Girona may not have the outrageous attitude of Barcelona, its cousin along the coast, but as the old Catalan adage runs: ‘The good marmalade is often found in the smallest pot’.

Girona’s charms are life’s simplest: the handsome pink and yellow waterfront facades reflected in the idle River Onyar; the ceremonial cracking open of a bottle of cava on the steps of the august cathedral; getting lost in its wonderfully dishevelled backstreets…

In Girona, you’ll find the blueprint for the perfect weekend in Spain. Those bar-hopping Barcelonans, Gironans will tell you, can keep their sleepless nights on the town. So don’t worry about packing party pants. Here’s how to ‘do’ the city…

Gate-crash a breakfast of sugar-dusted churros with the chattering locals as they cup their cafès amb llet (milky coffees) in the cafes bordering the Gothic cathedral. Then steep yourself in Girona’s saintly history, tracing the towering 9th-century walls that merge into the Passeig de la Muralla footpath.

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It’s one of the most spectacular urban walks in Europe, with tumbling views over rooftops, to the soft silhouettes of mountains beyond. With the afternoon light glancing fiercely off ancient stone houses, it’s time to enter the cool cobbled streets of the old city, which wear the musk of a past as a Moorish stronghold; and explore the Jewish legacy in the alleys and courtyards of the Call, the medieval Jewish quarter, possibly the best-preserved in Europe.

At sunset, befriend more Gironans over chess in Plaça de la Independència, while shadows creep over the stones. And do order a sinful bitter-sweet hot xocolata. It’ll put you in a suitably indulgent mood for the night ahead.

SAINTLY

* Some cathedrals are sublime even for non-believers – and Girona’s 11th-17th century Catedral is one of them, its magnificent facade a riot of Baroque cornicing topped by a vast dome and bronze-angel weather vane.

On Sunday mornings, the 23m-wide nave (the broadest Gothic example in Christendom) fills with the honeyed tones of Gregorian chants, incantations swirling up to the arches. The 11th-century Tapestry of the Creation merits an hour’s contemplation, its faded wool depicting the genesis of the world, through the optic of medieval life.

* Girona’s Roman founders were the first to pace its city walls, undoubtedly – as is the case today – with the scent of trampled lavender and wildflowers filling their nostrils as they surveyed the city rooftops and Catalonian fields. Start on the Pont de Sant Agusti, a medieval bridge crossing the glinting Onyar, for the view of ice-cream facades set into the ancient wall.

On south, join the Passeig de la Muralla that loops round the old city as the ramparts become ramshackle. Head on, through the gardens, run wild with shrubs, to the ramparts’ highest point, the 11th-century Charlemagne’s Tower.

* Riotous oil paintings depicting the siege of Girona by Napoleon are a highlight at the Museu d’Història de la Ciutat (C/Força 27; 00 34 972 222229, £2.40). The museum is a thought-provoking wander through Girona’s past, and includes a medieval printing press somehow more remniscent of an early torture device.

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