48 hours in Barcelona, Spain

Barcelona. A fantastic city... even if you are forced to keep checking your wallet is still there every 30 seconds.

Read on...

Who to go with?

The wife/hubby - Definitely. Lots of great food and culture to soak up.

The lads/ladies - Sure. There's plenty of bars and nightlife to get amongst.

Where to stay in Barcelona?

We made the decision to stay in the Gothic Quarter, on a side street off Las Ramblas - it seemed to be close to everything we wanted to see whilst remaining close to the nightlife. We tried to do Barcelona on a bit of a budget, so we decided to stay in a budget Guesthouse on Carrer de la Portaferrissa - but we weren't too impressed by the accommodation, so I won't bother linking or naming it.

The metro in Barcelona is really efficient and if you're planning on zipping around and using it a lot, I'd recommend buying a T10 ticket. A T10 works out much cheaper than buying tickets for individual journeys and you can grab them at the entrance to any metro station. You can also share the ticket by passing it back to your travelling buddy after you've passed through the barriers.

Cool things to do in Barcelona?

One of the first things I planned when we booked our flights to Barcelona, was to secure tickets for an FC Barcelona match. Some travellers suggest doing the stadium tour, but I'd always prefer actually going to the game and soaking up the atmosphere rather than touring the trophy room (which is probably huge, to be fair!) We managed to get tickets to watch Barcelona host Granada through ticketing vultures Viagogo - paying well over the odds, but knowing that we're only likely to do this once. The game finished with a home win 1-0, so the locals were in high spirits for our journey home.

Pre-match at Nou Camp

If you're in the Barri Gothic area and you're mildly interested George Orwell then it's worth swinging by Placa George Orwell for a few minutes. Here you will find a sculpture which has been built in homage to Orwell in the middle of what is known as Acid Square (due to drug dealers apparently frequenting the area). There's a few cafes and bars surrounding the square and it's an interesting place to people watch for a short while. Ironically, this was the first place in Barcelona to install CCTV.

It was a bright day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen.

No trip to Barcelona would be complete without a visit to the Sagrada Familia. Grab the metro. Head towards the aptly named Sagrada Familia metro station. As you ascend the escalator out of the underground station and you reach ground level, you'll be stunned by the size of the cathedral which is immediately in front of you. There are plenty of crowds around (probably the busiest areas we came across in Barcelona) and there are gates protecting the cathedral. Entry inside should be booked in advance, but as we didn't have much time at this stage in our trip we were happy to simply experience the outside of the cathedral. For the best photo opportunity, walk to the far side of the little lake which is in front of the cathedral. Here you can get a picture which is mostly away from other tourists and you'll have a back drop of the lake and Sagrada Familia in full.

It's too huge to get a full photo!

If your schedule (and weather) allows, go and spend an hour or two on Barceloneta Beach. It's an excellent place for a relaxed stroll - just don't forget to keep out of the cycle lanes and make sure you don't get run over by the segway groups. There's plenty of restaurants and bars on the front, but they're not the cheapest and neither are they places which you're likely to remember.

Put some time aside to spend an afternoon at another one of Gaudi's creations, Park Guell. Wear comfortable footwear as you'll be clocking up the mileage walking to and around the park. Park Guell is fairly well signposted, and as you get close there are a couple of cafes which claim to be "the last café before Park Guell" and they encourage you to buy from their store as apparently there's no food/drink available inside the attraction. We were quite dubious of this, but took their advice anyway and stocked up on some sandwiches and drinks before we made our way into the park. This turned out to be a good choice because the cafés were correct, and there were in fact no facilities available at all inside. Entering the park itself is quite odd - there's lots of graffiti around the entrance saying "humans welcome, tourists not" and "go home tourists, we don't need your money". We ignored these warnings and headed inside anyway. The park is split into two; there's an outer ring, which is free and has plenty to see and do - and would probably make a great day out in it's own right. Then there's the inner area, which you have to show/buy a ticket to get inside. We were initially unsure how to actually get inside as we were looking for large queues to indicate a way in, but as there are multiple staffed entrances where you can get inside this reduces any need to queue. Inside is where you will find all of the trademark Gaudi architecture; Doric columns, mosaic ceilings, the huge serpentine bench surrounding the large open square (ideal spot to each your sandwiches which you smuggled in earlier) and much more. There's absolutely loads to see here - highly recommended.

Wandering around Park Guell

What to avoid?

Avoid unnecessary queues by booking online for anything Gaudi related.

Where to eat in Barcelona?

The most notable place we ate in Barcelona was a little diner called Bao Bao. We had no idea what we were ordering, and had even less of an idea when our food arrived - but it tasted great. Some sort of Asian street food apparently. Not exactly a place to head to for an evening meal, but great for a quick snack and a beer.

Beer and a bao

For the best sangria, mojitos and paella, head to a bar/restaurant called Patagonia Bar on Las Ramblas. It's a bit strange finding it as you have to enter a kebab shop on the ground floor, then find the stairs at the back which leads you upstairs to Patagonia. We went there twice and were lucky enough to get a balcony seat on both occasions (which you usually have to reserve in advance). Here you can eat and drink whilst spending some time watching the crowds of people below you on the busy Las Ramblas. I was convinced I'd spot some pick-pockets here, but never did. You'll notice that free shots from the staff keep arriving at your table. Maybe that's why I remember this place fondly?

Beatles in Barcelona?

We'd heard of a Beatles themed bar near Camp Nou, so we eagerly made our way here one evening. Unfortunately when we arrived, La Garrafa dels Beatles was closed - with no indication of if it was due to bar opening times, or if it had shut down months ago. Gutted.

Unique bars in Barcelona?

For craft beer fans, hunt down Craft Barcelona. We actually found it by mistake as it's at the end of a typically alluring dark alley. There's a huge selection of beers available (bottled and draught) and they also put on some pintxos (bar snack/tapas-y sort of thing) for €1 per mouthful! It's very quirky inside with a huge emphasis on good music too. Positive on all fronts! The staff are great and if you're unsure what beer you want, they offer some suggestions and give you little tasters to get you started.

Craft Barcelona and their selection of pintxos

How long to stay in Barcelona?

Barcelona is one of the few places where, when leaving, makes me wish I'd stayed much longer. We stayed for a weekend, but I could have easily stayed for a full week.


Note: everyone bangs on about how you're going to get pickpocketed in Barcelona. We didn't. I was only paranoid about it for roughly 99% of our stay, and I only checked my wallet every 30 seconds. But, in the end, we were both completely safe and saw nothing untoward. Gracias.