The Sagrada Familia, Barcelona, Spain

City Crush: Visiting Barcelona

Barcelona has been the undisputed highlight of our Spanish adventures to date. We fell in love with the city’s distinct personality; the alien-like Gaudi buildings and ancient cathedrals, the warren of streets in the Gothic Quarter, the wide open plazas and long sandy beaches. At the same time, I loved the familiarity of Barcelona, which reminded me of London with its crowds of visitors, metro system, museums and red-sightseeing buses – I felt at home there.

Ciutadella Park, Barcelona

Ciutadella Park, Barcelona

Visiting Barcelona in a week

Our week in Barcelona was crammed full of sightseeing, eating and an exciting fiesta, yet I still feel like we barely scratched the surface of this exciting metropolis. We’ve developed a city crush for Barcelona and are already considering returning once our work in English Immersion camps finish in June; for now though, here are the highlights of our first visit.

Barcelona's Harbour

Barcelona’s Harbour

The Sagrada Família

The Sagrada Família is the impressionist Antoni Gaudí’s most famous piece of architecture. Construction on this huge, ornate cathedral began over 100 years ago but it will still take another 20 for it to be completed.  From the outside, the building is immense in size, made up of a series of tall cylindrical spires with a nativity façade at one end depicting the birth of Christ and at the other, a passion façade which represents his death.

The Sagrada Familia, Barcelona, Spain

I couldn’t have expected what greeted us when we stepped inside the Sagrada Família – mere words don’t do it justice. The cavernous space was filled with tall pillars, stained-glass windows, spiral staircases, swirly balconies and glass lifts. Gaudí was inspired by nature and geometric shapes and the pillars reached up like the trunks and branches of trees, with light filtering through like a forest.  Above the altar there was a statue of Jesus surrounded by floating candles, above this the branches reached up to a golden, spiral-edged circle of light.

La Sagrada Família, Barcelona

Though still unfinished, the Sagrada Família was like no other cathedral, or building, I’ve ever visited. We spent hours wandering around with our heads craned upwards, taking photos, listening to our audio guides and watching the sunlight transform the stained glass windows. High winds stopped us from being able to go up the towers, so we’re keen to go back and do this another time, it would also be incredible to visit once the whole thing has been completed.

The beautiful Sacred Family Church, Barcelona

Park Güell and Gaudí architecture

We made the most of some spring-like weather in Barcelona by visiting another Gaudi attraction, Park Güell. We didn’t pay to see the main architectural area; instead we climbed up to the top of the park, passing some impressive flamenco dancers on the way, to get a view over the city stretching out to the sea. We also visited a few other Gaudí buildings in Barcelona; La Pedrera (also known as Casa Milà) and Casa Batlló.

Park Guell, Barcelona

Gaudí's Casa Batlló and La Pedrera and Josep Puig i Cadafalch's Casa Amatller

Gaudí’s Casa Batlló and La Pedrera and Josep Puig i Cadafalch’s Casa Amatller

Gothic Quarter

One of my favourite things to do in Barcelona was just wander around the Old City and the Gothic Quarter; the area just oozes history with its narrow stone streets, tall shuttered apartment blocks, bustling plazas and cathedrals. We took advantage of free admission in the mornings to visit some famous cathedrals: the Santa Maria del Mar and La Seu (Barcelona Cathedral). We also discovered Vegetalia, an incredible veggie restaurant which we loved for its substantial, tasty brunch plate.

Gothic Quarter, Barcelona

Las Ramblas

This most famous, touristy street in Barcelona leads straight down to the port and is lined with shops, restaurants, street performers, touts and men selling knock-off handbags. While ambling around the Gothic Quarter we often ended up on Las Ramblas and would make our way from there down to the harbour.

Las Ramblas, Barcelona

La Boqueria

Our favourite spot on Las Ramblas was La Boqueria, a big market filled with produce, meat, fish, nuts, food stalls, bars and sweets and treats. We spent hours in this market walking up and down the aisles and taking photos; we bought cheap snacks and a bargain lunch for 11 euros which we ate at the Ciutadella Park, which was filled with people relaxing in the afternoon sun.

La Boqueria Market, Barcelona

Olympic Park and ­­Montjuïc Castle ­­

One day we took the metro to the Plaça D’Espanya, where we got another great view over the city. We checked out the Olympic stadium, which was a lot smaller than I had anticipated, and wandered around the park before walking up to the castle.

