Sep 6, 20193 min read

Travel tips for Barcelona

Updated: Apr 19, 2020

Sangria and Tapas anyone?

Our first trip to Spain was over the summer to Barcelona! We loved it there to say the least, and I think you will too! I only blog about my favorite places and things to do! Just like any big city, you need to make a plan of a couple of top things you want to do!!!

Before I get into things to do...where to stay! We stayed at the Hotel Ayre for one big reason....there is a rooftop bar with a view of the La Sagrada Familia. That's the BIG cathedral of Barcelona folks. The one you want to see! It's still under construction, and when it's completed it will be the tallest cathedral in the world. Order a pitcher of Sangria and check the view out at night when it's illuminated. https://www.hotels.com/ho324637/?display=description

Ok, you're in Barcelona! Now what?

1. La Sangra Familia

If you are staying at the Ayre Hotel I suggested, then just hop over to tour this magnificent cathedral. One HUGE tip. Make sure you book your tickets on the cathedral's actual website! There is no ticket office, so we booked our tickets the night before on a 3rd party website. Unfortunately, we were scammed and the tickets were void to enter. SO, I can't stress this enough! Here is the correct website to book your tickets. https://sagradafamilia.org

La Sangra Familia isn't going to be finished until 2026! That's when we will return!

2. Street Art

There are legal walls for street art and graffiti everywhere in Barcelona! We set out one morning with croissants in one hand and coffee in the other hand, and just strolled our way to the Parc de la Ciutadella and found a huge wall of graffiti that extended for about 5 blocks!

3. Pac de la Ciutadella

Spend some time in this park! HUGE park with a magnificent fountain, zoo, and gardens! There's even a huge life-like Mammoth statue here.

4. The beach!

Take a stroll down to the beaches! There are plenty of public access to the beach with bars and chairs with umbrellas you can pick. I don't think you can go really go wrong with any of them! The water was so beautiful, but the waves were a bit too rough and the tide too strong to swim so we were content to just stick our fit in and enjoy a pitcher (or two) of Pina coladas. There's only one hotel on the beach if you are looking for some beach side activity, and it's a bit pricey! I would recommend just taking a taxi to the beach, or walk like we did.

5. Day drinking via Hop on- Hop off bus and hike at Park Guell

We did purchase tour tickets, and rode around stopping on and off to get tapas and drinks. We found ourselves climbing to very top of park Guell. Beware, the tour bus does not drop you off right at the park. You have to walk quite a ways, and when you enter the park it's quite a long walk to the top of the highest lookout with the crosses! So worth it though! You can pay extra to enter the section of Gaudi's architecture and mosaics, but we opted just to hike around to the top for free. Honestly if your whole day was trekking up to this lookout, and riding the hop on and hop off bus to eat tapas and drink Sangria, you're doing it right.