Girona's 2026 Old Town Is for Walking, Not Driving In
Girona, Spain · ZBE
Girona — the handsome Catalan city near Barcelona, with a walled medieval old town, one of the best-preserved Jewish quarters in Europe, colourful houses lining the Onyar river, and a starring role as a Game of Thrones location — runs a Zona de Bajas Emisiones restricting older vehicles, with fines around EUR 100-200. The old town is stepped and largely pedestrian. Park on the edge and walk; you can even walk the city walls.
Can your car enter Girona?
Girona’s old town, the Barri Vell, climbs inside medieval and Roman-era walls that visitors can still walk along, looking down over the cathedral, the Call (one of Europe’s best-preserved Jewish quarters) and the colourful houses lining the Onyar river. The stepped lanes inside are largely pedestrian, so leave the car in a garage across the river rather than trying to drive in. Spain’s national rules apply on the roads around the city: 50 km/h in built-up areas and a 0.05% alcohol limit. Girona is under an hour from Barcelona on the AP-7 motorway.
This page covers driving around Girona. For the emission classes and zone boundary, see the Girona ZBE details.
Park on the edge, walk the walls
The stepped lanes of the Barri Vell and the Call (Jewish quarter) are pedestrian — park in a garage across the river and walk in. You can even walk the medieval city walls for views over the cathedral and rooftops. Foreign plates have no DGT label, so check current foreign-car rules before entering the zone. Spain’s limits: 50 km/h urban, 0.05% alcohol.
An easy Barcelona trip
Girona is 40 minutes from Barcelona by fast train. Keep the car for the Costa Brava, the medieval villages and Dalí’s Figueres — driven from a peripheral garage.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Girona's Zona de Bajas Emisiones classifies vehicles by Spain's DGT environmental labels and restricts the most polluting ones, with fines around EUR 100-200 for non-compliant entry. Spanish cars display a DGT sticker; foreign-registered cars don't, so check the city's current rules on foreign-plate access before driving into the centre. The stepped, largely pedestrian old town means parking on the edge and walking is the easy approach regardless.
Mostly no. The medieval old town (Barri Vell), including the famous Jewish quarter (the Call) with its narrow stepped lanes, is largely pedestrian and not built for cars. It climbs to the cathedral with its vast single-nave staircase. Park in a garage on the edge of the old town, across the river, and walk in — the historic centre is compact and best explored on foot.
Yes — Girona has well-preserved medieval and Roman-era city walls (the Passeig de la Muralla) that you can walk along, with towers and viewpoints looking over the old town, the cathedral and out to the surrounding hills. It's one of the highlights, free and on foot. Together with the riverside houses and the Jewish quarter, it makes the compact old town a place to explore slowly without a car.
Very — it's about 40 minutes from Barcelona by high-speed train, making it a popular day trip, and it's close to Barcelona's secondary airport. By car it's around an hour up the AP-7 motorway. Many visitors come for the day to see the old town, the river houses and the Game of Thrones filming spots. A car helps for combining Girona with the Costa Brava coast and the Catalan countryside.
Not for the city — the compact walled old town is walkable, and Girona is a quick train ride from Barcelona. A car helps for exploring beyond — the Costa Brava beaches and coves, the medieval villages of the interior, the Pyrenees foothills, and Dalí's Figueres nearby — driven from a peripheral garage rather than used in the ZBE-bound old town.
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