We visited Barcelona in the middle of a fall Euro-trip that consisted of stops in Munich and Paris. Unlike these other cities which were very cold in the fall, Barcelona welcomed us with days full of sunshine and warm breezes.
This popular Catalonian city is the second-largest in Spain and is a frequent favorite among tourists due to its colorful architecture, never-ending delicious tapas, and rich heritage. Here are 12 of our favorite things to do in Barcelona from visiting World Heritage sites to getting tattoos!
1. Basílica de la Sagrada Família
If it’s your first time in Barcelona, you’ll need to visit the Basílica de la Sagrada Família. This incomplete church, originally designed by Antoni Gaudí in the 1880s, is expected to be completed by the 2030s. I remember learning about Gaudí’s most famous work in school, unimpressed, but visiting la Sagrada really puts into perspective how many grandiose details he’s put into the building.
The Basílica de la Sagrada Família is one of the most popular tourist spots in Barcelona, so definitely get tickets in advance, as they are released monthly. There are options for single-entry tickets, self-guided and group tours, and even access to one of the Basilica’s towers, where you’ll get a skyline view of the city. These tickets give access during specific time windows. You can purchase them directly on the website or on other third-party websites; however, they will be more expensive. We visited during the golden hour, right before sunset, and the colors in the basilica’s stained-glass windows were beautiful!
Type of activity: church, tourist attraction
Price: $ ($25 pp)
Neighborhood: L’Eixample
Address: Carrer de Mallorca, 401, L’Eixample, 08013 Barcelona, Spain
Website
2. Palau de la Música Catalana
Palau de la Música Catalana is a concert hall in the Ciutat Vella neighborhood of Barcelona. Its name means “The Palace of Catalan Music.” We visited just to see the beautiful Art Nouveau architecture inside the auditorium. Seeing the opulent stained glass dome above the hall is worth the small entry fee. Palau de la Música Catalana offers a variety of shows, including live symphony programs, pop orchestras performing modern movie soundtracks, flamenco shows, and operas, but is also nice just for a short self-guided tour through the building.
Type of activity: concert hall
Price: $ ($20 pp)
Neighborhood: Ciutat Vella (Old City)
Address: Palau de la Música, 4-6, Ciutat Vella, 08003 Barcelona, Spain
Website
3. Casa Amatller
Not all tourist attractions highlight Gaudí’s quirky style, and that is the case with Casa Amatller, which was designed by a fellow Modernist architect, Josep Puig i Cadafalch. Casa Amatller was home to chocolatier Antoni Amatller and his daughter, Teresa.
Casa Amatller pays homage to the historical Romanesque and Catalan Gothic styles. These differences are very obvious when you see the building from the street, because Casa Amatller is right next to Casa Batlló, which showcases Gaudí’s fantastical, fluid style. With a guided one-hour tour, you get to view many different rooms, learn about the Amatller family, and you even get a small box of chocolates at the end.
Type of activity: tourist attraction
Price: $ ($26 pp)
Neighborhood: L’Eixample
Address: Pg. de Gràcia, 41, L’Eixample, 08007 Barcelona, Spain
Website
4. Casa Batlló
Casa Batlló is what happens when you give Gaudí carte blanche for designing your future home. Situated in the “Block of Discord” on Passeig de Gràcia, Casa Batlló is one of the award-winning homes on this popular block (and it’s probably the most well-known due to the architect and it being a World Heritage site). Of all the home tours we’ve done, Casa Batlló is one of the most whimsical. Each floor is curated in organic movements out of wood, stained glass, ceramics, and metal, so unique you almost feel like you’re in a playhouse.
Buy your tickets online in advance, and you might want to go pick an earlier time slot when there are fewer people visiting because it does get extremely busy–almost overwhelmingly claustrophobic, so if you’re not into crowds, be warned. We recommend buying the Gold ticket to get access to all the floors and extra experiences for Casa Batlló, like the Private Residence rooms and an augmented reality tablet that goes along with the audio guide. Although the Gold ticket doesn’t have a “priority pass,” we were still able to bypass the long general Blue and Silver lines at the front and save time.
