Getaways from Girona: day trips and destinations close by.

A small circle with a different landscape on every road

Girona sits in the centre of a small circle, and every road leads to a different landscape. The C-66 heads east, to the Baix Empordà: through La Bisbal you reach the Iberian city of Ullastret and Peratallada, and through Palafrugell Pals and its beach. The AP-7 north leads to Figueres and Peralada and, past La Jonquera, continues along the French A9 towards Narbonne. To the west, the Banyoles road and the A-26 go to Besalú, Castellfollit de la Roca and Olot; from Olot, the C-26 crosses to Ripoll. The C-25 heads for Vic and Viladrau, and the AP-7 south, via the Arbúcies exit, climbs to the Montseny.

Without a car there are fewer options, but there are some. The Rodalies train and regional services reach Figueres, and the Dalí Museum is a walk from the station; the Peralada winery needs a taxi. The TEISA buses towards Olot stop at Besalú and Castellfollit, and the Sarfa ones leave the bus station for Pals. On Sundays there are fewer services: check the timetables before you go.

What makes the province famous is close by

Under an hour away is what makes the province famous: Besalú, 37 minutes, with the fortified bridge and the Jewish quarter; the Dalí Museum and the Peralada winery, 44; Ullastret and Peratallada, 48, and the rice route at Pals, 49. Vic, with its Plaça Major and Sert's cathedral, is 59. These are plans where you leave mid-morning and come back with the light.

Between an hour and an hour and a half come the mountains and hot water. The Montseny is 66 minutes away, with the Montsoriu castle and the Viladrau chestnut or the Santa Fe beech wood with a chargrill lunch; the Caldes de Montbui hot springs, 65; the two Ripollès monasteries and the Ter greenway, 82, and Rupit and the Salt de Sallent, 87, along a winding road best driven down in daylight.

Between an hour and a half and two hours the day is already long, and in return you reach the other end of Catalonia: the Penedès and the Codorníu cellars, 94 minutes; Berga, 98, and Montserrat, 106, with the Aeri and the climb to Sant Jeroni. What lies south of Barcelona makes more sense from there, in near Barcelona.

From two hours the trip calls for a night. The Cerdanya is about two hours away via Ripoll and the Collada de Toses; Carcassonne, 2 h 20 via the AP-7, the A9 and the A61, and Grandvalira, about three hours twenty. Further still are Siurana and the Priorat, three hours.

Caldes and the Dalí Museum for cold days without snow

In winter, the nearest snow is in the Cerdanya, 125 minutes away: a ski Sunday at La Molina or, for non-skiers, the cable car up to La Tosa d'Alp. If you fancy staying, the weekend in Puigcerdà combines Masella and La Molina. For cold days without snow, the hot water of Caldes and the Dalí Museum.

Spring is the best time for the Empordà: the Pals rice fields are green, Ullastret and Peratallada can be toured without the heat and the night in the Garrotxa with a balloon flight takes off at dawn over the volcanoes.

In summer, the coast gets saturated and it is better to look inland or upwards. The weekend in the Ripollès with the Núria Rack Railway is best from May to October, and the bends of the motorbike route through the Berguedà up to the Coll de la Creueta are enjoyed from May to July and in September.

In October and November the forest rules. The Fageda d'en Jordà, the beech wood that grows on lava, combines with Besalú; in the Montseny there are the climb to Les Agudes, the guided mushroom Sundays and the mushroom and beech-wood weekend, with a night in a masía.

The Dalí Museum first thing and a tasting at Peralada

• Without a car, in a day: Figueres and Peralada. Train to Figueres, the Dalí Museum first thing, a taxi to the winery for the tasting and lunch in an 18th-century mill.
• With one night: Rupit and the cliffs of the Collsacabra. 87 minutes away, to see the stone village when the visitors leave and walk to Tavertet without watching the clock.
• With two nights: the medieval Empordà based at Peratallada. 48 minutes away, sleep inside the moat, fly in a balloon at dawn and tour the dolmens of the Gavarres.