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We live in Barcelona for more than 2 years now, so it is only fitting to write a blog with tips for all the travellers coming to this lively city!
The view on Barcelona from Montjuic hill.
These 2 years changed our opinion on Barcelona a lot. When we were just visitors, Barcelona felt amazing, but when we started to live here, not so much. However, this blog is only about visiting Barcelona, so it will be mostly positive!
First things first, when to visit? Weather in Barcelona is nice throughout the whole year, so you can enjoy Barcelona practically at any given time. Summers are extremely hot, because Barcelona is a concrete jungle with little vegetation. Winters are mild, the temperature rarely gets below 10 degrees of Celsius, however, not every accommodation will have proper heating, always check for that. I would consider only December and January as sort of real winter here. The rainiest months are April and October, at least from our experience. The temperature of the sea gets above 20 degrees in April/May and stays there until late October.
The most important thing is to be careful with your things. There are over thousand reported robberies every week in Barcelonian jungle as we call it! Yes, more than thousand and that’s just the reported ones! Of course, don't worry too much, just be cautious.
Some typical ways how they can rob you:
- Group of guys playing football asks you to join them, showing you tricks, hugging you and boom, you’re without phone
- Older lady might start to follow you while slowly opening your purse or bag and then stealing what they find
- Classic pickpocketing at metro gates or when you buy tickets and someone wants to help you, meaning distract you, while someone else will rob you
- On the beach, be aware of children (that’s how we lost our backpack)
o we recommend digging a hole in the sand and put your valuable things in some bag, which you then put in the hole and cover it with towel
o or just don’t leave your things unattended
- Be in Raval, especially at night, Raval is famous for the number of robberies and assaults
- You are sitting in a park and some guy comes to sell you beer (or drugs), puts his things on your blanket and tries to steal whatever is on you blanket (that happened to us, but we were ready and stopped the guy)
So, you landed in Barcelona and you also probably want to leave the airport asap. There are multiple ways how to get to city centre. The most easy and expensive is to get a taxi (30-50 euros depending on where you’re going). Most people choose the Aerobus. It goes every 15-30 minutes from both terminals to Plaza Espanya (still bit outside the centre) and Plaza Catalunya (the real city centre). One-way ticket costs 5.90 , return ticket costs 10.20 if bought online, otherwise it’s 11.80.
You can also choose metro or train, but I would not recommend it in general, because it’s slow and poorly connected to the other public transportation lines. Train is good option if you are lucky with the right time and has the advantage that you can use the simple one-way ticket for 2.15 euros. If you arrive at night, use the night bus N17, which also only requires the ticket for 2.15 euros or of course the T-casual described underneath.
For your movement within the city I recommend buying T-casual tickets for 11 euros (10 rides, 1 with maximum length of 1h15m). These are quite new, the previous T-10 could be shared between more people, T-casual is only for 1 person. You can also use the HOLA BARCELONA tickets but go for these only if you plan to use public transportation very often or if you are bigger group. Otherwise, it is a bit pricy (up to 30 euros).
Congrats, you arrived in the city centre and how to navigate yourself in Barcelona, now you’re ready to move to the next step, prices. Barcelona is a tourist hotspot, so it is pretty expensive similar to other big European cities like Paris, Madrid, Rome or London. However, you can always find ways to save money.
Regarding food, I can only recommend eating in Mercado de La Boqueria, which offers great variety of meals for reasonable prices or the cheapest option is to find one of the numerous Döner Kebab’s if you prefer these. I cannot recommend any restaurants; we almost never go to restaurants. We had one favourite place called La Cantina Mexicana, but they closed completely due to Covid-19. To save money, I would recommend shopping in supermarkets like Alcampo, Mercadona or Lidl. Then, for example, average pizza or burgers cost between 10-15 euros, if you go for seafood, it might get pricies to 15-25 euros. Barcelona offers huge variety, use google and you’ll be fine. Plus, if you're lazy, Barcelona has all the big food-delivery services - Deliveroo, Uber Eats, Glovo and probably much more.
Be aware that on Sundays a lot of shopping centres and supermarkets is closed. You can only rely on those in the city centre around Plaza Catalunya. Another thing is the siesta. Between 14/15h and 19/20h many restaurants, supermarkets and cafeterias are closed too. The centre is a bit different story, these places are open but may have limited menus.
