Information about Girona Airport, which bus to take to either Girona or Barcelona and information on hiring cars.
Car parking is plentiful but now no longer free and includes a multi-storey block nearby, in walking distance. The parking charges are reasonable, my short weekend stay cost me just 18 euros recently. As you enter just push the button to collect the ticket and choose from either the open spaces or the multi-storey section which is a bit further to walk to the main airport building. On your return just use the automatic pay machines which accept credit/debit cards, coins and notes. Note, there are two exit barriers.
If you require a rental car for your trip to Girona, Blue Valley Car Hire offer low cost car hire at Girona Airport Spain
The arrivals and check-in areas are on the ground floor where there’s also a tourist information desk, near the car-hire desks.
Oficina de Turismo del Aeropuerto. Edificio Terminal, vestíbulo de llegadas
Teléfono: 972 186 708 Fax: 972 473 090 E- mail: ot.aeroportgirona@gencat.netGirona has its own modern, expanding airport, the gateway for many of the package holiday visitors on their way to the Costa Brava. Situated about 15 kms. from Girona city near a town called Vilobi d’ Onyar. Every time I use this place it seems there’s always something new to see, and the departures hall has expanded recently with more check-in desks.
Girona airport has many connections to Europe and the rest of the world. These are just some of the European airlines that fly to and from Girona. Iberia, Wizzair, Centralwings, Spanair and of course the biggest by far is Ryanair. (in Feb.2011 they announced a greatly reduced schedule on many destinations).
Within its own website it lists it as ‘Barcelona-Girona’ but the reality is that Barcelona is about 90 kms. away to the south. If you’re traveling to Barcelona via Girona airport read below on how to get there by bus or train.
As far as I know, for transatlantic travel and far-away destinations if you’re living here, you would need to use Barcelona airport.
Flying to Girona from the U.K.
Ryanair uses Girona as one of its main hubs and serves many UK airports with direct flights to Girona from places like London Stansted, London Luton, Bristol, Blackpool, Bournemouth, East Midlands, Liverpool, Doncaster, Durham, Glasgow and Newcastle. For Ireland it serves Dublin and Shannon from Girona. For a complete and up-to-date list of destinations go to their main website.
The departure halls are upstairs, where you can also find the usual duty-free shops and cafes. It’s quite spacious upstairs, the views out towards the mountains are very uplifting! There’s also an outdoor terrace (below, left) area with a small kiosk/cafe where you can do some last-minute sunbathing!
Getting to Barcelona or Girona.
If your’e travelling onto Barcelona you need to look out for the Barcelona Bus desk inside the airport where you can buy a bus ticket, about 12€, which takes you to Barcelona’s main bus station Estacio del Nord. The bus timetable is run alongside the Ryanair schedules so you should’nt have to wait too long. As you walk out the airport arrival terminal turn right and the ticket booth can be found ahead of you, where you will also see the parked buses.
However, if you want to take the train to Barcelona you’ll have to get to Girona train station and take the fast train called the Catalunya Express (journey time about 1hr.15).
Look for this bus when you exit the arrivals hall.
But, if you want to get into Girona city you need to take the other Barcelona bus that leaves about every 25 mins. This journey takes about 20 mins and brings you to the main train, bus and coach station called Estacio de Girona. A single ticket costs 2.40€
Coaches that go to Barcelona will be going to Estacio d’Autobusos Barcelona Nord
Check for up-to-date timetables and prices at their website www.barcelonabus.com they normally leave every hour on the hour for the bus to Girona airport and then on the half-hour, coming back into Girona. It just goes to Girona’s main train and bus station and doesn’t make any other stops. I came back once late at night and caught the 11.30pm bus to Girona station and was told it was the last one. Miss that one and the only option left is catching a taxi, which could cost about 25€.
The bizzare thing is that when you travel on this bus from Girona city to the airport you can’t buy the ticket from inside the bus station but have to pay as you enter the bus. We’ve also noticed that when you travel on local buses that serve the towns and villages around Girona the ticket desk won’t sell you a ticket until about 15 mins before the bus leaves?. It’s also the same for train tickets, I tried to buy a ticket to travel the next day and was told it’s not possible.There are currently no train connections from the airport to Girona city.
