Set on the winding River Onyar, this university town - one of the four provincial capitals of Catalunya - is a place to linger in. The pulse of the city is gratifyingly slow. Girona is compact, small, elegant and stylish, and, being a university town, seethes with lively-minded young people. Only an hour north of Barcelona, the city manages to feel distinctly Catalan, giving off a sense of coolness and restraint that reminds you of somewhere much further north, while also being typically Mediterranean in style and spirit. Girona is a grown-up place, where the major thrills are modest ones such as sitting in a bar overlooking the river, listening to good music. The nightlife is some of the most laid-back and civilised in Spain.

HOSTAL BELLMIRALL
Carrer de Bellmirall 3 (00 34 972 204 009). If you want to stay in Girona's Old Town there is little to choose from, and the Bellmiral makes the decision easy. This is an idiosyncratic small hotel decorated in colourful magpie fashion with more than a touch of eccentricity. Rooms are small but cute and some have balconies overlooking the street.

HOTEL CARLEMANY
Plaça Miquel Santalo (00 34 972 211 212; www.carlemany.es). Girona's classic four-star choice, this is a pleasant enough modern hotel with notably friendly and helpful staff. Well-sited on the eastern side of the city, within 10 minutes' walk of the lively Old Town. £

HOTEL CIUTAT DE GIRONA
Carrer Nord 2 (00 34 972 483 038; www.hotel-ciutatdegirona.com). This recently opened hotel is a symphony in gun-metal grey, glass and aluminium. Although it is a little too self-consciously modern and business-oriented for some tastes, this hotel's great advantage is its central location, a few metres from the iron bridge. The in-house restaurant, run by the ever-so-trendy Barcelona-based Salsitas Group, is a hip destination, decked out in white with blasts of primary colour. £

WHERE TO STAY OUT OF TOWN

HOTEL ARCS DE MONELLS
Carrer Vilanova 1, Monells (00 34 972 630 304; www.hotelarcsmonells.com). A modernist wing successfully grafted onto a medieval tower, this is one of Catalunya's most talked-about hotels. The setting, beside the rural hamlet of Monells, is captivating. The (notably good) restaurant serves up-to-date Catalan cooking. £

L'ODISSEA DE L'EMPORDA
Carrer del Castell 6, Orriols (00 34 972 551 718; www.odissea-emporda.com). Sobriety and luxury meet in this converted 17th-century castle. The 11 suites are filled with contemporary art and fancifully named after figures from history and myth, including Botticelli, Voltaire and Napoleon. The restaurant, which is presided over by Antonio Ferrer, is one of the region's best. £

BABEL
Carrer de Anselm Clave (00 34 972 213 179). A low-key café-bar with a curious post-industrial design and big windows looking onto the street. Good falafels and shawarmas, sandwiches of L'Escala sardines, pumpkin-and-wild-garlic omelette, and goat's cheese salad. A good place for a post-cinema drink and snack.

BOIRA
Plaça de la Independencia 17 (00 34 972 203 096). This is a classic of Girona life, by day and night. On the corner of the colonnaded square that is the heart of the city's social scene. Boira has tables on the square itself, while windows on the other side command a great view of the river. Modern tapas and good wines by the glass are the order of the day. The upstairs restaurant extends the contemporary Catalan theme.

CAN MARQUES
Plaça Calvet i Rubalcaba 3 (00 34 972 201 001). This cheerful little bistro-type restaurant is just across the way from the marketplace, and market cooking is what it proudly provides. It's one of the best places in which to sample Catalan specialities such as cap-i-pota de vedella (cow's head and feet) and bacallà amb samfaina (salt cod with ratatouille).

CASA MARIETA
Plaça de la Independencia 5-6 (00 34 972 201 016). Casa Marieta prides itself on its longevity (it was founded in 1892), but careful service and a pleasant room cannot disguise a certain tiredness in the menu. Traditional Catalan dishes such as chicken with prawns and crema catalana are at least competently done.

