Category Archives: Europe

Barcelona is a cosmopolitan city with character, wonderful art and architecture for those art lovers among you, and of course the famous football stadium, Camp Nou for followers of the FC Barcelona team. It acts as the capital of Catalonia, under direct rule from Spain. On top of these attractions, you have a great nightlife and entertainment scene, with bars and clubs opening right onto the beach. With many activities and sights to see, Barcelona is an ideal city break and you can check out some great deals here. Below, let’s check out some of the main attractions in Barcelona:

Gaudí buildings and the modernista architecture such as Sagrada Família church: This is the most famous modernist buildings designed by the famous Antoni Gaudí, with highly impressive interior and exterior designs. Arguably, one of the city’s main landmarks for visitors (and locals alike) is admiring this architecture, by simply taking a walk around Barcelona, you’re bound to stumble upon many Gaudí works.

Park Güell is another space similar to something from a child’s dream and replicates an English garden city. You can visit more Gaudí buildings which often occupies less space in the travel guides, with such examples a Palau Güell, Casa Batlló and a number of locations outside of Barcelona.
However, he was not Barcelona’s only modernist architect to leave their mark left. Another example being the Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau, which is a UNESCO site, with gorgeous gardens hidden amidst the busy city life.

Las Ramblas

Las Ramblas can be the first memory that visitors to the city remember. It’s the central most boulevard, cutting right through the middle of Barcelona and is a lively, upbeat walkway filled with activity. La Rambla is mainly for pedestrians with two narrow one-way traffic roads along both sides of the Ramblas Boulevard. The council of Barcelona City has placed a restriction on traffic flowing through this area and you get the feeling that pedestrians rule, which is a nice feeling as a visitor — you don’t need to be too wary of dodging passing cars! This move meant that Barcelona could structure the road system around the heart of the hub, leaving this area free to ramble, with bigger roads along the outskirts to take the heavy traffic.

Tapas and SeaFood

Visitors to Barcelona have a nice choice in terms of food. You can go for your tapas in one of the restaurants down by the beach or of course sample the local seafood, which is a must-do for the foodies among you. A number of luxurious restaurants are there to try, from the great Galician restaurant Rias de Galicia in Poble-sec, for their splendid menu of seafood dishes.

Try some trifásico, a mix of fried white bait, squid and shrimp, along with delightful little tallarines. If you don’t know what these are, don’t worry. Neither did I at first, but these little wedge clams are delicious. Before your trip, get some more ideas about stuff to do in Barcelona.

Ramble around, admiring this great city of culture and character while sampling the super cuisine it has to offer. It’s hard to beat a great city right on the beach.