Girona train station (Estacio de Girona) is near the centre and the Bus and Coach station is also there, just outside the train station. The ticket offices are just to the right of the train station.
The track runs above so it’s easy to spot the trains but poorly signposted when trying to find it by car, as I discovered. Inside the Bus terminal there’s a cafe, various shops, car-hire offices and toilets.
There’s lots of construction work going on around here due to the fast rail link that’s being built for the TGV or as the locals call it, the AVE. It’s already possible to take it from nearby in Figueres (5 hrs to Paris).
For ciggie-lovers, just outside the train station and part of the building, there’s a Tabac shop, open 8am-10pm Mondays to Saturdays, closed Sundays and on official Bank holidays.
From Girona you can also get trains to other places in Catalonia, Spain and beyond, but there’s little that actually runs to or along the coast itself (except to Llanca ,45 mins. and further on to places like Port Bou near the French border) so for coastal destinations you’d have to take the buses.Apparently what used to be the railway track along the coast is now a cycle track. Here’s a link to the RENFE (Spanish rail operator) site that has train info in English www.renfe.es
Update Oct.08. The work on the AVE or fast train line from France down into Spain has started in earnest and there are building sites and road diversions all around the station. Construction time is estimated at 2-3 years, but who knows! What used to be the station car park has now been transformed as the new site for the Bus station, so they are now arriving and departing from here.
Taxis into Girona City should cost about 25 € from the airport, the taxi rank is outside the arrivals hall and there are always plenty.
Apparently what used to be the railway track along the coast is now a cycle track. Here’s a link to the RENFE (Spanish rail operator) site that has train info in English www.renfe.es
Update Oct.08. The work on the AVE or fast train line from France down into Spain has started in earnest and there are building sites and road diversions all around the station. Construction time is estimated at 2-3 years, but who knows! What used to be the station car park has now been transformed as the new site for the Bus station, so they are now arriving and departing from here.
If your’e planning on staying in Girona City itself and your hotel doesn’t have parking, it can be difficult to find a parking space. Look out for the underground parking signs, same as in the UK, a large P on a blue background as there’s plenty of them. Street parking is mostly free but some central areas do have bays that require pre-payment using roadside machines.
If you do find a parking space in the streets then mind your bumpers, as I’ve never seen people park their cars so close to each other that I wonder sometimes how they ever get out!
Gerona Airport is situated 12kms south of Gerona City centre and within the city limits of Vilobi d’Onyar and Aiguaviva. It is well connected to the Costa Brava resorts including Lloret de Mar, l’Estartit and Blanes, and is about a 40 minute drive from the French border. The airport access is via the roads N-II, AP-7 (exit 
and C-25. These roads have exits which join the 1 mile long road which leads into Gerona airport.
As Gerona Airport is situated on the Costa Brava, it is an important transport hub for tourism in north-east Spain with over 49,000 flights being handled and over 5.5 million passengers passing through the airport in 2008. It is a major hub for the budget airline Ryanair who are the main provider for flights to Gerona Airport from the UK and Ireland. There are around 19 UK airports that offer flights to Gerona and from Ireland you can fly to Gerona from Dublin and Shannon.
During the summer season of 2009 there were a total of 64 scheduled routes operated by 6 airlines which saw the addition of 8 new destinations including Ibiza, Madrid, Palma de Mallorca, Seville, Leeds, London-Gatwick, Memmingen and Västerås, all of these operated by Ryanair. In addition, 20 airlines will operate charter flights out of Girona-Costa Brava Airport to 29 different destinations. Most notably, these include new destinations such as, Eindhoven, Edinburgh, Munich, Bologna, Dubrovnik, Split, Zadar and Nador.
There are 33 check in desks for Departures at Gerona Airport which are handled on the ground floor, whilst boarding for both domestic and international flights takes place on the first floor. There are 11 gates at Gerona Airport and a boarding gate on the ground floor which is generally only used during peak seasons.
