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Things to do in Barcelona

Otherworldly architecture, colorful markets, and tasty tapas await you in the Catalan capital.

Our most recommended things to do in Barcelona

Barcelona: Sagrada Familia Entry Ticket with Audio Guide

1. Barcelona: Sagrada Familia Entry Ticket with Audio Guide

Explore Antoni Gaudi's unfinished masterpiece, the Sagrada Familia, and discover the beautiful basilica at your own pace. Learn about its history with an included audio guide. Find out firsthand why Gaudi's iconic work — its impressive facades and interior — is one of Spain's most visited monuments. Admire a combination of Gothic and Art Nouveau forms in this UNESCO-listed structure that dominates the Barcelona skyline. Gaudi began working on the true symbol of Barcelona in 1882, and the Sagrada Familia remains a work in progress today. Although unfinished, the basilica remains a must-see. 

Barcelona: Park Güell Admission Ticket

2. Barcelona: Park Güell Admission Ticket

Visit Park Güell with your timed admission ticket and explore the unique site at your own pace. Marvel at Antoni Gaudí's colorful mosaic art such as the Dragon Stairway with its world-famous salamander. Have a break from the city life while strolling through the green Austria Gardens and take stunning photos of Barcelona from the park's viewing points.  The plan for the park was assigned to Gaudí by Eusebi Güell, a Catalan entrepreneur who wanted to recreate a British residential park on Muntanya Pelada (Bare Mountain). It was opened as a municipal park in 1926, recognized as an artistic monument in 1969 and declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1984. While you have to enter the park at your booked time slot, you can stay for as long as you like after and take it all in.

Barcelona: Spotify Camp Nou and FC Barcelona Museum

3. Barcelona: Spotify Camp Nou and FC Barcelona Museum

Tour Spotify Camp Nou, the largest stadium in Europe, and visit the accompanying museum. Retrace the footsteps of the Futbol Club Barcelona's legendary players including Kubala, Cruyff, Maradona, Guardiola, and Ronaldinho. Begin your tour of the modern museum with large-format interactive walls, new showcases, and a wide collection of objects that reveal the history of FC Barcelona, explaining the values that have made Barça “more than a club.” Then, take the Camp Nou Experience tour. Visit key Barça areas, including the visitors’ changing room and the tunnel onto the pitch. Catch a panoramic view of the entire stadium. Visit the television studio, the mixed zone, the press room, and the commentary boxes. The tour ends on the second floor, where you can visit the fascinating multimedia space, which was renovated in January 2010.

Barcelona: Casa Batlló Entry with Self-Audioguide Tour

4. Barcelona: Casa Batlló Entry with Self-Audioguide Tour

Immerse yourself in the Casa Batlló experience, which combines artificial intelligence, augmented reality, and machine learning. Delight in a unique experience of one of the masterpieces of Antoni Gaudí, an architecture and design legend. Journey into a Gaudinian universe of seemingly impossible volumetric projections, binaural sound, motion sensors, immersive spaces, tastes, and smells. Access Lord Batlló's Bedroom (if gold option selected). Enjoy two new immersive rooms: the Gaudí Dome (the first room with a dome featuring more than a thousand screens) and the Gaudí Cube (a six-sided LED cube unique in the world). Listen to a script available in 15 languages, as well as a soundtrack created exclusively by the composer Dani Howard and performed by the Berlin Symphony Orchestra. Among the novelties on offer, discover a new core of vertical communication designed by the Japanese architect Kengo Kuma, a floating ladder of 13 tons of polished marble suspended in the air, the first 6-sided indoor mapping on a patio of Gaudí's lights, and the new “Simbolic” store.

