Filming locations in Girona

An hour north of Barcelona, Girona is one of Catalonia's most underrated stops, and Game of Thrones fans will recognise its medieval old quarter at once. The cathedral's vast baroque staircase stood in for the approach to the Great Sept of Baelor, while the tangled lanes nearby doubled as the canals and streets of Braavos. Two cities of Westeros, then, layered onto one compact and beautifully intact Barri Vell.

The staircase and the cathedral square are free to simply stand in and admire, with a ticket needed only to go inside the cathedral and its cloister. From there, the pleasure is in climbing up into the Old Quarter and following the threads the series used: the steep stone steps, the shadowed passages, the sudden squares. It is the kind of place where a wrong turn just delivers another familiar-looking corner.

Girona packs a lot into a small footprint, which makes it ideal for an unhurried half-day or overnight. Walk the Passeig de la Muralla, the intact city ramparts that ring the old town, for long views over rooftops and hills, then drop down to the river to see the famous Cases de l'Onyar, the row of colourful houses stacked above the water. Everything connects on foot, with no transport needed.

Because it is so close to Barcelona, many visitors come on a day trip, but staying the night lets you have the medieval streets to yourself once the buses leave. Spring and autumn bring mild walking weather and thinner crowds, and any time of year, early morning is best for photographing the cathedral steps without a soul on them. Pair it with the Costa Brava or the Dalí country to the north if you have longer.