Olympic Park, Placa D'Espanya and Montjuic Castle

The Hospital de la Santa Creu i de Sant Pau

Our visit to Barcelona happened to coincide with the Santa Eulalia fiesta, which I wrote about here, a five-day event of fire dancing, human tower building and giant puppets. On Santa Eulalia day itself we took advantage of the free admission to the Hospital de la Santa Creu i de Sant Pau, another famous modernist set of buildings designed by Lluís Domènech i Montaner.  The hospital buildings are more like colourful mosques or temples set in a green, peaceful courtyard; designed to speed up the recovery of patients.

Hospital de la Santa Creu i de Sant Pau

Barceloneta Beach

Although I generally prefer the city and mountains to beaches, I loved the fact that Barcelona had a harbour and acres of wide sandy beaches right on its doorstep. We spent a few hours one bright afternoon with crowds of people at Barceloneta beach; there were sunbathers and surfers, people eating ice creams and relaxing with a beer.

Barceloneta Beach, Barcelona

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Have you been to Barcelona, did you love it as much as we did? What sites did we miss?

20 Comments
  • Rosie Thomas
    Posted at 20:30h, 14 March Reply

    I meant to put a piece on about our terrifying climb up a tower of the Sagrada Familia a few years ago, but David tells me he has already done it. It was the most frightening, vertigo inducing experience of my life. The spinal stairs went around the wall, and there was a sheer drop down the middle, and once started on the climb, you couldn’t go back (one way!) The climb went on and on. At one point we looked out of an open aperture and saw a workman idling on the roof. As you can tell, the experience traumatised us both!!

    • Amy
      Posted at 10:43h, 15 March Reply

      Hi Rosie, that does sound terrifying, they should have had a warning! I don’t think they’re too keen on health and safety in Spain though 🙂

  • Patti
    Posted at 00:15h, 15 March Reply

    Barcelona is an amazing city with a much different vibe than other Spanish cities. We only had 3 days in Barcelona but we made the most of it, although we definitely gave the better part of an afternoon to La Sagrada. The beach is beautiful, isn’t it? Our hotel was quite near the beach and we ended up almost walking the entire length of beach and inadvertently finding ourselves in the middle of a stretch of nude beach. Oh my! I’d like to return one day but it always seems as if there is someplace new to discover!

    • Amy
      Posted at 10:45h, 15 March Reply

      Wow, sounds like your hotel was in a great spot, minus the nude beach! I forgot they had those in Spain 🙂 There is so much to discover in Barcelona, hopefully we can return in June.

  • Helen
    Posted at 11:51h, 15 March Reply

    Ooh, we are off to Barcelona next week. This post has really got me in the mood and all excited about going!

    • Amy
      Posted at 18:00h, 15 March Reply

      Have a great time! If you’re planning to go to the Sagrada Familia I would definitely recommend booking your tickets online because of the big queues; check out La Boqueria too for some great food 🙂

  • Miriam
    Posted at 15:09h, 16 March Reply

    Breathtaking, that’s what it is. I haven’t been to Barcelona yet, but I’d love to see the Sagrada Familia and the Gaudi architecture… and eat a lot of paella 🙂 I totally see why you have a crush on this city.

    • Amy
      Posted at 17:41h, 16 March Reply

      Hi Miriam, I would definitely recommend a visit to Barcelona, it’s a great city. Amazingly, we have yet to sample some paella in Spain, we have to get around to doing that!

  • Louisa Klimentos
    Posted at 13:13h, 18 March Reply

    My niece and nehiew loved Barcelona ,but they went there to party and didn’t explore the city properly.Look at all the beautiful architecture they missed out on.Why go to a place just to party and get drunk? I really loved that vegetarian restaurant that you went to and the market with fresh produce.Thanks for the great blog

    • Amy
      Posted at 18:05h, 18 March Reply

      Yes, that was the best veggie restaurant we’ve found so far in Spain! I’ve heard that Barcelona is a great party city too, although Andrew and I were too tired from sightseeing to experience that side! A beer and tapas was enough for us 🙂

  • Gilda Baxter
    Posted at 21:25h, 18 March Reply

    I have been to Barcelona twice and yet have never been inside the Sagrada Familia. I loved Barcelona, it has such a fun vibe and it is beautiful. Gaudi was ahead of his time, an amazing, talented man. Sounds like you had a great time and I am not surprised about your city crush. Barcelona is a city I would like to go back to explore more in depth.

    • Amy
      Posted at 11:50h, 19 March Reply

      The Sagrada Familia was incredible Gilda, I’d definitely recommend going inside when you next visit Barcelona; we would love to go up the towers next time. You’re right, Gaudi was ahead of his time, it’ll be amazing to finally see his work completed one day.

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