Barcelona: Hola Barcelona Public Transport Travel Card

5. Barcelona: Hola Barcelona Public Transport Travel Card

With a public transport ticket that offers unlimited travel for 2 days or more, you’ll be able to get around Barcelona and the surrounding area and save yourself time and money. Discover Barcelona at your leisure as you travel by the metro, buses, and trams as many times as you like. Before beginning your adventure, head to a Tourist Information Office and exchange your voucher. Visit the city’s landmarks and monuments at your own pace on a pass that’s valid for an unlimited number of journeys on the metro and buses operated by Transports Metropolitans de Barcelona (TMB), trains operated by the Generalitat city network, and the tram and Renfe suburban trains. A pass to connect with the Barcelona airport line is included. Your public transportation ticket is valid for 48, 72, 96, or 120 consecutive hours after the validation date (depending on the option chosen).

Barcelona: Hop-on Hop-off Bus Tour 24 or 48-Hour Ticket

6. Barcelona: Hop-on Hop-off Bus Tour 24 or 48-Hour Ticket

Embark on a sightseeing tour of Barcelona with a choice of 2 different routes and 40 stops. See the major sites aboard an open-top double-decker bus, hopping off at key points of interest to you, such as the Gothic Quarter or the Picasso Museum, before jumping back on the bus to continue the route. Sit back and relax on an open-deck double-decker hop-on hop-off bus. See all the major sites of Barcelona, hopping on and off at your leisure. Stop to see the Picasso Museum that boasts one of the largest collections of Picasso’s artwork anywhere in the world. Walk down La Rambla and discover one of the city’s most vibrant areas with countless bars and eateries. Marvel at the many UNESCO World Heritage Sites Barcelona boasts. Especially remarkable is the Sagrada Familia, one of the most iconic works of the famous architect, Antoni Gaudi, which can be seen throughout the city on your tour. The buses come every 20-30 minutes and each route is around 2 hours. The tour stops along the routes are as follows:  Red Line: • Plaça de Catalunya • Casa Batlló - Fundació Antoni Tàpies • Passeig de Gràcia - La Pedrera • Francesc Macià - Diagonal • Estació de Sants • Plaça d’Espanya • Caixa Fòrum - Pavelló Mies van der Rohe • Poble Espanyol • Museu Nacional d’Art de Catalunya • Anella Olímpica • Fundació Joan Miró • Telefèric de Montjuïc • Miramar - Jardins Costa i Llobera • World Trade Center • Colom - Museu Marítim • Port Vell • Museu d’Història de Catalunya • Port Olímpic • Zoo • Parc de la Ciutadella Blue Line: • Plaça de Catalunya • Casa Batlló - Fundació Antoni Tàpies • Passeig de Gràcia - La Pedrera • Sagrada Família • Sant Pau Recinte Modernista • Park Güell • Tramvia Blau - Tibidabo • Sarrià • Monestir de Pedralbes • Palau Reial - Pavellons Güell • Futbol Club Barcelona - Camp Nou • Diagonal Les Corts • Francesc Macià – Diagonal • Eixample

Barcelona: Flamenco Show at City Hall Theater

7. Barcelona: Flamenco Show at City Hall Theater

Make your way to Barcelona City Hall to enjoy the traditional Spanish art form of flamenco, awarded UNESCO World Heritage status in 2010. Watch as some of the most talented artists in Spain create a unique atmosphere with music, singing, and dancing. Surrender to the charms of some of the most prominent dancers on the Catalan flamenco scene as they perform in the former Teatro de Barcelona. Admire the beautiful features of the early 19th-century theater, including a stage framed with light bulbs, velvet curtains, and original stage machinery. Let the improvised flamenco "jam sessions" get under your skin and sense the visceral emotion taking place on stage. Get back to the roots of authentic flamenco with performances like the fast-rhythm "Bulerías," guitar "solos," beat percussion, singing in its purest form, face-to-face duels and "Soleás." See legendary dancers including Ivan Alcalà, Raúl Ortega, Patricia Dominguez, and Yolanda Cortés. Hear seductive singers like Antonio el Mantecao, Miguel de la Tolea, La Tana, and Josefa G.Contreras. Admire flamenco guitarists, Oliver Haldon, and Eduardo Cortés, along with percussionists Joni C. Sanchez and Jacobo C. Sanchez.

