In 2016 I went on my first friends holiday for a week in Barcelona. This was the start of my desire to travel!I then visited briefly again in Summer 2017 with family at the end of a cruise with Princess Cruises from Athens to Barcelona.
In 2016 we stayed at the Expo Hotel Barcelona which I would highly recommend for its great location! It is near the main station (Barcelona Sants) with many underground line connections to allow you to travel across the city as well as a direct service to the airport. We also had a view of the National Art Museum from our window which was amazing! It was an easy walk (although hard in the heat) to get to the Plaça d'Espanya.
For this post I will try to group the attractions by their location to each other to make it easier to follow and create your own plan based on where you will be staying in the city. Each section in this guide could act as a plan for a day.
Transport
We purchased the Hola Barcelona travel card in advance of arriving in Barcelona. They are available for 2, 3, 4 or 5 days and there is a 10% discount purchasing online. When we arrived we collected our passes from the ticket machines via a code we received. This card will cover you for all metro and bus journeys!
Plaça d'Espanya
This square has many attractions surrounding it. Firstly there is the large shopping centre which has lots of shops, restaurants and a supermarket (handy if you are staying in an apartment/Air B&B). Above the shopping centre is a 360 degree observation deck, providing amazing views over the city, for which they charge a small fee (€1 when I went in 2017).
National Art Museum
We didn't go into the museum due to time restraints but we did take lots of photos outside it! It is a very pretty building which makes for a great backdrop. They also have the evening fountain and light show (Magic Fountain of Monjuic) which is very popular, so definitely arrive early for that to secure a good spot. Check out the fountain link for updated show days and times as it doesn't run everyday of the week.
Montjuic Cable Car
The cable car heads up towards Montjuic Castle. The view from the cable car over the city is great, you can really see the patterns of the buildings emerge as you go higher. We didn't go into the castle as we had other plans for the day but we enjoyed walking around the area, purchased some souvenirs from street vendors and then headed back down to the base stop.
La Pedrera/Casa Mila
The main activity here is to go up to La Pedrera's rooftop to see the incredible sculptures up there. There is an audio tour which will take you through the 5 floors of the building. General admission is €22 for daytime entry. There are also tickets for evening entry (where the rooftop is lit up), combined day/night entry and premium options.
Casa Batllo
Due to time we decided to make a decision between La Pedrera and Casa Batllo and in the end La Pedrera won. This is another building showcasing Antoni Gaudi's work in Barcelona. Tickets also include an audio guide tour which will take you through the building. General admission is €24.50 if booked online. There are options for fast track, early entry, open ticket entry and an evening entry which includes live music and drinks.
Plaça de Catalunya
This is a large open square which was full of pigeons when I went (and I hate pigeons!). There are also two water fountains at the edge of the square. Not a place I would say to go out of your way for but its nice to walk through between destinations.
Barcelona Cathedral
This cathedral is located in the Gothic Quarter of Barcelona which is well worth taking a walk through either en route to the cathedral or when heading to your next stop. The exterior has been very intricately crafted. Check out their website as the opening hours vary, there is also a roof terrace you can visit to see over Barcelona. The below photo was taken on my go pro before I learned how to reduce the fisheye look!
Parc de la Ciutadella and Arc de Triomf
These two are connected so you can choose where to start. Coming from the park side you'll take the long path towards the Arc and have the view of it rather than just walking under it to get to the park. At the park there is a beautiful fountain which was boarded up when I went in 2016 but luckily open when I returned in 2017! Very near the park is the large elephant statue pictured below. If you worked this plan the opposite way you could have a picnic lunch in the park before heading onwards for the rest of the day! The Barcelona Zoo is also at the opposite end of the park if you wanted to visit there too
La Rambla
The famous street filled with small stalls but also infamous for pickpockets! My tip would be to take the metro to either Liceu or Plaça de Catalunya and walk along La Rambla to the other stop (as these are at each end of the street, taking about 10-15 mins without stopping). Along the way you can stop at Boqueria Market, a local market which often gets filled up by tourists and tour groups.
Sagrada Familia
The most famous icon of the Barcelona skyline! The construction is currently estimated to be fully completed in 2032 and was started in 1882! You can pre-purchase tickets to speed up entry, we bought ours from Tiqets and were able to show mobile versions on arrival. The inside is as grand as its exterior with many stained glass windows. On the outside of the building make sure to find the floral decorated wall which makes a beautiful photo backdrop.
Parc Guell
We ended up visiting the park twice as we weren't aware you needed a time slot for entry and by the time we got there the only slots left were 2-3 hours later! So I ended up on the Tiqets website again to quickly buy tickets for the next day and we had them ready on our phones.
There is no metro stop specific for the park if travelling across the city then its best to get the metro. Hop off and walk to the park from either Lesseps (walking on flat ground and uphill) or Vallcarca (walk a bit then take escalators up to the park). If you are in Placa de Catalunya catch the bus 24 from there which will take around 40 minutes and drops you outside the park.
Day trip to Montserrat
I wasn't able to fit this into either of my trips to Barcelona but definitely something I will do next time!
Take the R5 train from España station (1 train per hour) to either Aeri Montserrat or Monistrol de Montserrat (1 hour journey). Choose either the cable car (get off at Aeri) or funicular train (get off at Monistrol) to get up to the Monastery. When buying the train ticket at the station you will need to specify if you intend to take the cable car or funicular as, although priced the same, these are different tickets. The return train is also once per hour so make sure to leave plenty of time to get back down to the station. There is great information on Barcelona Tourist Guide regarding the travel for this visit.
Tiqets sell skip the line tickets to save you time once you arrive and you can start exploring. If you like to hike, check out this link to Earth Trekkers which details all the different hiking trails to get to different vantage points!
Visiting Mount Tibidabo
Again another thing I wasn't able to do on the past trips but will definitely do next time!
The main attraction at the top is the view over Barcelona! There is also a small theme park at the top and the viewing deck of the Conserolla Tower.
To get up to the top there are two options: the Tibibus (running around every 20 minutes from Placa de Catalunya up to the theme park) or via public transport which involves more changing. You need to take the L7 to Avinguda del Tibidabo, then transfer to the Tramvia Blau and then onto the funicular up to the top.
Hope this guide helps out anyone looking to plan a trip to Barcelona!
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