30 things to do in Barcelona
Like I said the other day, Barcelona changed from the first disgust to my favourite city. Now I recommend it to everyone because I am pretty sure all of you can find there something you like when you take Barcelona holidays.
This is my list of 30 things to do in Barcelona:
1. Have a ride on bicycle or inline skates along the beach. The best time to do it is in the late afternoon before the sunset which is the nicest part of the day, and even more there at the beach. There are plenty of bike renting places all over the city. It is very popular in Barcelona and you can see loads of young people cycling, even some locals rent a bike from those rent places instead of buying one.
2. Buy souvenirs at La Rambla. It is Barcelona busiest tourist street with little kiosks in the middle and shops and restaurants on the sides. Being a place of many artists, from street traders, pantomime, dancers, break dance guys, painters etc. will keep yourself busy for a while.
3. Wanna see Barcelona through different eyes than a normal tourist? Walk La Rambla after 5 am to see all the prostitutes and dangerous homeless people. That’s also a big part of Barcelona and hopefully it will not scare you off :)
4. Go clubbing to Plaza Mayor or down the Olympic Port with different music in every disco club so if you get bored of one, just move next door.
5. Get a fruit juice or fresh fruit at market La Boquería which is one of the side streets of La Rambla. It is my absolutely best place in the whole city and without it Barcelona would not be Barcelona. I could drink those juices all day long without eating anything else. Flavours differ from raspberry with coco, banana and strawberry, mango, blackberry and coco and some made of fruit you have maybe never heard of in your country. A day without visiting La Boquería is a day wasted for me in beautiful Barcelona.
6. La Sagrada Familia is a must. I love this awesome building but shame is that it’s always under the construction.
7. Take a boat trip with Las Golondrinas along the coast and get the chance to see all Barcelona from the sea. It is great fun when it’s windy and bumpy due to the waves.
8. Get a limonade in Mare Magnum shopping center, sit outside and enjoy the peaceful atmosphere observing the boats and seagulls.
9. In the evening you have to see Plaza de España and its fountain show at Magic Fountains – with different lights and music. It is so exciting I cried the first time I was there. No kidding.
10. Get crepes from little crepes kiosks in the port. With forest fruit are the best. (Getting a crepe was one of my old habits in Barcelona before I turned vegan. Now I’m waiting for them to start making vegan pancakes to be able to enjoy them again). Having said that, there’s many new places in Barcelona where you can get vegan meals nowadays.
11. If you do not like to walk or do not have enough time, just take a hop on, hop off sightseeing bus as it is the easiest way to get to know all the historic monuments and the most important places. It is better for 2 days so you enjoy more.
12. Have some rest in Ciutadella park, admire its mammoth or visit its ZOO, lake and museums.
13. Like sangria? Enjoy a big jar in one of the little restaurants in the port.
14. If carrousels and roller coasters are your cup of tea, then take a bus or tram Tramvía Blau to Tibidabo Amusement Park. As a bonus you get an amazing view of the whole Barcelona below.
15. Get a teleférico from the beach to Montjuic hill.
16. Visit Olympic stadium, Palau Sant Jordi, Poble Español and Montjuic hill with Joan Miro museum.
17. If you like bird view like I do, then Parc Guell will not only give you the chance to have all Barcelona like on your hand in front of you, but besides a lot of trees and fresh air, also fairy tale buildings decorated by Gaudí. It’s one of my fave places in Barcelona. You will love it!
18. Visit a never-ending list of museums, including the Picasso Museum or Casa Batlló and Casa Milá (La Pedrera) by Gaudí. Even if you do not know how they look like and you pass through Passeig de Gracia, you can’t miss them as they look totally different and tourists are waiting outside.
19. At night, go to a place from where you can see Torre Agbar and its blue, violet and red lights will calm you down.
20. Go swimming and sunbathing to one of 6 Barcelona beaches: San Sebastian, la Barceloneta, Nova Icaria, Bogatell, Mar Bella and Nova Mar Bella. Be careful, they steal a lot here even when you go into the water for 10 minutes so please do not take anything expensive with you unless you leave it with someone having a look at it.
21. Go shopping in the city center. I get a bunch of new clothes after each Barcelona visit O:)
22. Try floating in Barcelona. It’s a cool experience to relax away from the hustle and bustle of the city.
23. In the late afternoon, take a long walk around the port and beach, watch the lights at the fish statue and scyscrapers in La Barceloneta and Port Olympic.
24. The first 3D cinema I ever visited was in Barcelona in Port Vell. Just next to it, enter The Aquarium if you like watching fish, sharks and rich sea life.
25. Take a picture of reddish Arc de Triomf. I love so much the area around it.
26. Get lost in Horta Labyrinth Park on Sundays for free, so astonishing!
27. Give a quick visit to Wax Museum and the pub next to it with lovely huge tree in the middle. Interesting place to have some drinks!
28. Wander along Barrio Gótico and Barcelona Cathedral. Remember to cover your shoulders and till knees.
29. Take a lift up to Columbus Statue and then when down again, jump on one of the lion statues and get a photo.
30. Do all the 29 must do’s all over again and you will definitely enjoy and each time find something new to admire!
TIP: There’s many things you can do in Barcelona. For many of them, such as museums and other attractions, you would need to wait in line for quite some time just to buy the ticket in person. If you’d like to skip lines, you can book your passes here online to save time. All you will need then is your mobile phone so no printing of documents needed. I recommend you to do the following while in Barcelona:
- Barcelona museum pass online
- Camp Nou experience
- Casa Batllo entrance
- Casa Milá – La Pedrera
- Chocolate Museum
- City tour Barcelona
*Have you visited Barcelona? Would you add anything else to the above things to do in Barcelona?
Sara John
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Good work God bless you…
Matt
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This is so inspiring Alex!! Barcelona is my hometown and I’ve seen so many low-level articles by bloggers on the city. This one marks the difference! You even included the colombus statue and its lift – i love to do this and not too many tourists actually know about this :)
Crazy Sexy Fun Traveler
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I am so suprised to hear that some bloggers do not like Barcelona. It’s seriously the best city in the world to me :)
BlondeBrunetteTravel
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Hi! It was nice meeting you at the TBEX conference!
To one of your commenters – flamenco isn’t from this region of Spain. If you want authentic flamenco you need to head to Seville – which is a lot of fun to do anyway!
Crazy Sexy Fun Traveler
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It was nice meeting you too, girls!
gensanite
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how about, “watch FC Barcelona beat their opponents at Camp Nou”? hehehe… go barca!!!
Octavio Ba fo
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Nice list and tips!! But wait a moment, you miss a Flamenco show. In doesn´t have to be expensive to be a great show. Take a great video and photos while you enjoy a pair of beers seeing the Flamenco show at “Tarantos”.
crazy sexy fun traveler
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Haha true, I never seen a Flamenco show and they are everywhere, in each Spanish town, so that is why I didnt include it in this post as it is not typical only for Barcelona. But shame on me, I should go there :D
emt training
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If you are open to having a guest blog poster please reply and let me know. I will provide you with unique content for your blog, thanks.
crazy sexy fun traveler
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Thanks ;)
college loans
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Terrific work! This is the type of information that should be shared around the web. Shame on the search engines for not positioning this post higher!
Travel Food Phil
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Great list! I’m off to Barcelona in the middle of July. I’ll defo be using this list as reference!
crazy sexy fun traveler
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Definitely use it, u will know what to see ;) U will love it!