Barcelona: Casa Milà Skip-the-Line Ticket and Audio Guide

8. Barcelona: Casa Milà Skip-the-Line Ticket and Audio Guide

Discover one of the most outstanding and innovative buildings of the 20th century on a skip-the-line audio tour of the Casa Milà (La Pedrera), built at the pinnacle of Antoni Gaudi’s career. Once behind the façade of the extraordinary building on the elegant Passeig de Gracia, marvel at the eye-catching staircases and corkscrew chimneys that have become symbols of Gaudí’s Barcelona. Head to the rooftop to admire its sinuous forms and the whimsical chimneys up close. Then, go to the attic space to see the “Espai Gaudi” exhibition, the only exhibition dedicated to Gaudi's life and work. Learn more about his architectural innovations through the displays of scale models, building plans, historic photographs and videos. Live the experience of La Pedrera to the fullest by combining your visit with the new mixed reality experience, La Pedrera Virtual Experience, launched in 2022. La Pedrera Virtual Experience will take you to an unparalleled space at La Pedrera through the most cutting-edge technology and allow you to combine the vision of the real environment with spectacular holographic elements. Put on your mixed reality glasses to travel to different eras and environments and feel like you are part of the building's history.

Sagrada Familia: Skip-the-Ticket-Line Guided Tour & Ticket

9. Sagrada Familia: Skip-the-Ticket-Line Guided Tour & Ticket

Make your visit to the Sagrada Familia unforgettable with a 1.5-hour guided tour of Gaudí’s masterpiece. See the Basilica’s dream-like façade and interior in a small-group or private tour setting accompanied by an expert guide. During the tour you will learn about the ongoing construction, the current predicted completion date, and the generations of craftspeople, architects and artists learned how to bring Gaudi’s vision to life. Your guide will meet you outside, starting the tour with a little introduction before heading to the Basilica’s entrance. After you’ve headed through security, hear all about the Nativity Façade, the first completed section of the Basilica. Next, you will step into the interior of the Sagrada Familia. Marvel at the world created by the intense colored light from the stained glass windows and the branch-like columns extending over the ceiling. Gaudí intended for the interior to look and feel like a walk through the woods, with the light exuding a sense of sifting through forest leaves.  As you exit the Basilica you will hear about the Passion Façade, representing the story of Jesus’ crucifixion. Experience the drama of the Passion through the tower’s stark and angular sculptures. This façade, like most of the Sagrada Familia, was built after Gaudí’s death.  Head to Sagrada Familia Schools next, designed for the children of the workers building the Sagrada Familia. Hear how it was reconstructed more than once and even moved locations to make way for the Basilica.  Your last stop will be the Sagrada Familia Museum, where your guide will share original sketches and plans with you that demonstrate the complexity of Gaudi's architecture and vision. Find artifacts here from Gaudi’s life and the Basilica's own history, like his upside-down model of the Basilica.

Barcelona: Sagrada Familia Guided Tour with Tower Access

10. Barcelona: Sagrada Familia Guided Tour with Tower Access

Take a guided tour of La Sagrada Familia cathedral with an expert guide, and marvel at Barcelona’s most iconic landmark in the soft light of the morning. On this tour you’ll admire the artwork of Gaudi. Striking for its architectural features and art, the Sagrada Familia is legendary. It was the all-consuming obsession of the modernist architect, Antoni Gaudi. His work on the building began in 1882 and remains unfinished. During the tour your guide will point out the contrasting nativity and passion façades. You’ll also learn about the symbolism and representations of the Holy Family as an expression of Christian ideology, constructed in stone. Note the Christian iconography as you hear about the history of the church. See the angled pillars sprouting like a web of tree branches, holding up the roof. Below the ground is the Museu Gaudi, where you’ll find documentation about Gaudi’s life and work. There is also a crypt where masses are held, and a viewing platform above the burial site of the architect.

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Frequently asked questions about Barcelona

What top attractions are a must-see in Barcelona?

