What to do in Barcelona
I’ve wanted to go to Barcelona since forever, it’s no where none of my friends seemed to fancy to go to. Eventually I managed to talk Laura into going, and literally had the best sight seeing trip to date.
Where to go see?
Sagrada Familia
This was by far the most breathtaking place I’ve ever been, I’ve been amazed by some places I’ve visited but this was something else. Even just from the outside you’re amazed by all the detail in the place, I’ve never seen anything like it. Pictures do it absolutely no justice.
Again we booked tickets in advance for this, which I would recommend. We bought the headset tour along with Gaudi House included, which is in Park Guell. We booked them a few hours apart so we had enough time to do both without rushing.
I’m glad as I spent so much longer in the Sagrada than I thought I would. It’s probably the first time I’ve really paid attention to a tour before.
Casa Mila
Typically we went here as soon as it turned overcast, which was a shame as I imagine the view being 10x better with some blue skies and sunshine! It’s quite a little place, so you don’t need to put much time aside for this. We spent about 30 minutes here just wandering around, and maybe 10 minutes waiting for someone to do an instagram photoshoot..
It wasn’t my favourite place in Barcelona, nor the most spectacular. But it was one of the many Gaudi things we wanted to visit while we were there. I much preferred the view from the ground of the building, it has the prettiest structure that you can view from across the road!
Park Guell
I swear we chose the hottest day out of our whole trip to visit here, but it was so worthwhile melting alive. We again booked our tickets in advance, which we were glad we did with the amount of people we saw being turned away. Park Guell only releases a certain amount of tickets a day, so it is definitely needed to book in advance.
Our tickets for the park included the shuttle bus from Alfons X metro, which I’m so glad we did after our walk there the first day. From the main part of Barcelona it’s quite a walk, even from the metro station it tells you to stop at, so it’s definitely good to use the bus!
The park itself is beautiful and so colourful, you can wander around the unrestricted areas, but the restricted areas really made it for me. The mosaic buildings and seating etc is just so pretty to see. But if you go midday, prepare to be surrounded by people too. The amount of people that walked in front of my camera was so frustrating!
Gothic Quarter
We actually stumbled upon the Gothic quarter by fluke, and I’m glad we did as we originally didn’t have any intentions of going. We visited the food market on at the time, sat and listened to the music outside the cathedral and had some nice tapas and sangria to pass some time. It’s really easy to get to from Las Ramblas, or even just the metro. There is a lot more local things going on this way, and who doesn’t love a food event?
Tibidabo
I’m still gutted we didn’t make it up here, as we could see it from our hotel pool, but we just didn’t have the time to go. If we had another spare day we may have made the trip up, but it’s quite a journey if you only want to go from an hour or so.
Tibidabo is an amusement park on the Tibidabo mountain. You can see the ferris wheel and Church from Barcelona and it looks so pretty! There is various different rides and shows, which are quite old school but I can imagine the view is amazing! Maybe next time..
La Rambla
We walked up and down here most nights, whether on our way to or from food, or for just a general walk. It’s a nice way to get from A to B but it can be quite a hefty walk too, but sometimes I quite like to people watch in places like this. We did make the mistake of being tempted into those giant cocktails, FYI – share it as it’s 25 Euros..
However as nice as Las Ramblas is, it is rife for pick pocketing, so keep all your belongings safe!
La Boqueria Food Market
The food market is great if you’re after some nice local foods to try, or even a slice of yummy pizza. A lot of the produce in the market is food you may more so need at home, but there is a lot of nice fresh foods and snacks to get on your visit. I didn’t actually buy anything from here, other than just enjoying the sights and general place itself. It’s definitely one to pop into through the day time along Las Ramblas.
Barcelona Cathedral
The Cathedral is within the square in the Gothic quarter. It’s another one of Barcelona’s spectacular buildings, and just so beautiful to sit outside and listen to the music. It isn’t as spectacular as the Sagrada, but we enjoyed the views from outside and watching the busy square.
Arc De Triumph
Pretty much like the one in Paris, the Arc De Triumph is super busy of tourists and people walking through. It’s near enough impossible to get an empty photo of it unless you’re an early riser and want to be there for 6am sharp, which is not for me!
Placa Reial
This was my favourite place to visit on an evening, even when we weren’t eating or drinking in the square we would have a wander through. It’s such a busy square full of bars and restaurants. There is also heaps of performers outside of the restaurants doing various dances etc, which just makes the whole place feel that so much more lively too.
The square is huge, with a lovely water foundation in the middle and lots of side streets to visit. We visited loads of places for amazing food nearby there, which I will write about soon too. *cough* go for dumplings.
How to get around?
You can obviously walk around Barcelona, but a lot of things are quite a walk away. Especially the likes of Park Guell and the beach. We got ourselves a metro pass for 72 hours, which was the perfect amount of time for how long we were there for. They do different time scales for however long you’re there, but they’re definitely the cheapest way around the city.
Using the City Mapper app we got around so so easily and knew exactly what train to get and when. I don’t think I would have a clue around most cities without this app!
Arriving from Girona Airport
Completely unintentionally, we flew to Girona Airport as that is where Jet2 fly to from Newcastle. Little did we know there isn’t a train station at the airport like there is in Barcelona. You can get a taxi to Girona and get the train from there. Alternatively you can get a shuttle bus from the airport to Barcelona for 25 Euro return. Which we didn’t see that bad when it was a 1 hour journey! It was easy enough, and we also got to look at all the pretty landscapes on route!
Arriving from Barcelona Airport
Well this is 10x easier than we probably experienced, there is a train from the airport into the city every 30 minutes. Which I can imagine is a lot easier than my 1 hour bus journey! However, if your airport doesn’t fly directly to Barcelona really don’t let it put you off, I would do it all over again!
I loved how easy it was to get around Barcelona, we for once didn’t get lost and got to do everything we planned too. I think it’s one of those cities I wouldn’t tire of and could keep going back and still be amazed.
Have you ever been or thought about going to Barcelona?