There is a Food Gallery cafeteria in the public area of the departures hall, on the right as you walk in where a coffee costs around €1.40 and a sandwich will set you back approximately €4.00. A a new shop has recently opened at Gerona Airport where you will find a large selection of all national and foreign newspapers, in addition to the latest books, stationery, photographic material, batteries, sweets, etc.
Gerona Airport has recently installed 4 multimedia terminals for access to the Internet, e-mail, chats, web cam and card readers. From here passengers can complete formalities with the airlines through their respective websites. 2 terminals have been installed in the arrivals lobby within the public area on the ground floor and the other 2 are in the boarding lounge within the passenger only zone on the first floor. The airport also offers a luggage protection service and there is a machine available in the check-in lobby to wrap your suitcases in plastic.
Once you have cleared the security check point you will enter the departures lounge where you can grab a bite to eat or get something to drink in one of the restaurants or cafeterias. McDonald’s has recently just opened just a few metres from boarding gate 11 so you can enjoy a varied meal or a freshly made hamburger without having to worry about missing your flight. There is also some shops here if you want to do some last minute shopping before your flight leaves.
Gerona Airport arrivals are also located on the ground floor with a small arrivals hall. The majority of the corresponding car hire desks which include Avis, Europcar, Goldcar, Hertz and National Atesa are located to your left as soon as you exit the baggage reclaim area, Auriga Crown is situated to your right at the very far end of the arrivals hall.
In the connecting walkway between arrivals and departures you will find an excellent tourist information desk with plenty of details on the area and in particular Gerona city. Immediately outside the terminal building is where the taxi ranks are located, head right for the bus stops which are around 50 metres down the road.
As many people use Gerona Airport as an alternative airport for Barcelona Airport which is 90km, bus services at Gerona Airport have been increased due to the high demand from Ryanair passengers wanting to get into the city centre of Barcelona which is a journey of just over an hour depending on traffic.
A single fare to Barcelona is 12.00 euros and 21.00 euros for a return. The bus timetables sensibly tend to coincide with the flight arrivals and departures where each flight will have a recommended time to get the bus back from Barcelona to Gerona Airport as to allow plenty of time to check in etc.
The bus service from the airport into Gerona city centre runs from 4.30 in the morning until 30 minutes past midnight and is a journey of around 25 minutes. A single fare costs €2.15 and a return €4.10. Many other popular destinations can be reached by bus from the airport including a large number of locations within the Costa brava and even Perpignan which is just over the border into southern France.
Hiring a car at Gerona Airport is an excellent way to get around and you will be able to explore the area very easily indeed as there are very good roads which connect Gerona Airport to major tourist destinations. The city of Barcelona is just a 1 hour drive away and the beautiful coastal towns of Lloret de Mar, Tossa de Mar, Blanes and Palamos are all within a 30 to 40 minute drive.
Exiting the airport by car is very straightforward as you will immediately approach a roundabout with all major directions off the first exit on your right. All roads are very well signposted with clear directions to the national roads and AP 7 toll road.
When you are returning to Gerona Airport to drop off your hire car simply follow the car hire return signs that will take you around the front of the Terminal Building and straight into the car hire car parks.
If you are picking someone up at Gerona Airport or if you are flying out from Gerona Airport and need to park your car there, there are presently 3,400 parking spaces for passengers which are distributed into two areas. The first is P1 (with two buildings, P1A and P1B). Due to the construction of the new P3 car park, the public car park payment office has moved to a provisional hut in building P1B. To make payment easier for passengers, two automatic payment machines have been installed in the main entrances of buildings P1A and P1B.
The second area is P4 and in order to provide sufficient public parking spaces the airport has opened the surface P4 car park with approximately 2,000 spaces. It is located in the southern part of the airport grounds, past the terminal building and the coach parking area. There is a new payment hut equipped with 3 automatic payment machines next to the P4 car park.
The author of this article is Roberto Rodriguez who has lived in Spain for a number of years. He works for Plus Four SL who specialise in writing airport guides including Gerona Airport which contains detailed information on flights to Geronaand Gerona Airport car hire.