Type of activity: tourist attraction
Price: $$ ($30 pp)
Neighborhood: L’Eixample
Address: Pg. de Gràcia, 43, L’Eixample, 08007 Barcelona, Spain
Website
5. Book a Walking tour
Like many tourists, we like signing up for walking tours in new places to learn more about the culture, history, and traditions. Barcelona is so full of amazing Catalan history, and after taking a walking tour, it inevitably changes the way you experience the city.
There are many tours available in Barcelona, and we took Enchanted Old Town at Night Tour with Daria, who easily gave us the most comprehensive lesson on Catalanian culture, politics, and current events in only two hours. Daria also informed us of her tips for traveling in Barcelona, since she’s lived here for many years, especially the age-old advice of keeping your belongings closeby. I really liked how personable Daria was and how she made it a sort of a trivia game when giving us the hefty history of an entire culture.
Type of activity: walking tour
Price: $$ ($36 pp)
Neighborhood: Gothic Quarter
Website
6. Take a Paella Cooking Class
If you want a special introduction to one of Spain’s famous dishes, take a cooking class with Sara at La Salsamenta. In 2 ½ hours, you’ll learn how to make paella the way Sara’s family has made it with the freshest, local ingredients in Barcelona. We loved getting to cook and taste paella two different ways: with meat and with fresh seafood. The class is full of info about what ingredients to use to make paella at home.
Each class hosts 20 students, and Sara makes you feel comfortable by welcoming you with snacks and glasses of wine. It’s such an intimate setting because the class itself takes place in her ancestral home, where she grew up, and we got to cook al fresco in the backyard garden.
Type of activity: cooking class
Price: $$$ ($81 pp)
Neighborhood: Gràcia
Address: Carrer de l’Escorial, 191, Gràcia, 08024 Barcelona, Spain
Website
7. Nomad Coffee Tasting or Latte Workshop
For excellent third-wave coffee, visit Nomad Coffee. This roastery offers three locations in Barcelona: Petite Nomad in Eixample, Selected Fruits in Poblenou, and Coffee Bar in El Born. Nomad Coffee roasts its own beans, and we frequently buy them at our local cafe in California, Play Coffee, so we knew we had to stop by when we visited Barcelona. During our trip, Nomad Coffee released a limited-edition Gesha bean collection with tastings, so we opted for the event.
If you’re an aspiring home barista, Nomad Coffee also offers in-person workshops in Spanish and English. I took a private latte art class and learned so much from my teacher, Andres. They also offer tastings, espresso intro courses, and full coffee intensives.
Type of activity: coffee roastery, classes
Price: $ ($ pp)
Neighborhood: L’Eixample, Poblenou, and El Born
Address: Carrer de Bergara, 10, 08002 Barcelona; Carrer de Pujades, 95, 08005 Barcelona; and Passatge Sert, 12, 08003 Barcelona
Website
8. Tattoo: Big Cat Tattoo Shop
“If you want a tattoo during your trip, Barcelona is one of the best places to get it!” – Daria, our walking tour guide.
Unbeknownst to our friends who got souvenir tattoos, Barcelona is known globally for its tattoo culture. Many tattoo artists travel to Barcelona to work, so you’ll find a lot of tattoo tourism happening in the city. While walking around Raval, we bumped into the Big Cat Tattoo shop, and the staff were super friendly. Two of our friends ended up getting flash tattoos with artists who were originally from Arizona, surprisingly.
Type of activity: tattoo, souvenirs, art
Price: $$ ($ pp)
Neighborhood: Raval
Address: Rambla del Raval, 10, Ciutat Vella, 08001 Barcelona, Spain
Website
9. Shopping
Shopping in Barcelona is diverse, and there are lots of amazing stores for souvenirs and quality-made treats for yourself. If you like cooking and eating, Casa Gay offers an array of professional kitchen tools, like paella pans. And La Conservera BCN is a tinned fish lover’s dream; This tinned fishery offers so many different types and price points for tinned fish and meats, and they’ll also help you figure out which to bring home.
