Barcelona

Barcelona is one of the nicest cities of Spain. Its museums, theatres, art galleries and nightlife are impressive. This art and design centre has a lot of interesting sights to offer to its visitors.

The best place to watch people go by, to stroll or simply relax, is 'Las Ramblas', a pedestrian street with dozens of outdoor cafes. Here, you'll find flower-stands, book kiosks and small market stalls where they sell birds and small animals. You'll also find an endlessly fascinating flowing receptacle of pageant-jugglers, singers, dancers, puppeteers, sidewalk artists, living statues and assorted oddballs on parade. Nearby is 'Placa Real', with plenty of bars and restaurants, and 'Palau Guell'. After having seen these sights, stroll the narrow winding streets of the 'Barri Gotic', the medieval Gothic quarter full of interesting tapas bars and cafes. Check out Picasso's old hangout, 'Els Quatre Gats', which has been renovated without losing its bohemian charm.

Spring is the best time to visit Barcelona, as you can expect a temperature of round and about 20C°. During summer, it can get very hot and humid (about 30C°) and crowded, due to the tourists and cultural events taking place in September. Barcelona will be as expensive as you want it to be. Still, restaurants are relatively cheap.

Architecture

Roman period: Roman walls, 4 remaining columns of the Temple at Centre excursionista, Museu d'historia de la ciutat.
Gothic period: Santa Maria del Mar, Placa del Rei, Salo del Tinell, Drassanes, Catedral, Santa Maria del Pi, Llotja de Barcelona, Hospital de la Santa Creu.
Pre-modernist and Modernist period: Gaudi's main works: Sagrada Familia, Casa Batllo, Casa Mila, Parc Guell, Palau Guell, Casa Vicens. Other modernist architects' masterpieces: Palau de la Musica Catalana, Hospital de Sant Pau, Casa Ametller, Casa de les Punxes, Arc de Triompf i Parc de la Ciutadella, Placa Reial, Passeig de Gracia. Some of those were included in the World Heritage list.
Modern Period: Pabello d'Alemanya, Pabello de la republica, Escola Tecnica Superior d'Arquitectura, Macba, Anella Olimpica, Torre Agbar, Mercat de Santa Caterina, Tibidabo's comunication tower, Forum's Convention Center.

Art and museums

Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya with the best romanic paintings in the world. This museum preserves the wall frescos of a great part of the romanic churches in Pirineos.
Museu Picasso: The museum is located in a medieval palace on Montcada Street, 15-23 in the Gothic area. Once inside you will discover a magnificent compilation of early Picasso paintings. Both oils and drawings displayed in this perminent collection are representative of the artist's formative years as well as later in his illustrious career. The entire collection of over 3,500 works include 24 masterpieces such as "Man in a Baret", "The Divan", "Margot or the Period of Waiting", and "Blanquita Suarez" just to name a few. Museu Picasso is a must-see in Barcelona.
Fundacio Miro: Located in a good modern building from Sert, you'll find a wide sample of Joan Miro works.
Others: Centre d'Art Santa Monica, Fundacio Tapies, Centre de Cultura Contemporanea.

Best walks

Barcelona's seashore walk: Departing from the Forum of las Culturas area, walk along Passeig Maritim, cross the Vila Olimpica, continue to la Barceloneta, follow el moll de la Fusta to Colon monument.
Las Ramblas: From Placa Catalunya, walk down to Colon, sit at a cafe and just watch the people go by.
Barri Gotic: Just keep your maps and guidebooks away, and lose yourself within the lovely old streets of el barri gotic. Finish your walk taking a beer at la Placa Reial.
El Raval: Submerge yourself in our little Karachi, just on the opposite side of las Ramblas. Start at el Mercat de la Boqueria, and lose yourself on the decadent streets of el raval, try some shawarma, or some dhal in any Panjabi restaurant, and check how cosmopolitan is Barcelona.
Passeig de Gracia to Gracia: From Placa Catalunya walk up Passeig de Gracia to the bohemian neigborhood of Gracia. Just take a walk into the neigborhood and take a beer in any placa.

Best city views

From Montjuic: Just go up to Palau Nacional (MNaC) at Montjuic Mountain and enjoy the sunset over the city. If you are lucky (try on weekends), after the sunset you'll see the Magic Fountain Show.
From Tibidabo: The best views of Barcelona are from el Tibidabo. And old fashioned and decadent Atraction parc, on the top of el Tibidabo.
From el Parc Guell: If you have not time enough to go to Tibidabo, you can get great views too, from Parc guell.

Nightlife

Placa Reial area. Take some beers at el Glaciar or el Sidecar, after that try at el Club 13 (until 03.00), and after that head to el Jamboree if you like hip hop or el Karma if you prefer independent pop-rock (until 06.00).
El Raval is Barcelona's most diverse area with a mixture of cultures and atmospheres. It was much neglected until recently, but it is full of small, hip bars.
El Born and La Ribera, one of the trendiest areas to be in, combine the romanticism of the old city with the newly designed interiors of its numerous bars, clubs and restaurants. This area attracts couples and groups in their 30s looking for sophisticated, relaxing and intimate bars.
Poblenou area: Take some beers at l'Ovella, and after that try Razzmatazz..
Vila Olimpica area: For nice people, catalans say "ambiente algo mas pijo". Try at Baja club or Catwalk.
Zona Alta area: Take your first beers at La Borsa, and after that go to a disco or club in the area. If you want to meet rich socialites, this is the place. For the nicest people.

Beaches

From Forum to Barceloneta, they all are fine, but always crowded in summer. That is the only standing rule you should follow in visiting Barcelona beaches especially with its sunshiny weather all year round. The redeveloped seafront, from the Moll de la Fusta and the area around the Palau de Mar to the Rambla de Mar and the Olympic Port area, has become one of Barcelona's most popular spaces for recreation and leisure.

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