10 Must-Dos for Your First Time in Barcelona

Barcelona will always always always have a place in my heart. I only lived their for half a year and yet I still consider it my 2nd home. There is so much to love about it – the relaxed yet sophisticated lifestyle, beautiful Mediterranean Sea, lively night life (or should I say morning lol), neighboring mountains, and not to mention the insane bargain-worthy Zara prices! Barcelona is a dream city that can only truly be understood if you’ve experienced it yourself. I know what you must be thinking by now: What are the top 10 MUST DOs in Barcelona!? Where should I eat!? Give me all the details! Don’t worry, I’ve got ya covered. It’s hard to limit Barcelona to only 10 items, but if you’re most people, you’ve only got a few days, and trust me – you don’t want to rush it when it comes to this magical sea city.

 

1. Sagrada Familia

A lot of people settle with just seeing this 100,000-year-in-the-making church (okay, that’s an exaggeration), but I highly recommend making it inside. La Sagrada Familia is truly an architectural masterpiece – never before have I been inside a building and felt like I was walking around in a piece of art. Pictures do not do this place justice – just GO. Reserve tickets online in advance to avoid waiting in that dreadful line!

2. Parc de la Ciutadella

Citadel Park is a green oasis in the middle of the city that attracts Barcelona’s most interesting people! There are hipsters hula hooping on slack lines (I even saw a man teaching his baby how to slack line!), artists dancing in the air on aerial silks, Bob Marley-esque hippies dancing to bongos, and yogis basking in the fresh air everywhere. It’s the perfect place for people watching and picture taking for all you insta nuts out there ;)! There is so much to see in this little park, and I encourage you to seek out every little corner of this place, but more importantly, I urge you to simply appreciate that you’re alive. I spent a lot of time there getting inspired by others and being in awe of the life that I am so lucky to have. It certainly is the ideal spot for self reflection and for appreciating the present moment.

3. Parc Guell

It probably seems like I’m obsessed with parks, but… I actually am. Parks are a beautiful mix of the outdoors, architecture, and being surrounded by people without having to talk to them LOL. Parc Guell is one of Gaudi’s most beautiful accomplishments, in my opinion. Definitely try to reserve a ticket online before you go – this place is heavily populated with tourists, and while that’s usually not how I like to travel, I just feel like Parc Guell is too beautiful to skip. Pro tip: once you see the part of the park you have to pay to enter, hike up to the top to escape the tourists!

4. Montjuic

The Montjuic Castle is beautiful, but I think the real magic is the fountain. Every night, the fountain lights up with synchronized music. It truly is a beautiful show – kind of like the fountains in Vegas, but in my opinion, better. I believe they end the show at 11 pm, so don’t show up too late! Pro tip: take some wine with you 😉

5. Passeig de Gracia

This is a huge street off the main square, Placa Catalunya, with a ton of awesome shopping spots! And if you go a little further down the street, you’ll hit La Pedrera and Casa Batllo – 2 more Gaudi masterpieces.La Pedrera is actually what inspired George Lucas to create Star Wars, for all you fans out there. In my opinion, there’s no need to pay the fee to go inside because the street views are pretty representative of what you’ll see inside if not better!

6. Las Ramblas -> The Beach

This is another huge road off of Placa Catalunya, but it’s pedestrian only. You can actually start out at Placa Catalunya and walk straight down Las Ramblas right to the beach! On your way there, stop into La Boqueria – a sort of farmer’s market with places where you can actually eat food made from the stuff found in the market that day! Def one of my favorite places in the whole city. And once on the beach, get some lunch/dinner at a seaside restaurant, sun bathe (always with sunblock!!!), and bring home a souvenir or two! I bought two tapestries – pro tip: BARGAIN! Also the drinks that people walk around on the beach selling are basically slightly flavored water.. don’t bother.

7. Tibidabo

I hear you can hike up Tibidabo, but if I’m being honest, my friend drove me up the mountain. There are a couple of mountainside restaurant bars that overlook the whole city. It’s absolutely gorgeous and so peaceful. I went during the day once and once at night – both times were incredible. From the restaurant bar area, you can keep making your way to the top for even more impressive views.

8. Montserrat

Montserrat is a bit harder to get to. I believe it’s about an hour train ride to the mountain and an hour back, and the trains to/from only run until a certain time (make sure not to miss it!). Again, a friend I made was kind enough to drive me there so I don’t know too many details about the train ride. Leave a good amount of time to do the hikes – the views are endless and so incredible!

9. 7 Portes

Hands down BEST PAELLA in SPAIN. Seriously, this place is amazing! It’s definitely a nice restaurant, so don’t come in your beach clothes, but definitely come. I wasn’t a huge fan of paella in general, but I loved it here.

10. Night Life

Of course I had to include night life because what’s a trip to Barcelona without experiencing night life the way the Spaniards do it!? The metros are closed every weekday from midnight – 5 am, so expect to stay out until then or take a car/bus home! It took a little getting used to, but most nights we stayed out until 6 am and got breakfast before we went home to sleep off the dancing! The popular clubs change with time, but I’ll write about the ones I went to when I was there:

1. Opium
2. Pacha
3. Razzmatazz
4. Sutton
5. Eclipse at the W Hotel (right on the beach and incredible views, but quite posh)
6. Costa Breve (my personal favorite only because I was literally the ONLY non-Spaniard/American there, and I loved it)

There are a ton of other options, of course, but those are just the ones I had experience with, in no particular order!

 

There’s so much more to do, but to me, these are the top 10 absolute MUSTS. You really need to spend more time in Barcelona if you would like to see the more hole-in-the-wall or known-only-to-locals places, which are actually some of my favorite parts of the city, but I’ll save that for another post! 😉

Comment below and let me know what you think! Anyone have anything else they’d like to recommend?

xo,

Mad