Girona / The verdict
Are the Arab Baths and Sant Pere de Galligants worth it?
Yes, with expectation managed: the Banys Arabs are a 3 EUR, half-hour dip into a Romanesque bathhouse crowned by a domed hall of slender columns that reports call lovely, and Sant Pere de Galligants five minutes away is a Benedictine monastery whose 12th century cloister and the archaeology museum inside fill about an hour for 6 EUR. Neither justifies a trip alone, but as a pair beside the cathedral they are the best value monuments in the Barri Vell.
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The Girona story
Girona is the Catalan city that punches hardest above its size: a walled old town of stacked stone lanes, a cathedral with the widest Gothic nave in Christendom, one of Europe's best-preserved Jewish quarters in El Call, and a restaurant scene anchored by triple-starred El Celler de Can Roca. The Passeig de la Muralla walls walk and the colourful Onyar riverfront houses give it a scale and a look all its own.
The verdict in 30 seconds
Go
Yes, with expectation managed: the Banys Arabs are a 3 EUR, half-hour dip into a Romanesque bathhouse crowned by a domed hall of slender columns that reports call lovely, and Sant Pere de Galligants five minutes away is a Benedictine monastery whose 12th century cloister and the archaeology museum inside fill about an hour for 6 EUR. Neither justifies a trip alone, but as a pair beside the cathedral they are the best value monuments in the Barri Vell.
Go if
- You are already at the cathedral and want the two cheap monuments beside it.
- You like Romanesque detail: the baths' domed hall and Sant Pere's sculpted capitals are the city's finest small interiors.
- You are doing the filming-locations loop: the baths played the Braavos bathhouse and the monastery stood in for the Citadel's exterior.
Skip if
- You are museum-fatigued or on a very tight budget: both exteriors repay a look for free, and the reports that rate them lowest paid expecting more interior.
- You need full English interpretation: reports repeatedly flag labels in Catalan and Spanish with limited English at both sites.
- Mondays are your only window for Sant Pere: the monastery and museum close on Mondays, while the baths open seven days.
What it costs
- Arab Baths, adult: €3 (2 EUR over 65; 1 EUR for students, under 16, unemployed visitors, large families and groups of 15 or more; free under 8; open Monday to Saturday 10:00 to 18:00, Sundays and holidays 10:00 to 14:00). Official source, checked Oct 2026.
- Arab Baths summer guided visit: €5 (late June to early September, Tuesdays and Saturdays 11:30 to 14:00, departures every 40 minutes; card payment only; 2 EUR for ages 9 to 16). Official source, checked Oct 2026.
- Sant Pere de Galligants and archaeology museum, adult: €6 (closed Mondays; June to September Tuesday to Saturday 10:30 to 19:00, Sundays and holidays 10:00 to 14:00; October to May Tuesday to Saturday 10:00 to 18:00). Official source, checked Oct 2026.
What travelers report
Based on 12 traveler reports (Jan 2025 to Sep 2026) and the official sources linked on this page. 0 were negative.
What people like
- The domed apodyterium is the most praised single room: slender columns under a cupola with an oculus dropping light onto the octagonal pool.
- The price wins converts: reports repeatedly call 3 EUR the best value monument in the Barri Vell.
- Sant Pere's cloister draws the strongest compliments in the monastery reports, with sculpted capitals including a two-tailed siren and a nearly four meter rose window.
- The museum's collection surprises people expecting a building visit: a Paleolithic harpoon, a Greek rhyton and the Roman Ariadne and Theseus mosaic appear in the reports.
- The filming connection gives both a second audience: the Braavos bathhouse and the Citadel exterior are regular stops on the locations loop.
What people complain about
- Thin English interpretation is the most repeated complaint, with labels mainly in Catalan and Spanish at both sites.
- The baths read as a five-minute visit to detractors: one recurring review line calls it a quick look that should cost less.
- Reports find Sant Pere small for its 6 EUR ticket if you are not there for the collection.
- Weekend afternoon hours are short at both sites, catching visitors who leave them to Sunday plans.
- The rooftop and upper sections have steps and uneven surfaces, limiting the route for anyone avoiding stairs.
How to do it right
- Do the baths first, beside the cathedral on Carrer Ferran el Catolic: the official tariff is 3 EUR, open Monday to Saturday 10:00 to 18:00 and Sunday mornings, and the visit runs 20 to 30 minutes around the domed changing hall, the three bath rooms and the rooftop view of Sant Feliu.