The must-see attractions in Barcelona are:

What are the best day trips and excursions from Barcelona?

The best day trips and excursions from Barcelona are:

Montserrat Monastery

Insider tips: Planning a trip to Barcelona

Laurence is a full time travel blogger and photographer, who shares his tips on travel and improving your photography on his website Finding the Universe. He has visited Barcelona many times, and you can see his guide to spending three days in Barcelona.

What should I do on my first trip to Barcelona?

A trip to the Sagrada Familia should be at the top of the list for any visitor to Barcelona. This incredible organic cathedral is the masterpiece of renowned architect Antoni Gaudi, and is one of the most impressive buildings in the city. Definitely take the time to go inside and explore as well, because the inside is just as impressive as the outside!

What are some hidden gems to see in Barcelona?

The Basilica de Santa Maria del Pi, in Barcelona's Gothic Quarter, is definitely worth a visit. It's a 14th century gothic church with a massive bell tower you can climb. The views from the roof across the Gothic Quarter are excellent, and from here you can really get a feel from the different epochs the city has gone through from Roman times.

How much time should I spend in Barcelona?

Two days would be the minimum amount of time to see the highlights of the city, whilst three days would let you add in a few of the hidden gems.

What food is Barcelona known for?

No trip to Barcelona would be complete without trying some tapas. These small plates features all sorts of different dishes, from patatas bravas (fried potatoes), through to squid, meatballs and lots more. Tapas can be found throughout the city, with many bars serving them as snack food as well.

What is the best way to get around Barcelona?

The majority of Barcelona can be easily explored by foot, although the city also has an excellent metro system that will get you around a little bit quicker. If you are aiming for the main tourist sights, the Hop on Hop off bus is also a good option.

What are the best months to visit Barcelona?

Barcelona can be visited most times of the year. Whilst the Mediterranean climate means the summer months are obviously hotter, the city conveniently has a lovely beach with swimming so you can cool off. However, if you want to do more sightseeing, the months of April - June are a good option. The city also hosts a number of festivals at this time of year which are worth checking out.

What is neighborhood "The Gothic Quarter" known for?

The gothic quarter is perhaps the most interesting neighbourhood to explore from a visitors point of view. The maze of winding streets is largely pedestrianised, and filled with interesting shops and tucked away churches and restaurants. Do expect to get lost though, as it's quite a maze!

What are the best neighborhoods for food?

For tucked away bars and courtyard dining, it's hard to go wrong with the Gothic Quarter, which is great for tapas and casual fare. For a quieter experience away from the tourist crowds and more of a focus on traditional Catalan cuisine, had to the Gracia neighbourhood.

What are the best neighborhoods for shopping?

The Passeig de Gracia, which leads away from the central square in the city, is well known as a good shopping destination if you're interested in luxury brands. If you're more of a market person, head for La Boqueria on Las Ramblas!

What neighborhood should I stay in when I visit Barcelona?

If you'd prefer to be centrally located and within easy walking distance, or a short metro ride, from all the major attractions, then you'll want to stay in the Gothic Quarter. This part of the city is home to many of the attractions as well as plenty of dining, and it's easy to reach from the main transport hubs in the city.

What are the best beaches around Barcelona?

Barcelona has a series of incredible beaches with are popular with both locals and tourists alike. The closest, and one of the best, is definitely Barceloneta Beach, just a few minutes walk from the city.

Other Sightseeing Options in Barcelona

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What people are saying about Barcelona

Overall rating

4.5 / 5

based on 159,670 reviews

We had a wonderful time with our guide Teo, from the start when he picked us up at our hotel, to hearing the history of Tarragona & Sitges, and tips for our free time. Teo is a wonderful representative of Spain - he is so enthusiastic when sharing about his country. We learned a lot and he treated us like kings!

It was a beautiful experience,I saw a lot a wonderfull things,and beautifull achitecture of the buildings.

Great tour in the dark Barcelona and well leaded by the host

Great trip and great guide. We loved the winery tour as well

helpful & polite driver. easy to find meeting point