We only had two days in Barcelona – so what should we see while leaving time for good tapas? Luckily, Barcelona is generally an easy city to get around in and we were happy to walk. The first landmarks that came to mind were La Sagrada Familia and the Barri Gotic (gothic quarter) but we also added in a couple more Gaudi buildings and a visit to the beach.
I’ve not been back to Barcelona in some time and when I found out that it would be the first trip to this city for my travel buddies, I looked back on which sights I thought would be great to visit while leaving time to try some restaurants. From my prior visits, the standout sights have always been the buildings designed by Antoni Gaudi, an art nouveau era architect, and so I made this the cornerstone of our visit. Since we only had two days, I thought it best to contain our sightseeing to specific locations. The following is what I decided on.
Day One – Barri Gotic, Palau Guell, Casa and a Walk Down Passeig de Gracia
Morning: We stayed at the Casa Camper, which I highly recommend and which is located in the El Raval area not far from the Barri Gotic. As such, I thought it would be great to start the visit off with a walk around the Barri Gotic.
Leaving our hotel at around 9 am, we headed east. The main place to visit in the Barri Gotic is the Catedral (cathedral) La Seu but the rest of it is mainly squares and soaking up the atmosphere of the narrow streets. The notable squares would be the Placa del Pi, Placa de Sant Jaume, Placa del Rei and Placa Reial.
We had around two hours for this leisurely walk, and ending it at Placa Reial was ideal for our next stop – the Palau Guell. It is a great example of one of Gaudi’s earlier designs and shows the Arabic influence that was in vogue at that time (around 1890). I loved visiting Palau Guell because some of the rooms are still furnished in furniture from the same period which gives a nice sense of how the Guell family must have lived at that time (see my blog on Palau Guell).
Lunch: As I couldn’t get a dinner reservation at Disfrutar, a popular new restaurant from ex-El Bulli chefs, it had to be lunch. We took a taxi to the restaurant, which is located in the Eixample area of Barcelona. Otherwise, it would have been a fairly lengthy 45 minute walk. I highly recommend Disfrutar – it’s a bright, airy restaurant serving a degustation only menu (for more info, see my review). It was my favourite meal in Barcelona.
Afternoon: Lunch took around three hours and as we had started late, it was already mid-late afternoon by the time we set off to see Casa Batlo. This is another great Gaudi building, and as it’s one from the peak of his career, it showcases the organic art nouveau qualities and is a nice contrast to the Palau Guell (for more info on my visit to Casa Batlo, please see the related blog). Casa Batlo is located on Passeig de Gracia, just a 15 minute walk from Disfrutar.
Since Passeig de Gracia is the main shopping stretch in Barcelona if you’re looking from brand name boutiques, this was the ideal time for us to do a bit of shopping. Heading south from Casa Batlo, the guys had a beer at a sidewalk cafe while the ladies strolled into Spanish leather brand Loewe’s main store.
Dinner: We had a nice stroll back to our hotel, popping into some shops along the way. Lunch tends to be main meal in Spain, and similarly for us after a big lunch at Disfrutar, all we wanted were some nice cold gin & tonics and tapas. Barcelona has numerous excellent tapas bars. We went to Bar Canete, which I do recommend (see review) for its fun atmosphere, good drinks and food. Its location in El Raval was also handy for us (just a 10 minute walk from our hotel). However, other recommended tapas bars and casual restaurants include Quimet & Quimet, Tickets, Dos Palillos and La Taverna del Clinic.
Day Two – La Sagrada Familia, Paella and a Flexi Afternoon
Morning: I dedicated the entire morning mainly to visit La Sagrada Familia. I had booked our tickets online and opted to take the first entry slot available (9am) as otherwise, this amazing cathedral does get very crowded. If you only want to visit one landmark in Barcelona, this one should be it (for more info, see my blog). I think spending around two hours here is adequate if you go up one of the towers. If you don’t go up the tower, it should be a shorter visit.
There should be time to tag on a visit to the La Ribera area on the way to lunch at 1pm. Walking east towards the waterfront, drop in on the Palau de la Musica Catalana. This is great example of a modernist building designed by one of Gaudi’s peers.
Lunch: Ideally, eat lunch in the La Ribera area as this saves on the walking time. In our case, we took a long walk (40 minutes) to find some good seafood and paella at Xiringito Escriba (for more info, see my review). However, this also allowed us to have a look at the waterfront and beach.
Afternoon: I kept our afternoon fairly relaxed so what we did after a walk along the beach was mainly to walk back to the La Ribera area to do a bit more shopping. My husband wanted to buy some chorizo and other meat to bring back to Singapore. We also went to Barcelona’s main market – La Boqueria (a must visit if you are into food).
If you’re not going shopping and want more culture, I’d suggest a visit to the Picasso Museum or to take the funicular up to Montjuic and visit the Fundacio Joan Miro after lunch. Or if you’re not Gaudi-ed out, a visit to Parc Guell is also a nice way to spend an early evening.
Dinner: I couldn’t get into Tickets so we ended up having tapas for dinner at Bodega 1900 (for more info, see my review). But there are many other places to grab a memorable dinner. In our case, we didn’t want a late night as we had an early morning flight to catch. But on hindsight, I think I wouldn’t have minded one more good meal and a cocktail with a view of the city.