- For context, the summer guided visits (5 EUR, Tuesdays and Saturdays late morning, card only, no booking) explain the frigidarium, tepidarium and caldarium sequence in English among other languages.
- Then walk five minutes to Sant Pere de Galligants: the 6 EUR ticket covers the 12th century church, the sculpted cloister and the archaeology collection, and the official museum page puts the visit at about an hour.
- Both interiors rely on Catalan and Spanish interpretation with limited English, so read the history points first or take the leaflet at the baths desk.
- Filming-location fans get both for free from outside: the baths are the Braavos bathhouse and the monastery the Citadel exterior, and reports treat them as standard stops on the loop.
- Keep the pair inside a wider old town morning rather than a dedicated trip; the reports that enjoyed them most treated them as the quiet counterweight to the cathedral.
The trap to avoid
Reading the baths' name literally: they were built by Christians in Romanesque style on the hammam model, first documented in 1194 and rebuilt after the 1285 French siege, so visitors expecting an Alhambra-style palace get a compact medieval bathhouse. The smaller trap is skipping Sant Pere's museum for the cloister photo alone; the reports that spent an hour inside rate it the site's real content.
What to do instead
Why this verdict
Two small monuments flank the cathedral, and their case is arithmetic: 3 EUR and 6 EUR buy the two most interesting interiors in the Barri Vell after the cathedral itself. The Banys Arabs mislead by name: they are a Romanesque Christian bathhouse modeled on the Islamic hammam, first documented in 1194, ruined in the 1285 French siege, rebuilt in 1294 and open to the public since 1932. The star is the domed apodyterium, a cupola resting on slender columns with an oculus that drops a column of light onto the octagonal pool; the rooftop frames the Sant Feliu spire. Reports call it a 20 to 30 minute visit, short and oddly moving.
Sant Pere de Galligants, five minutes away in the Sant Daniel valley, is a Benedictine monastery documented since the 10th century whose church and cloister went up from about 1131; they now house the Girona branch of the Archaeology Museum of Catalonia. The cloister’s sculpted capitals, including a two-tailed siren, and the church’s near four meter rose window supply the architecture, while the collection supplies 300,000 years of context, from a Paleolithic harpoon to the Roman Ariadne and Theseus mosaic.
The negatives are real but small: interpretation leans on Catalan and Spanish, and a vocal minority calls the baths a quick look for the ticket price. At 9 EUR combined, the reports treat the pair as the best value hour in the quarter.
Timing and tickets
The baths run Monday to Saturday 10:00 to 18:00 and Sundays and holidays 10:00 to 14:00, with summer guided visits on Tuesdays and Saturdays at 5 EUR, card only. Sant Pere closes Mondays; June to September it runs Tuesday to Saturday 10:30 to 19:00 and Sunday mornings, October to May Tuesday to Saturday 10:00 to 18:00. Both sit inside any filming-locations loop: the baths played the Braavos bathhouse and the monastery the Citadel’s exterior.
Book or check times
Arab Baths official siteArab Baths on the city tourism siteSant Pere on the Catalonia heritage portalSant Pere on the archaeology museum site
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Questions
Are Girona's Arab Baths actually Arab?
No. They are a Romanesque Christian bathhouse built in the Islamic hammam style, first documented in 1194, largely destroyed in the 1285 French siege, rebuilt in 1294 and opened to the public in 1932.
How long do the Arab Baths and Sant Pere take?
Reports put the baths at 20 to 30 minutes for the domed hall, the cold-warm-hot sequence and the rooftop view. Sant Pere's official page suggests about 60 minutes for the church, cloister and archaeology collection.
Is there a combined ticket for the two sites?
No shared ticket exists: the baths charge 3 EUR on their own site and Sant Pere charges 6 EUR through the archaeology museum, so the pair runs 9 EUR total.
Were the baths and Sant Pere in Game of Thrones?
Yes: the baths' domed pool room played a Braavos bathhouse in the sixth season, and Sant Pere's exterior stood in for the Citadel of Oldtown.
Is Sant Pere de Galligants a museum or a monastery?
Both: the surviving church and cloister of a Benedictine monastery documented since the 10th century house the Girona branch of the Archaeology Museum of Catalonia, so the building and the collection share one ticket.
Do the exhibits have English labels?
Limited. Multiple reports flag interpretation mainly in Catalan and Spanish at both sites, which is why they recommend the leaflet or a guided visit for full value.