2019 trip: favourite foods, local haunts, top recommendations from others
Tried and true:
- Baluard Barcelona: loved the pastries and bread here
- Passeig de Gracia: amazing shopping at stores like Mango, Stradivarius, etc. (all the European brands)
- Mercat de Sant Josep de la Boqueria: lots of food stalls and places to try local delicacies
- Bunkers del Carmel: incredible views of the city, especially for sunset. The bus takes you most of the way up here, and the locals bring music and wine/beer to hang out
- Citizen Cafe: brunch with fresh juices and great coffee
- La Colmena: candy store where I picked up different flavoured sweets as gifts to bring home
- Alsur Cafe Palau: great coffee and cakes/desserts
- Navarro: florist that is massive with so many beautiful flowers and plants
Recommendations I didn’t get to test out:
- Gastronomica: tapas
- Casa Lolea: flan and sangria
- Louro: lobster paella
- El Quim: fried squid
- Montserrat: small town nearby
- Paco Meralgo: tapas
- Restaurante Loidi
- Cornelia & Co
- Pastelerías Mauri
- Bubo
- Tutusaus Restaurant: jamon
- Reserva Iberica: jamon
- Mauri: breakfast
Other tips and tricks:
- Picasso Museum: book ahead as they have timed tickets
New observations:
- There are a lot of 24h bakeries, which is incredible
- They have huge garbage bins on all the streets, which sometimes obstruct pedestrian pathways
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2016 trip: how to hit the tourist highlights in a weekend
Feb 26
- Airport to city centre by bus (depending on where you go, you can either take the bus or the subway)
- Parc de Montjuïc
- National Art Museum on a hill with great views of the city
- Barcelona Pavilion
- Arenas de Barcelona
- A mall that looks like a stadium
- Compostela for dinner (in city centre)
Feb 27
- Park Güell
- Timed tickets; going early in the day made it easy to get great photos and avoid crowds
- Sagrada Familia
- Timed tickets as well
- Would warn that the towers are weather-dependent so we didn’t get in on account of rain that day
- Camp Nou
- Not really that interesting if you don’t do the tour; just a big store to walk around with lots of tourists
- Corte Inglés
- There are a few in the city; they seem to be standard department stores
- No idea why they’re thusly named (the short Englishman) and I’d like to find out…
- Bodega 1900
- Ferran Adria’s lesser known and less good restaurant but still quite nice
- Kind of snobby service though food is good (but pricey)
Feb 28
- Walking tour of the Gothic Quarter
- Free and very well done, though we ended up tipping 20 euros to the guide anyway
- Really enjoyed Plaza Reial and how it felt like what I’ve only ever seen at the Venetian in Vegas and Macau
- Ocean front boardwalk amble
- Super warm in the sun but super cold in the shade! Wonder how people normally dress here
- Lots of tourists but still a nice walk; I imagine it must be super nice in the summer
- Passeig de Gracia and La Rambla
- Do NOT come here on a Sunday. Everything is closed and it is downright unexciting