Barcelona : Top 10 To-Do's whether you are a tourist or local

This beautiful city never stops surprising tourists. It’s full of history and fun. It’s so big and there are always new things to do. Every season is good to visit Barcelona but of course if you are visiting during summer you can enjoy the long sandy beaches and refreshing water of Mediterranean Sea.

Of course if it’s the first time in Barcelona there are must see places:

   1)     Sagrada Familia: After Gaudi’s tragic death, this famous church is still uncompleted.  It was Gaudi’s will the church shall be completed by only public funding. The skeleton of the church and the design is so moving that it’s impossible for one to resist Gaudi’s talent. The construction is continuing according to his sketches.

 

Sagrada Familia

Inside peak 

   2)     Parc Guel: This parc build by Gaudi for Guel family. Guel family asked Gaudi to transform the areato one of the richest neighborhoods of Barcelona. Unfortunately it didn’t happen but there are 2 houses built by Gaudi in one of which he lived for some time.

   3)     Gaudi Houses : a) Casa Batllo: its one of the masterpieces of Gaudi. Located at the heart of Passeig de Gracia. It’s an inspiring piece of architecture merging art nouveau and modernism. This incredible design is reflected in every aspect of the house, from the facade to the structure within and individual hand crafted door handles. You get given a hand held device which gives you a visual and audio tour as you visit each of the rooms. As you point the device in each room it shows you what it used to look like and the inspiration behind the architects design. You can go on the roof and enjoy the view. Also it’s possible to go events organized in the house and on the roof during summer

b) Casa Mila: Constructed by Gaudi in 1907-1911. The house is situated at the corner of Passeig de Garcia. Again this house reveals Gaudi’s geniality. It’s the merge of two buildings, which are structured around two courtyards that provide light to the nine levels: basement, ground floor, mezzanine, main floor, four upper floors and the attic.

   4)     Picasso museum:  This museum embeds some of the best drawings of Picasso as well as his work from the earlier times including many sketches. The curves holding the façade and the patios are amazing as well as the arcs at the roof. The roof and chimneys are just the marks of his creativity and intelligence.  The modernist furniture on the main floor shows the beauty in simplicity.

   5)     Cathedral in El Gothic: Built in Medieval era, this big cathedral has the most significant interior of Gothic architecture. The peaceful courtyard with the palm trees and gooses enhances the spirituality. The tomb of St.Eulalia (whose story is in the upcoming post) lays inside. 

Tomb of St.Eulalia

Courtyard of the cathedral

   

   

Barcelona writing made of iron

   

   6)     La Rambla: This long street starts from Placa Catalunya and end up at the sea side where there is the statue of Christoph Columbus. The street is full of shops cafes. However I recommend the side streets where the bars and shops are better and less touristic. Also beware of pickpocketing.

   7)     La bouquieria in La Ramblas: Everyone should stop in this colorful bazaar of fruits. The colors, the layouts of the stalls are so inviting you end up trying all the exotic fruits.

   8)     Santa Maria Del Mar Church: This church located in the heart of El Born has traces of gothic architecture. Next to the church there is the memorial monument where the fire never ceases. This statue has been made to remember all the martyrs from the Civil war. Around the church there are many cafes, shops and restaurants. The night life of this area is quite vivid as well.

Side view of the church

Street art in El Born

   9)     Placa Catalunya: This is the connecting plaza of Barcelona. Airport shuttles leave you here, take off from here. There are many metro lines passing by. This plaza is connected to Las Ramblas, Universitat and even 20min walking distance from El Born. There are many shops and cafes in the plaza.

   10)  Placa Espanya: This busy plaza is famous for its magic fountains. You can start by going up the old bullring lift to get 360-degree view before seeing the beautiful fountains and MNAC building. 

View at night