Barcelona is one of my favorite places in the world. With brick streets, cathedrals, roman walls great food and night life, Barcelona has it all. Barcelona is a perfect place for couple gateways, girl trips, families as well as solo travelers. Here is how we spent 3 Days in Barcelona

Best time to visit Barcelona

There is no bad time to visit Barcelona. Winter, summer, spring, pretty much any season would do.

Fall is by far my favorite time to visit Barcelona. With tourist season slowing down, there is less crowds in the city. There’s always a chance of rain here and there, but majority of the time the weather is warm and sunny.

How to get to Barcelona

By plane

The airport is about 30-minutes drive from the city. You can catch the train from the airport to the city center, there’s also a bus service between the city and the airport, which is the cheapest option.  Taxi cost approximately 35-40 from the airport to city center.

By train

There is  5 train stations around the city: España, Catalunya, Franca, Barcelona Sants and Passeig de Gràcia. Majority of the trains arrive to Barcelona Sants. Franca is a closest station to the Gothic Quarter.

Read more:

 Travelling in Europe by Train

How to move around the city?

You don’t need a car in Barcelona as you will spend more time looking for parking  and more money paying for parking.

The most convenient and the fastest way to move around the city is subway. There’s also taxi service all over the city and Uber. Taxi  between Gothic Quarter and Park Guell cost approximately 27-30$, taxi from Gothic quarter to the airport is 35-40$.

3 Days In Barcelona

Day 1

Plaza Real

We started our first day in Barcelona early afternoon from Plaza Real. Plaza real is one of the most popular meeting places in Barcelona. With palm trees, beautiful building with open terraces and large arches, this place has several great restaurants with live music. It is busy during the day and the night. The plaza is also known for its famous Tres Gracias fountain and lampposts designed by Gaudi. Those streetlamps are the first officially commissioned Gaudi’s work.

Tapas and sangria

After Güell palace we headed to get some tapas and sangria. My suggestion here is to get off the crowded areas. You will find plenty of restaurants with great food and much cheaper prices just a block or two away from touristy places.

We spent some time sitting outside and enjoying warm fall weather and people watching and headed to Casa Battlo

Casa Battlo

The best time to visit Casa Battlo is closer to sunset. The stain glass looks truly magical later in the afternoon, the colors are warm and you can see all the detailed patterns.

Casa Battlo is one of the most visited places in Barcelona. I suggest to get your tickets in advance couple of weeks prior to your visit. When booking the tickets make sure to include an audio tour. Just like building itself, the audio tour is also unique. You will get a small device the size of iPhone that has a built in screen and provides a visual representation of the rooms.

Casa Battlo is truly unique and beautiful building that is one of must-see things in Barcelona.

Walk La Rambla.

Yes, yes, it’s super crowded and touristy, but there’s no visit to Barcelona without walking La Rambla at least once. The street if full of souvenir stores, restaurants, and coffee shops. You will see a lot of musicians there playing there at night. Get a cup of coffee, walk the street and enjoy the vibe.

Sunset at Rambla del Mar and Columbus monument.

After spending some time on La Rambla, we headed to Mirador de Colom, the statue of Columbus that overlooks the sea. When we were standing by the statue and talking about US history and Columbus, I looked at my phone and realized that it was Columbus Day. What a great coincidence! And what a great place to be on Columbus day!

We really enjoyed gentle fall sea breeze, the white yachts and small boats surrounding the port area. Rambla del Mar was such a great place to relax and watch a beautiful sunset especially after crowded La Rambla.

Dinner at The Chipiron

Yes, it is a touristy place, but seafood was great and the view was amazing. While I’m not a big fan of large places especially around shopping area, I strongly recommend to  eat at The Chipiron if you are looking for a good seafood dinner with a view. Here we are having a seafood feast is one of the most touristy places in Barcelona.

Night Walk Passage de Colom

After dinner we took long walk along the port. As you pass through the port area, you will see ‘The couple’ status and Gambrinus Lobster Statue, large very funny looking lobster. A great place for silly pictures.

We also stopped by some “Gaudi style” tile hills around the trees. I don’t know the purpose of those, but they looked cool.

Day 2

Explore Gothic Quarter

The best way to explore the Gothic Quarter is go on a free tour . You can spend all three days or even three weeks exploring Gothic Quarter  on your own.

