Disclaimer: this is not a top-list, so all the points here are listed in a order in which my friend and I visited them. I’m also sure that we missed so many more! Anyway, our trip to Barcelona started with a walk through Rambla up to Columbus Monument. You guessed by the name what it is, and it would be just like any other monument would it not be for a sightseeing platform on the top of it!

Unlike many sightseeing spots in Barcelona, this platform (Mirador) doesn’t cost an arm and leg and the view is totally worth it! Just look at this green artery of Rambla from the bird view!

I don’t think Sagrada Familia needs any introduction – the most iconic cathedral of the city, and surely one of the most famous ones in Europe still needs a lot of construction works, and it will take years to finally complete Gaudi’s masterpiece. Still, I guess everyone got used to the cranes on Barcelona’s skyline and a certain part of me doesn’t want them to go. Weird how even if I have no particular connection to Barcelona, I developped such funny attachments.

Even if the entrance to Sagrada Familia is not cheap, I don’t regret paying for it. Just like its wonderfully peculiar outside look, inside the cathedral is no less hypnotizing. The colors, vaults, every little detail are amazing. We spent there a while being just mesmerized.

From Columbus Monument and up to la Barceloneta stretches the promenade. It left us very mixed feelings as did the several moments we spent on the beach. Probably over the last years things have changed, and I would hope so, but back in 2019 the seafront promenade, despite its obvious beauty, had a shocking number of migrants selling fake stuff. When I say “shocking”, I don’t exaggerate – there were hundreds of them. It felt our heart with sadness. Relaxing on the beach wasn’t a piece of cake either – every two minutes we had a seller of umbrellas-souvenirs-beer-massage services approach us. It was definitely very tiresome. I suppose this is the price to pay for Barcelona’s fame.

Arc de Triomf

As iconic as Sagrada Familia, Parc Guell might not be the most relaxing place to enjoy considering the amount of tourists of various types and origins. We weighed our risks and decided that getting there in the early morning before opening would do the trick and I’m proud to say – it did! We had almost twenty minutes in the park to ourselves before other visitors joined. It turns out that not all the park is opened for the public, and some of its parts are reserved for the local residents only. I can’t blame them, poor things.

From Parc Guell we had another walk up ahead. Our next goal was Bunkers del Carmel and Turó de la Rovira – two spots that offer a splendid view over Barcelona. The sunsets here must be amazing but even in the relatively early morning it was gorgeous. However, make sure you take some water and preferably comfortable shoes, because if you are not accustomed to a regular physical exercise, climbing up might represent a small challenge.

We went on with the Gaudi theme and went to one of his other creations – Casa Milà. Once again, the entrance was quite pricey and once again, it was worth it. I was very curious about an actually residential building by Gaudi, and even I am not sure about its functional aspect, outside and inside it is very beautiful. I wish we could visit his other buildings but we had to stay reasonable.

Markets are my weak spot and no matter how overwhelming they can get with their smells, noises and crowds, I never miss going to the local market. Fortunately, markets in Barcelona are very rewarding. Here you can not only do your food shopping but also sit down for an excellent meal while watching people hustle around. Apart from the central market in Rambla, there are many smaller ones around the city, so don’t deny yourself this authentic treat!

Flea markets

It’s hard to believe but Gaudi wasn’t the only remarkable architect of Barcelona. Look at this gorgeous concert hall (Palace of Catalan Music)! It was created by Lluís Domènech i Montaner in the early 20^th century and it was something that I absolutely wanted to see on this trip. So, we booked our guided tour and once again it was absolutely worth it. I always feel a lot of admiration towards such extraordinary places that are in actual use.

Barcelona’s heart with an insane concentration of beautiful old buildings was also the place we rented our Airbnb. That was a wrong thing to do. Despite amazing views from the window, Gothic Quarter is also a very noisy place after dusk… With characteristic herbal smells or whatever it is that people tend to smoke. However, it by no means affects the beauty of the old streets maze.

Sunny Spain, they said… No matter how highly improbable this sounds, because Barcelona is probably the last place on Earth I would associate with “rain risk”, the second half of our four days city break happened under quite a pouring rain. You know that I am not the person to attach much importance to the weather, moreover, I felt almost lucky to see this less typical face of Barcelona. Still, this climate development somewhat affected our plans and color mood. Believe it or not, but the pictures above were taken on the promenade along the sea, which you have already seen in the beginning of this post. Honestly, I feel lucky!

So, this unexpected change of tempreture and quantity of water pouring over our heads offered a perfect occasion to do all the indoor stuff. After Palau de la Musica Catalana we treated ourselves to the Picasso Museum. Somehow, for me it became a sort of a highlight of the day, even if I have never been particularly into Fine Arts (until 2022 but it would take three more years and a trip to Greece to get me into it).

In one word, whether Picasso and other painters “with a name” is your cup of tea or not, I would still recommend visiting this museum. It is very well done and its organization allows discovering the creative way of this grand artist from his early works until his late surreal experiments. Yes, I apologize in advance before all art connoisseurs if ever I misuse some of the arty terms.

Our last Barcelona destination was Montjuic park, which we also had to discover under rainy clouds. This park is huge and deserves almost a whole day, especially if you want to visit modern art Fondation Miró. What I wanted to see above all were an old Greek theatre and the Olympic Games stadium. Walking to these two spots took us a while already! For a better idea you can open the google map and contemplate the density of museums, gardens, villas and castles in Montjuic. Planning the itinerary will be tough.

Olympic Stadium

So, that was it. I’m pretty confident that a whole blog could be created just to honor Barcelona and its insane architectural and cultural heritage and not only. It’s a big and vibrant city, and it definitely deserves attention and love from people all over the world, and I wish it were treated with more respect than a hen/stag parties destination. I hope you enjoyed this short Barcelona city break resume as much as I enjoyed writing it. Also, don’t forget to check our other articles about Catalonia if you plan to stay in the region for a while.