Whether you’re in Barcelona for the day, weekend, week, or month, you are in for a treat! Barcelona is a beautiful city showcasing breathtaking architecture, tapas deliciosa, 2 hour lunches, Spanish-Catalan rivalry, and people who LOVE living in the moment. I’m super thankful for the opportunity I had to intern in Barcelona for a month, and wanted to share my top things to do with you!
Look for the free activities sprinkled throughout! As a college student, living on a budget is great when you have the inside scoop!
Musts:
Park Guell: One of my fav places in Barcelona! This place is an architectural masterpiece. Gaudi is a famous architect who designed many buildings and public places in Barcelona. Park Guell was originally intended to be garden city with the park overlooking Barcelona. Park Guell has incredible views of the city and has the famous mosaic bench featured in The Cheetah Girls. 95% of the park is accessible for free (and please take time to explore the gardens – they’ll enchant you!), only the monumental zone (with all the mosaic) requires a fee. I highly recommend getting tickets into the monumental zone to take incredible pictures and soak up one of Barcelona’s masterpieces.
Sagrada Familia: Another Gaudi design, wow this place takes your breath away. With Gothic architecture, the outside has so many details, you’re constantly seeing different bits and pieces form a story. But you walk inside, and everything changes. (The photos below don’t even come close to doing it justice.) The church seems super modern with massive ceilings, stained glass all around you, streaming colored light into the building in the most beautiful way imaginable; you must visit the inside if you’re in Barcelona for even a day.
Best practices: Make sure to get your tickets way ahead of time because they can sell out weeks in advance. Also, watch out for the occasional coupon. 🙂
All the Artsy Things:
Take a look at art from the Spanish perspective. Observe history repeating itself. I recently started appreciating art and museums, and I would highly recommend exploring these museums.
Museu Picasso: Taking you through Picasso’s childhood into his more well-known, abstract art, Museu Picasso does a beautiful job telling Picasso’s story. Additionally, the museum’s gothic architecture alone is worth going for, located in the Gothic Quarter.
Free Entry: Thursdays 6pm-9:30pm (get your tickets online the Sunday prior), first Sunday of each month.
Best practices: Admission into Museu Picasso is via timed entry. You can either buy these tickets online, or you can visit Museu Picasso in person to buy tickets for later that day. You will most likely be able to get tickets for admission an hour later, giving you time to explore the Gothic Quarter.
Barcelona Museum of Contemporary Art (MACBA): Located in the heart of the Gothic Quarter, MACBA hosts artists from around the globe and pieces with interesting commentary on life as we know it. There’s also open space right in front of the museum where tons of skaters shred the gnar – showing you a totally different side of Barcelona. Enjoy this modern masterpiece!
Free Entry: Saturdays 4pm-8pm
So… You Like to be Active:
Camp Nou Tour: This is the largest stadium in Europe, home to FCB! For any of you soccer fans, this is a must – to be in the place where Messi plays – wow! FCB is so centered around their community, their culture is different, full of compassion and fire. A cool experience. There’s also an awesome Nike store featuring jerseys and lots of top notch gear.
Bunkers: The perfect picnic, date, adventurous spot! Bunkers overlooks the entire city, and past Barcelona as well. You will not be disappointed! Since Bunkers is located on top of a mountain, there are running trails all around the mountain and on the way down with beautiful views of the city. Not to mention, this is free! A great place to get some exercise or just enjoy the views!
Best practices: Get dinner to-go and climb (or take the bus) up to Bunkers to watch the sunset.
Go for a Run: Anywhere you go, I highly encourage you to go for a run and just explore. Our apartment was by Sagrada Familia, in the middle of Barcelona, and I could run 1.5mi to Bunkers or 1.5mi to the beach, finding beautiful buildings along the way, seeing all kinds of storefronts, and meeting all types of people. And even better, if you can go on an earlier morning run, you can catch the city as it’s sleeping.
Love Exploring:
Gothic Quarter: The Gothic Quarter is super famous for the architecture, winding streets, and tourist shops (mostly by Las Ramblas). Take some time to get lost and find one-of-a-kind shops such as Terra I Pell and Bon Vent. Pont Gotic and La Boqueria are famous landmarks, that you must see while you’re in the Gothic Quarter. La Boqueria has the freshest food and was founded in the 13th Century! Stop to get a cup of fruit or a smoothie for 1 Euro.
Arc De Triumf: On my first run in Barcelona, I found this gem. This arc may look familiar because it has replicas all over the world. Arc De Triumf in Barcelona signifies the first World Fair in 1888 and Ciutadella Park was the fairgrounds – now a park with magical fountains and all kinds of people inside.
Laberint’ d’Horta: You won’t find this on very many lists for Barcelona, but travel just a little outside the city to explore this Laberinth and beautiful estate. Save a couple hours to get lost inside and travel back in time to a slower life.
Free: Sundays and Wednesdays
Find a Thrift Shop: Go in and just look at all the different styles of clothing. In a city full of tourists, it can be easy to fall into that lifestyle while you visit, but visiting a thrift shop is a great way to see local taste and shop more sustainably.
Yummy Eats!
Authentic Gelato Spots: Emilia Gelato, Gelaaati De Marco, and Cacao’s Gelato Siciliano
Meals: You can’t go wrong with anywhere you eat in Barcelona. Look for lunch specials where you get a drink, first course, second course and dessert from 10-15 euros. These are the best deals! Two of my favorite restaurants were Nikkei103 and L’Autentic Restaruant Libanes. While you’re at it, try Vichy Catalan water, it’s sparkling water only found in Barcelona!
Thanks for reading! If you are traveling to Barcelona soon, you’re gonna have the best time! Enjoy all the gelato and Spanish food for me 😀 Live in the moment just like the Catalan people do, and you’ll have a blast!
Lauren Janae 