If you (like us ) decide to tour Gothic Quarter on your own, start your day from walking along the Roman walls that surrounded ancient Roman city Barcino. Stop by Temple of Augustus, four original temple columns surrounded by small courtyard. It’s hard to believe that those columns survived centuries and generations.

Read More

Exploring Barcelona Gothic Quarter.

Visit Mercado La Bouqueria

Visit the market during the day to get a feel of it. While you can get lunch there, I strongly suggest eating in less touristy areas. The market has great selection of fruits, vegetables, meet, fish and of course all possible varieties of jamon. Located in the heart of La Rambla, The place is super busy during the day, so have the right expectations before visiting it.

If you prefer less crowds, pass on La Buqueria and visit Mercado de Santa Catarina instead. It is less busy and cheaper compared to touristy La Buqueria

Visit Picasso Museum

Unlike Picasso museum in Paris, Barcelona museum is fairly small. It is located in a beautiful building in  Gothic Quarter. The museum has a collection of Picasso’s early work and La Meninas influenced by Vasquez.

Sunset at Casa Milla

Casa Mila, also called La Pedrera , is another Another beautiful Gaudi creation totally worth visiting. The best time to visit La Pedrera is about an hour before sunset and get on the roof just in time to watch sunset there. It was super cloudy with light rain here and there during the day. So, I didn’t expect much but the sky a cleared up a little before the sunset. With white sculptures, dark grey clouds and the sun, the view from La Pedrera roof was amazing.

Late-night White Sangria

After a variety of red sangria we decided to try popular Sangria de Cava (cava is a popular Spanish sparkling wine).

I’m not a big sangria fan and not a fan of white wines. I have long love relationships with Pinot Noir. So, I didn’t expect much from white sangria, but I was wrong. Unlike sweet red sangria, Sangria de Cava has light a little tangy taste and now it is one of my favorite drinks.

Day 3

Morning walk around Ciutadella Park

There’s no better time to see the park than super early in the morning just after the sunrise. The fountain looks magical in the morning. We also has the entire place for ourselves to enjoy.

Arch de Triomf

After taking tons of pictures of the fountain we headed to the Arch of Triomf. The Arch was built in 1888 as an official entry to the far that took place in the Citadel park. With no crowds around, we saw people go on their daily business and just had a chance to observe the early morning city life.

Park Güell

Similar to Güell Palace, and Casa Battlo I strongly suggest getting your tickets in advance online.  The best time to visit a park is right after opening . Book 9 am tickets if you can and get to the park 5-10 minutes before the opening.

We started our visit from the Porters’ Lodge pavilion small house. The line gets really long later. Then we headed to the balcony, stopped by the iconic lizard. The columns underneath have a lot of detailed work and look amazing.

After exploring the lower part we walk up the stairs and the view of city was amazing.

Early Lunch at Santa Catarina market

Similar to La Bouqueria, the market has a huge selection of produce, but less toristy.

The Cuines Santa Caterina restaurant has great fresh seafood and the presentation is just amazing. The restaurant is with popular among local. So, Plan to take an early Lunch as the restaurant gets really crowded by 1-2 pm. They do not take reservation.

Market closes 3.30 Monday, Wednesday and Saturday, the rest of the days(except Sunday) it is open until 8.30, so plan go get there at least 20-30 mins or even an hour before closing.

Visit Sagrada Família.

After lunch we headed to Sagrada Família . I have never seen anything remotely similar to Sagrada Família in my life. With a lot of tiny details outside and huge light colorful space inside, the cathedral feel very light and airy inside. You stand in the middle of the church, but you feel like you are inside a fairy tale castle. Four main colors inside represent four seasons.

I suggest booking your tickets in advance. Plan to visit at least one of two towers. Both towers closed when it rains as the stairs on the top get slippery.

The view from the top is to die for and the detailed work is amazing.

Green parrots

After lunch we took slow relaxing walk heading to La Rambla. I saw one little bright green bird surrounded by doves. I thought it was a little lost pet parrot. As I got closer I saw whole bunch of green birds on the ground and even more on the trees. Those birds called monk parakeets. You will see a lot of those around the city especially in the parks.

Flamenco at the Palau de la Musica Catalana

After long walking day we treat ourselves for a flamenco concert. The music, the dancers, the whole palace atmosphere made this performance very memorable.

The palace is stunning inside, every column has a unique very detailed design and I just can’t get my eyes off the stained glass roof.