Barcelona made to measure

Barcelona is a Mediterranean city offering many possibilities and has a simple structure, making it easy to find your way around; you can get a general feel for the city by bus or by strolling through some of the emblematic neighbourhoods where you will see some of the city’s beautiful buildings. If you’d like to discover Barcelona, we can offer you a variety of options to tailor to your needs, depending on the time available to you. Here are some immediate suggestions for you, for spending half a day, or one day or two days in the city, and you can structure your visit accordingly, to make the most of your available time. We can also suggest some dining options from the extensive range of choices offered by the city.

Barcelona in a day

Barcelona offers a wide range of possibilities for visits even when you have little time to spare. So if you only have a day free, we recommend you get up early and make the most of it by exploring the various sides to this beautiful city. In the morning you can take the Barcelona Bus Turístic from its first departure point at its stop in Plaça de Catalunya, and take the south-bound (blue) route along which you will discover the western part of the city and find not only a large commercial area in Carrer de Sants but also Sants station and Montjuïc mountain. Here, in addition to seeing the MNAC (Catalan National Art Museum), one of the city’s most important art museums, you can discover a large stretch of Barcelona’s green space as well as the Anella Olímpica (Olympic Ring), the main area in which the 1992 Olympic Games were held, and where, among others, the Sant Jordi Palace, the Lluís Companys Olympic Stadium and the Picornell Swimming Pools are located. Around lunch time, the bus will take you back to city, where you can treat yourself to any of the large range of restaurants or snack-bars available before continuing with your trip.

In the evening, you can spend your time discovering the northern area of the city using the same bus turístic, but taking the north-bound (red) route. The route takes you through the Passeig de Gràcia, the location for several Modernist buildings, the most notable of which being the Casa Lleó i Morera, the Casa Amatller, the Casa Batlló and the Casa Milà, more widely known as La Pedrera. This route also passes by the Sagrada Família, another of the gems created by the architectural genius, Antoni Gaudí. The bus makes several stops you can get off at should you wish to have a better look at any of these sights.

If you enjoy city walks you can spend the afternoon in the Barri Gòtic (Gothic Quarter), where you can discover the origins to this beautiful city. You can start at Barcelona Cathedral, at Plaça Nova, where you can take a good look at this Gothic marvel and its surrounding Roman remains, which you will also find if you continue along the passage in Carrer del Bisbe, through which you can then enter the cathedral’s Gothic cloister, another marvel not to be missed. At Plaça de Sant Jaume, which you will find at the end of Carrer del Bisbe, you will see the office buildings of both the Generalitat de

® Ajuntament de Barcelona 2009 Catalunya (Autonomous Government of Catalonia) and Barcelona City Council. Close by is Plaça del Rei, an area with one of the city’s richest histories. After you’ve crossed Via Laietana, you can then walk down Carrer Argenteria, where you will get a good view of one of the gems of Catalan Gothic architecture, the Basilica of Santa Maria del Mar. You can make the most of the day by having lunch at one of the many restaurants located in the Born neighbourhood, a modern, Bohemian area with a lively night life.

Suggestions

If you have some free time to spare, you can use it enjoying the marvels at the Museu Picasso, in Carrer de Montcada in the Born Barri, and discover the artist’s apprentice years and ties with the city.

Discover the Quadrat d’Or! The whole area located around the Passeig de Gràcia, is one of the smart areas of Eixample, bounded by Carrer d’Aribau and Passeig de Sant Joan, Ronda de Sant Pere and Ronda d’Universitat and Avinguda Diagonal. It grew considerably during its spell as the residential centre for Barcelona’s middle classes, over the last decade of the XIX century and the first decade of the XX century, a period coinciding with the appearance and spread of Modernism. The Quadrat d’Or was therefore at the centre of Barcelona’s modernist movement. These days, you will also find every kind of shop as well as a large range of cuisine to fill your belly with!

® Ajuntament de Barcelona 2009