Sightseeing

In Barcelona

• La Rambla
  

  La Rambla is not one street, but rather a seamless series of pedestrian avenues stretching from the Monument a Colom on the waterfront to Plaça de Catalunya in the centre of the city.
  

  Attractions along the way include Gaudí’s Palau Güell, Carrer Nou de la Rambla 3, open Monday to Friday 1000-1400 and 1600-1930. Some of La Rambla’s most captivating attractions are its famous street entertainers who delight the crowds with their weird and wacky shows.
  

  Other points of interest are the Liceu (see the Culture section), the legendary Café de L’Opera and La Boqueria - Barcelona’s wonderful, bustling food market (see the Shopping section).
  

  La Rambla has the same place in the psyche of the city as the Champs Elysées in Paris or Oxford Street in London, but is far less snooty than the former and far more attractive than the latter. Lined with trees, cafés, restaurants, flower stalls, shops and newspaper stands, La Rambla is the perfect place to stroll or spend hours with a café con leche watching the people and soaking up the unique Barcelona atmosphere.
  

  Plaça Reial, just off La Rambla, is one of the most attractive squares in the city - elegant nineteenth-century houses look down on palm trees, lampposts designed by Gaudí, and an eclectic mix of people enjoying the lively atmosphere at outdoor cafés.




• Barri Gòtic
  

  The maze of streets known as the Barri Gòtic or Gothic Quarter contains an exemplary collection of Gothic buildings dating from Catalonia’s Golden Age in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, interspersed with Roman ruins, delightful squares and numerous bars and restaurants. Plaça Sant Jaume, at the heart of the district, is the epicentre of the city’s political life.
  

  The square is overlooked on one side by the Renaissance-style Palau de la Generalitat - location of the Catalan government, and on the other by the Ajuntament (town hall). Nearby, the Palau Real on Plaça del Rei houses the Museu d’Història de la Ciutat.
  

  The remains of the Roman city of Barcino were uncovered underneath the Palau in 1931 and Roman streets are still visible in the vast cellar space which stretches as far as the Cathedral (see below). The museum admission fee gives access to the cellar and to a number of beautiful medieval buildings.




• Catedral de la Seu
  

  Catedral de la Seu was built in the fourteenth century on the site of an earlier basilica, but the spire and façade were not added until the end of the last century.
  

  Highlights include the spiritual space of the cloisters, the carved choir stalls and the Capella de Lepanto.




• Santa Maria del Mar
  

  Santa Maria del Mar is generally considered to be the most beautiful church in the city and a prime example of Mediterranean Gothic architecture.
  

  It is located just to the northeast of the Barri Gòtic in the Ribera district. A fifteenth-century rose window adds colour to the simple harmony of the columned interior.




• Temple Expiatori de la Sagrada Familia
  

  Recently the subject of much controversy over who should pay for its completion, Gaudí’s unfinished masterpiece and the city’s most outlandish landmark, the Expiatory Temple of the Holy Family, towers crazily above the grid-like streets of the Eixample.
  

  Despite being very much an obvious work in progress, the cathedral has a certain beauty that somehow emerges despite the omnipresent construction.
  
  

  The extraordinary structure has elicited cries of astonishment, awe, amusement and anger from visitors and residents alike, but remains one of the city’s most visited attractions.




• Casa Milá
  

  Casa Milá - also known as La Pedrera (the stone quarry) - is an undulating apartment block on the corner of Passeig de Gràcia.
  

  The building, inspired by the ocean, is an incredible testament to Gaudí’s ability to make stone malleable.Apartments (not open to the public) are arranged around elliptical patios with no square corners in sight.
  

  The roof terrace is watched over by sentry-like chimneys and offers an excellent view across the city to the spires of La Sagrada Familia.
  

  The loft space of Casa Milá houses a beautiful museum - Espai Gaudí - dedicated to the architect.




• Parc Güell
  

  With Parc Güell, Gaudí created a fantasy land that seamlessly combines the natural and the man-made, as well as offering good views back over the city. The park, originally conceived as a garden city, covers a hill to the north of the centre.
  

  The gardens are enlivened by fantastic pavilions, stairways, columned halls and an organic plaza decorated with stunning broken-mosaic work (trencadís) by Gaudí’s assistant, Josep Maria Jujol.
  

  At the base of the hill is a house designed by Francesc Berenguer that now houses a collection of Gaudí’s furnishings and other memorabilia.




• Mançana de la Discòrdia
  

  A series of extraordinary houses by Montaner, Gaudí and Puig i Cadafalch comprise the Mançana de la Discòrdia (Block of Discord) on the Passeig de Grácia between Aragó and Consell de Cent.
  

  Information and passes for the Ruta Modernista can be obtained from the first floor of Casa Lléo Morera at number 35. Gaudí’s Casa Batlló at number 43 looks rather like an underwater grotto, with blue-green tiles on the façade, frog-faced balconies and a reptilian roof. Ruta Modernista pass-holders are permitted into the main apartment.




• The Waterfront
  

  A stroll along the harborside passeig and wooden walkway is an excellent way to see some of the results of Barcelona’s epic regeneration program. The focus of interest and activity in Barcelona is shifting back towards the sea with the continued development of Port Vell (Old Port).
  

  The waterfront now boasts a myriad of restaurants and bars, a vast shopping mall and leisure center, (Maremagnum) and an excellent aquarium. Barceloneta, the old fisherman’s quarter, which dates from 1755, still has some of the best fish restaurants in the city and is now also the gateway to Barcelona’s cleaned-up beaches.
  

  Further to the east, the Vila Olímpica at Poble Nou, created for the 1992 Games, is one of the liveliest and most interesting areas of the city during the warmer months, but it is often deserted during winter. Transport to this area of town is by metro line 4 to Barceloneta or Ciutadella-Vila Olímpica.




• Montjuïc
  

  The hill of Montjuïc (Mountain of the Jews) has enough attractions to last several days and was the main location of the 1992 Olympic Games.
  

  In addition to the Palau Nacional and the Fundació Joan Miró, visitors may also want to explore the Estadi Olìmpic and accompanying museum, the Museu Arqueològic, the replica Spanish village (Poble Espanyol), the Mies van der Rohe Pavilion, Castell de Montjuïc - an eighteenth-century fortress - or the amusement park. Half the fun is the funicular ride up the mountainside and the outstanding views from the top.

Outside Barcelona

• Cadaqués
  (1.5 hours from Barcelona). A beautiful costal town on the Costa Brava that boasts picturesque beaches and clear blue water. Dalí spent many of his family vacations in Cadaqués when he was young, and later in life, lived in a nearby town.




• Sitges
  (30 minutes from Barcelona. In just 30 minutes you can reach this beautiful town with one of the nicest beaches and most vibrant nightlife around. Also known for its international gay community.




• Montserrat
  (50 minutes from Barcelona). A must-visit city just outside of Barcelona where a 11th century monastery stands atop a mountain that can be reached by cable car. Recommendations: buy food for a nice picnic lunch in the town and eat it on top of the mountain looking out on the world below. There are also some challenging hiking trails for the more adventurous.




• La Garrotxa
  (2 hours from Barcelona). The area of La Garrotxa is a hiker´s paradise. There are four volcanoes nearby where you can walk on the cooled volcanic rock and even reach the craters.




• Empuries
  (1.5 hours from Barcelona). This city was founded around 600 BC by the Greeks, yet both Greek and Roman influences abound. Near Empuries are natural parks and the medieval Catalan town of Castelló d´Empúries.