EVERYTHING We Learned After 1 Week in GIRONA! (watch this before you go)

Great video. We just returned from a stay in that area and other areas of Spain A few comments and observations based on that. Cars - While the Spanish drivers are generally very good when dealing with cyclists, there are exceptions so as others said, be careful, especially in the city. There also can be lots of French tourists in the Girona/Costa Brava areas during the school breaks and I had a couple close calls with them. Mallorca is also bad because so many of the drivers are rubber-necking tourists, not locals Trains - in theory, bikes can only travel on the fast trains if they are in quite small bags. We had to use regional trains because we had loaded touring bikes. There are no designated bike areas, like on the French trains, and there is no limit on how many tickets are sold so you may be standing holding your bike for your journey. Also, I'm not sure if there are any regional trains to Girona on Sundays - I couldn't find one but that may be because the local and regional train websites are terrible and the apps are non-existent. In contrast, the French ones are fantastic. Planes - flying from Vancouver, Lufthansa allows you to take your bike as your checked bag if you only have carry on bags. The checked bag fee was $75 Cdn each way. Air Canada, Westjet and Air Transat (and many American airlines) have relatively low bike fees but suck. KLM/AF's bike fees are high. Spanish/English - I was really surprised how much English was spoken by people working in the supermarkets in Girona. You expect the bike stores to speak English but often I would speak in (poor) Spanish and clerks would respond kindly in decent English Prices - if you are preparing your own food and drink, Spain is really cheap compared to Canada and the US Stay - I now find Booking.com much better than AirBnb for quality and quantity of listings and prices. Plus you can see the exact location before you book and you get the name of the property and/or listing agency so you can look online to see if it is cheaper to book directly. We got a beautiful 2 bedroom apartment in the old town in October for a very reasonable price. Apologies for the long comment but thought it might be helpful to others

Water is Spain is like 20c/liter at the food store, otherwise they like to charge tourists for it As a Canadian retired, i have been living in Spain for 15 yrs now, so biking is very important form me and the best. I would add another positive point about cycling in Spain compared to North America: you can ride 100km without stopping for a red light. The roundabout are so great and respected by car drivers which is so amazing. Few weeks ago, my ride of 160km, i slowed down once at the intersection, no red lights and no stop signs. You should also know that Spain has the highest number of bar/resto/coffee places per habitant in Europe and coffee/beer and wine are way cheaper than Italy and France. Another advice for cyclists is to start your ride early like 7:30-8am, so your ride could end by 2pm, time for lunch and rest with the beer/wine.

I just returned from a magical week in Girona and basically experienced everything that you mention in this video. Paying for water was the only downside, but it was a small price to pay when you consider the incredible cycling there. Great video guys!

Here's a tip if you come with car. You can easily park in Pavelló de Fontajau, Konig La Font, and Ocine Theaters, there's a lot of parking and it's so close to the old town. Girona is a Catalan speaking city, so if you wanna integrate, just learn some words in Catalan, such as bon dia (goor morning), si us plau (please), gràcies (thank you), adéu (good bye)... I love this kind of video and I like how you love my cycling city. You're all benvinguts (welcome).

Love it! Definitely on my list of places to ride looks epic 💪

I'm going to Girona for the first time next week and cannot wait to hit up these roads and stunning scenery! Great video 👌👌👌

Thanks for the very informative video. I was just there on a family trip over New Year’s, partly to scout it out for a potential bike trip. It looks fantastic and I’m planning a trip this spring. I wondered if you thought it was easy to meet fellow cyclists of similar abilities.

Great video, helpful info! Good vibes

This is so informative. This is definitely way more realistic and practical review on a cycling location for sure. This will help me plan all of my headaches in advanced haha. Riding around cars in the US is a nightmare I hate it

Looking forward to my long weekend in Girona, thanks for the great tips guys

Thanks dudes! Useful 🙌

Thanks guys some great tips

Great info! I’m gonna save this video for reference…. 😎🍻

Thanks, super Information !

Fantastic advice 👍 I've just found your channel - new subscriber here 🙂

Charles and Tristan make a great team. So what's going on? You guys deserve more subscribers. I'm trying to do my part by watching the videos twice. 😉

What a stunning location! Would love to make it there one day! Literally a buttload of the biking channels I follow are either out of, or spent time there!

This is super helpful thanks! Does anywhere do organised rides do you know?

I spent 2 weeks there this past June. I didn't ever get charged for TAP water, you have to ask for it specifically. Maybe you guys were eating at the high brow type places. LOL. I tried to meet some of the local riders that are on Zwift and FB before I came, many of the well known are pretty aloof and weren't as helpful as I would have been if someone contact me coming to my city. I found the best method is to meet at the stone bridge (Pont de Pedra) as its a gathering place for many rides and you can just ask to join. Get a local to take you around as many of the best roads are the back roads that don't always show up on a large scale map, also don't worry about being lost you can always find your way back. I agree about the drivers! They are world class friendly, but please don't abuse their friendliness!!!!!! My biggest challenge was often finding a public water spigot: Churches and playgrounds/parks often were great places.....I would drink what was left in my bottles, then drink one bottle and fill 2 up and head out, worked out great. Girona is a great place to ride with friends; I've gone to other places in Europe to bag some of the famous climbs only to find myself riding alone for most of the time. Its "lumpy" terrain so you will get some elevation without much effort.

Salut Charles! I’m going to Girona in late February / early March and this video was helpful. May I ask when was this filmed? And maybe if you can speak of what to bring in terms of clothing. Not to sure if I should bring a winter jacket or just warmers and wind brake gilet or jacket. Any tips you have are valuable! Cheers!