Visit Barcelona

Spain’s second city and the capital of Catalonia offers much more than a traditional city break. Visitors to Barcelona find a stylish, elegant city offering a rich history of culture and art – yet also a vibrant, boisterous venue for those who enjoy a lively nightlife scene. Barcelona is especially suited to anyone interested in 20th-century architecture, but it is equally popular among young singles seeking out the club scene and street life.

Image Gallery Barcelona © Turisme de Barcelona Think Barcelona, think museums, wide, tree-lined boulevards offering superb shopping, greenery with a variety of some of the best parks in Europe, and beaches with some dazzling stretches of sand that attract over four million visitors a year.

Barcelona has over 50 public and private museums and they attract an astonishing 7 million visitors each year. The most popular are the Picasso Museum, which boasts a vast collection of the artist’s work, as well as temporary exhibitions, the complex of attractions at Montjuic Castle and Gaudi’s famous cathedral La Sagrada Familia, left incomplete at his death. Although work has continued it is still unfinished today but, nevertheless, a stunning piece of architecture.

At night, the city comes alive with all manners of bars, restaurants and clubs offering a variety of entertainment and every conceivable type of culinary delight. The Gothic Quarter is a maze of streets, squares, hidden bars, restaurants and the city’s many live music clubs which cater for all musical tastes - from jazz and blues to African music, classical and flamenco.

Sun worshippers are not neglected in Barcelona. In the 1980s, Barcelona began redeveloping its seafront and the area around the Olympic Port has become one of the city’s most popular spaces for recreation and leisure.

In addition, the city has more than four kilometres of beaches – attracting millions of visitors a year who like to intermingle their shopping and cultural holiday days with nothing more energetic than lying soaking up the sun.

Of course, you don’t have to go to the beach to do that in Barcelona. The city is one of the most lush in Europe with over 50 parks of differing shapes, sizes and specialities.

Eating & Drinking

Barcelona offers dining for all, with a good selection of upmarket options and a wealth of relatively cheap eateries. You’ll be spoiled for choice from Catalan or international cuisine, to Chinese, Italian, French, Thai, Japanese and Mexican. There are tapas bars galore along with the usual fast-food outlets.

Entertainment

Barcelona comes to life with all-year-round festivals, including the Grec Summer Festival. Culture buffs can choose from over 40 museums and art galleries. Be inspired with Gaudi constructions like La Pedrera (Casa Mila), Parc Guell Gardens and the magnificent unfinished Sagrada Familia; Old Town’s 13th century Cathedral, Church of Santa Maria del Mar, Royal Palace and Las Ramblas will delight you with its street entertainers. Family entertainment at Mt Tibidabo amusement park, observatory and nearby Collserola Look-out Point; the city offers a zoo, aquarium and chocolate museum. For the active there are public sports centres; cycling; and a host of water sports.

Barcelona offers something to suit all tastes and budgets from colourful food, flower and bird markets in Las Ramblas markets to top shopping areas including Placa de Catalunya, Passeig de Gracia and the diagonal business area.