Unfortunately, we can’t say much about the hotels here, we have never tried any. I expect the prices will be high and you’ll be better with some Airbnb or Couchsurfing, which is what we did in our three visits.
You may have heard that cannabis is somewhat legal in Barcelona. It’s true, kind of. There are dozens of so-called social clubs. Unfortunately, for you as a tourist will be difficult to enter. Usually, they ask for some confirmation that you are a resident in Barcelona and/or fill a form on their website before the visit itself. Additionally, you must pay the registration fee of 20 euros. So, if you’ll be interested in buying some weed, try to hit the social club you like on Instagram, they will let you know their exact rules. There is always option to ask certain people in the city centre, you’ll recognize them, they will even automatically offer you something, but that’s just up to you.
Now, let’s get to the most interesting parts, what to visit!
Places to visit in Barcelona:
- Sagrada Familia: An absolute must! Iconic cathedral that is mesmerizing from the outside and incredibly boring on the inside (except when the sunlight hits the colourful glasses in windows). It fits to Gaudi’s style, there is a nice museum inside and for some extra money you can enter the towers, just check this before going. Sagrada is still being build, so the access to the towers might be restricted at times.
- Casa Mila (La Pedrera), Casa Batlló: Might be enough just to stop by and admire the lines of these buildings designed by Gaudi, the entrance is expensive (16-20 euros) and doesn’t offer that much, but that’s just my opinion
- Parc Güell: Another Gaudi place. Large park with nice architecture has no entrance fee, but the inner part with the majority of Gaudi’s work costs 10 euros
- Parc de la Ciutadella + Arc de Triumph: The biggest stretch of green in Barcelona, nice place to chill
- Plaza Catalunya + La Rambla: It cannot get more touristy than this. Famous square is often place where Catalonians gather to protest and La Rambla offers all the shops and restaurants you can imagine and, also, lots of robbers
- Mercado de La Boqueria: Food market located on La Rambla
- Cathedral of Barcelona: Impressive landmark from 13th century
- Barrio Gotico: Old quarter in the city centre with narrow streets and interesting architecture
- Barceloneta (and generally the beaches): Barceloneta is always the one most crowded, more north you get, the beaches get slightly emptier, the promenade is beautiful
- Plaza Espanya + Font Màgica: Another famous square with old bullfighting arena turned into shopping centre, National Museum of Art and famous fountain that changes colours and plays music (check the timetable beforehand https://www.barcelona.cat/en/what-to-do-in-bcn/magic-fountain/magic-fountains-show-times)
- Montjuic: Popular green hill that offers nice views on the city, you can either access it by cable car or from Plaza Espanya by escalators
- Camp Nou: If you’re football fan, you may like it. The entrance is ridiculously pricy.
- Tibidabo: The famous hill mentioned in the even more famous TV series Friends. There is a cathedral and an amusement park on the hill. To access the are you have the option of using cable car or bus (https://www.tibidabo.cat/en/plan-your-visit/how-to-get-here/public-transport)
- Columbus Monument: Statue of Christopher Columbus at the end of La Rambla near port
- Mirador de les bateries: Also called Bunkers de Carmel, it offers nice views but to walk up the hill isn’t easy
- Gloriés: Modern part of Barcelona with the “Egg” building that offers nice colourful show at night. There is a huge shopping centre and pretty cool flee market
Places to visit that are near Barcelona:
- Sitges: The gay capital of Europe, a nice town with nice beaches than you can find in Barcelona. Just 40 minutes train ride with return ticket price of 9 euros.
- Montserrat: Popular hiking place with monastery and nice views. Bit pricy, entrance + train tickets costs around 30 euros. The whole area looks like it doesn’t belong to the its surroundings, pretty magical.
- Cascada San Joan de Samora: Small waterfall where you can bath often in privacy, but you’ll need car to get there
- Cascada de la Mola: Series of small waterfalls that is popular by locals
- Tarragona: Town with lots of Roman architecture
So, that’s all we know about Barcelona. Hopefully, it will make your visit at least a bit easier. In case of any question, don’t hesitate to write us through the form on the website or via Instagram or Facebook.
Enjoy your time in Barcelona!
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