New Year In Barcelona, Spain

Barcelona is a fascinating city, full of interesting architecture and the echoes of the past. If you are touring Europe, this is a necessary stop during your time in Spain! In fact, if you have to pick one Spanish city, make it this one. We thoroughly enjoyed our time there, and spent every moment soaking in the Spanish culture. If you’re heading to Barcelona any time soon, check out these travel tips and ideas for your own itinerary!

Accommodations:

We stayed at Hotel Consell de Cent, which is located on the street Carrer del Consell de Cent hosted by Wello Apartments.

If you want to see a lot of Barcelona in a single go, Passeig de Gracia is a great street to visit. This is an important road in the city, and it is lined with some of the most popular shopping areas and tourist attractions. If you love seeing interesting architecture, this is the place to do it! We enjoyed driving down this street and checking out a few of the things it offers.

We spent a few hours in Casa Mila, which is located on Passeig de Gracia Street. If you’re an architecture buff, you’ll be interested to know that it was designed by Antoni Gaudi! The building itself is interesting, but the art and live performances it offers are even better.

Pro Tip(s):

• Tickets are required to enter Casa Mila.  Recommendation is to acquire tickets in advance.
• Accessible through public transportation and short distance from Casa Battlo however we had to do a little walking.  

Another Gaudi building we visited on Passeig de Gracia is Casa Battlo. The front of the building alone is pretty awesome, but the interior is infinitely more so. This house is basically a museum of décor and design, with everything from stunning chandeliers to kaleidoscopic stained glass windows and sweeping staircases. The general admission price is a steep €23.5, but it’s worth it for the photos and a few hours in a fairytale setting.

Pro Tip(s):

• Tickets are required to enter Casa Battlo.  Recommendation is to purchase tickets in advance.
• Accessible through public transportation however we had to do a little walking.  

You could easily spend a full day at Park Guell, although you can certainly enjoy it in a morning or an afternoon. You can get to the park using public transportation, and most of the park is open for free. If you want to visit the Monumental Zone (which you should, since you’ve come this far), a general ticket is €7. The entire park was designed by – you guessed it – the magnificent Gaudi, who created buildings and gardens to look like they’ve come from a Brother’s Grimm tale. There are plenty of cool things to see here, including the outside of Gaudi’s house, the famous salamander statue, a variety of interesting columns, and bright mosaics.

Pro Tip(s):

• Tickets to enter can be purchased at the park. 
• Accessible through public transportation however we had to do a little walking.  

If you’re coming from Park Guell, you’ll have a quick trip to the Sagrada Familia. You can use public transport to get here, no matter where you’re coming from. This huge cathedral is one of the world’s finest and newest. In fact, it’s not even quite finished yet! It was begun in 1866, and it only has a little bit left to go. Although it’s not complete, it’s already stunning, with spires that soar into the heavens and stained glass that will leave you practically breathless. The basic tickets are €15, although you can get more expensive tickets to see more within the basilica.

Pro Tip(s):

• Easily accessible through public transportation.
• Tickets are required to enter Sagrada Familia.  Recommendation is to purchase tickets in advance.

This soccer club is a must-visit for soccer fans. Even those who don’t follow sports know the name Messi and will be interested to see his home field! Camp Nou is one of the most cherished soccer clubs in Spain. You can visit by taking public transport to the local neighborhood where it is located.

Pro Tip(s):

• Make Reservations in advance for Camp Nou.  
• Accessible through public transportation however be prepared to do some walking.

If you love history and old architecture, you can’t miss it! Here, you can see a conglomerate of the ancient and the very old, from remnants of a Roman wall to the medieval El Call Jewish building to the Gothic Barcelona Cathedral.

La Rambla is a streetlocated in the center of Barcelona. This area is popular with both locals and tourists, so it’s busy, but you can find anything you like here. There is plenty to do here including shopping, walking and there are a lot of wonderful restaurants. La Rambla is a street full of life and delicious smells. It is a tourist attraction, but it’s still worth visiting.

Pro Tip(s):

• Easily accessible through public transportation.

There are a lot of wonderful places to eat in Barcelona but the very best restaurants we discovered were right near our accommodations, at Carrer del Consell near the crossing of Rambla de Cataluyna. Food in Barcelona is unbelievable and our favorite dish is Paella.

As you can see, Barcelona is a place that you have to see at once! Come experience out the amazing art, structures, and food this iconic city has to offer. A trip to Barcelona is a trip of a lifetime!