady and magical in autumn (golden October-November) and cool in summer. Walk it, ride a carriage or horse from the Can Serra entrance.
Besalu and Santa Maria
Besalu's Romanesque bridge is the natural gateway to the comarca; the Santa Maria de Besalu monastery and Sant Joan les Abadesses complete the medieval monastery route inland.
Routes and timings
The Volcano Route (loop from Santa Margarida to Croscat, 4 km) and La Fageda combine in half a day. Besalu deserves a whole morning. The whole set is 30-40 minutes from Girona and 1 h 15 from the airport.