EL CELLER DE CAN ROCA
Carreterra de Taiala 40 (00 34 972 222 157). The Roca brothers, Joan, Josep and Jordi, are a trio of inspired gastronomes who set up a restaurant beside their parents' simple eating house (it is still functioning), and now have a couple of Michelin stars to their name. El Celler has a posh suburban feel but the bourgeois confort isn't at all overpowering. Joan Roca is a rare example of a star Spanish chef who steers clear of the star-chef circus. His cuisine is interesting without being pretentious. Best of all, he remains loyal to his Catalan and Ampurdanese roots, and the results are deeply soulful as well as pleasurable. Parmentier of squid; lightly smoked sea bass with a subtle flavouring of pineapple and fennel; roast pigeon with rose jam and strawberries: all are delicious. Brother Jordi's stunning and unique desserts are edible deconstructions of perfumes from the great couture houses. Jordi provides you with a sample of the fragrance in question to compare and contrast. Highly recommended.

LA PENYORA
Carrer Nou del Teatre 3 (00 34 972 218 948). This bohemian eating house is a popular hangout of theatre folk and academics. The setting is basic but fun, with whitewashed walls, funky art and cool jazz. The menu majors on Spanish and Catalan dishes with incursions into the wider Mediterranean: sea bass with a rosemary fumet, carpaccio of fresh tuna, chickpeas with a garlic-and-hazelnut picada. The bread here is superb. (You can also buy it at the market at Can Boix bakery stall: ask for 'el pa de La Penyora).

LA POMA
Carrer de la Cort Reial 16 (00 34 972 212 909). Creative tapas and Catalan wines in a stylish contemporary setting. Sit at the bar or take a table and sample dishes such as salt cod 'dice' marinated with black olive oil, wild mushroom croquettes and roast veal sandwich with onion confit.

RESTAURANT GALLIGANTS
Plaça Santa Llucia 4 (00 34 972 209 654). This fascinating restaurant, run by French chef André Bonnaure, specialises in the cuisine of Perigord, but with intriguing cross-currents of Catalan influence. Foie gras, duck and game are star ingredients on the menu, which also features roast Figueres onion with snails and hazelnuts, monkfish bouillabaisse, pig's trotters with wild mushroom coulis, and a good selection of cheese. The three-course set menu includes bread, water and wine.

CAFÉ SOCIETY

Girona is strong on cafés. The following is a small selection: El Sol, Plaça del Vi 9, Vi Augusta, Plaça del Correu Vell, Volta i Volta, Plaça de la Independència 13, Café Royal, Plaça de la Independència 1.

JEWISH GIRONA
The Museum of Jewish History (Carrer de la Força 8; 0034 972 216 761; open Mon to Sat, 10am to 8pm) is worth an hour or so of anyone's time. Girona's Call, the Jewish quarter, once home to about 150 families, is one of the best-preserved in Spain. The Call was not originally a place of confinement; but in the 15th century, Jews began to be prohibited from certain areas of the Old Town. Things went from bad to worse, with periodic episodes of repression and violence, culminating in the Catholic Kings' expulsion of the Jews from Spain in 1492. Thereafter, much of the fabric of the Call was pillaged. The museum is beautifully designed, laid out and lit. Some of the exhibits, such as tombstones from the Jewish cemetery that lay outside the town until the Jews were forced to sell the land in 1492, are deeply poignant. It would be hard not to be affected by the story of this little community and the brutal manner in which it was treated by the Christian majority. Downstairs a shop sells Judaic memorabilia; upstairs is a peaceful garden terrace, a good place for quiet reflection.

MUSEUM OF CINEMA
Carrer Sèquia 1 (00 34 972 412777; www.museudelcinema.org; open Tues to Sun, 10am to 8pm). This has one of the world's best collections of film paraphernalia, including a lamp from the table at Rick's Café where Ingrid Bergman sits in Casablanca, and James Dean's crumpled leather boots from Rebel Without a Cause.

PASSEIG DE LA MURALLA
A walkway high on the restored walls takes you all around the old city. It is best to start at the Church of Sant Feliu and work your way south towards the Plaça de Catalunya, which takes about half an hour at a dawdle. There are views of the snowcapped Pyrenees and the secret gardens of the old town.

PLACA DE LA INDEPENDENCIA
Many Catalan towns have a colonnaded, 19th-century square like this, lined with bars, restaurants and old-fashioned shops. Whether for morning coffee, midday aperitifs or evening drinks, it is the hub of Girona's laid-back social life.

TAPESTRY OF THE CREATION
The city's most precious artistic treasure, this 11th-century tapestry is displayed behind a glass screen in the cathedral sacristy. Miraculously, it has survived not only intact but in good condition. A thing of rare and wondrous beauty.

Crowds are not a problem in this relaxed Catalan city, so go in summer and join locals strolling in the Old Town and enjoying the sunshine on café terraces. The best month is June.