If you’re trying to find basic under garments and pajamas that are made in Spain and 100% cotton, check out Gèneres de punt La Torre. This store opened in 1900 and still supplies many basics for Barcelona–it’s even gone viral recently and sold out their popular camisoles. You’ll find boxes and boxes of stacked basics on the shelves with assistants there to help.
For amazing handmade leather accessories and bags, visit Re Cuir. You can design a custom belt in whatever color of leather and type of buckles. We also purchased a handbag here for only 49€, and it rivals hundred-dollar bags in designer stores.
Type of activity: shopping, souvenirs
10. Eat tapas
Tapas is mandatory when visiting Barcelona, and you’ll quickly find the city is inundated with options for tapas. One of the most popular spots is El Xampanyet because everything they make is simple, fresh, and in season–the bar itself is lively, cheerful, and they serve cheap, homemade cava! Succulent and tender razor clams with a drizzle of olive oil, salt, and pepper were one of my favorite dishes in the entire trip. The caveat is that El Xampanyet is first-come, first-served, so you’ll likely be waiting for a while, but let me tell you it’s well worth it! The staff is also amazing and gave out a glass of free homemade cava to appease the line!
But you don’t have to wait in hour-long lines for good tapas. Make a reservation at a restaurant like Maleducat that features new wave Catalan food with white prawn toast and flame-grilled marinated mackerel, or Suculent, a restaurant opened by an El Bulli graduate, Chef Antonio Romero. At Suculent, you need to order the crispy suckling pig (a lechon contender tbh, with that extra-crispy skin and tender meat).
11. Take A Day Trip To Girona
Taking a day trip to another city is definitely recommended, and if you like Medieval architecture, we recommend Girona. This beautiful city is about an hour away from Barcelona’s center via train. You can purchase tickets online from different websites, like Renfe or Omio. Be warned: buying tickets on these sites can be a headache due to poor UX or sites being down, but we eventually were able to purchase tickets by using a laptop. We definitely recommend buying tickets ahead of time in case the site is down.
Once you board the train, you can walk from the station towards the main city plaza. Girona is well-known for its cycling culture, so expect to see many cycling-themed cafes and specialty stores. Girona is a small town that offers cute souvenir shops selling handmade ceramics (Hel·lènica Ceramics), specialty food boutiques with Spanish and Catalan ingredients (VIMET), and fun trinkets for friends and family (Recorda-te’n souvenirs fabricats a Girona i Catalunya).
If you want a nice meal, there is also Michelin-starred dining at Divinum, where you can eat modern Catalan dishes at a leisurely pace–expect the a la carte lunch meal to last around 3 hours and cost around $150+ per person. Or a sweet treat from Oriel 1887 to try classic xuixo, a Gironian dessert that is similar to a churro.
Girona is well-known for its colorful houses lining the Onyar River and the bright red Pont de les Peixateries Velles, which is a great viewpoint of the city. If you’re a Game of Thrones fan, there are also various spots to visit where the series filmed, like the steps of the Girona Cathedral.
12. Food Markets: Mercat de la Boqueria and Mercat de Sant Antoni
Possibly one of the biggest tourist activities is visiting the beautiful food markets of Barcelona. Mercat de la Boqueria in Ciutat Vella is very popular amongst tourists with its vibrant stalls of produce, fresh seafood, souvenirs, and myriads of snacks. There are lots of places to grab a meal and bars for drinks inside too! It’s so easy to get lost in the bustling indoor market that it can be overwhelming. Visit in the early morning before 11:00 A.M. for a quieter experience.
Mercat de Sant Antoni is a smaller market in L’Eixample that isn’t as bustling as Mercat de la Boqueria, but you will find locals buying their daily groceries, homegoods, and other essentials. If you want an authentic market experience in Barcelona that isn’t bustling with thousands of tourists, visit Mercat de Sant Antoni. On Sundays when the indoor market is closed, you’ll find stalls and kiosks lined in the outdoor plaza selling vintage books and stamps, too.
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