Top 10 Places to See in Barcelona, Spain
Barcelona is the most popular city to visit in Spain, which is why it is important for me to share my top 10 places to see in Barcelona. Barcelona is a beautiful city with magical architecture and art filling the streets. There is so much to see and enjoy while visiting this beautiful city and I wanted to share some of my favorite places with you.
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Top 10 places to see in Barcelona
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La Sagrada Familia
La Sagrada Familia is probably the most popular site out of the top 10 places to see in Barcelona. This church has been in construction for over 100 years and one of Antoni Gaudi’s most ambitious forms of architecture. This church has so much detail and Gaudi was before his time when designing many of his architecture among this city.
While the exterior of this church may have you fooled for it’s rough edges, remember to never judge a book by its cover. The exterior is to most people is not considered beautiful, however, once you seen the interior you will be astonished but all the craftsmanship, detail and beauty it entails. Even if you do not like his work, you must appreciate how much detail he spent on creating these beauties especially during the time frame Gaudi was creating these. I suggest you buy your tickets ahead of time since there are specific time slots that you need to reserve so you can enter the church. Buying tickets day of is a risk since it is usually booked. You can purchase them online by visiting this link and can download them to your phone to be scanned.
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Park Güell
Park Güell is another famous Antoni Gaudi piece of art. This park has been seen all over social media. This park has the most popular spot to take the photo to get a great view of the city. There are mosaics all over this park and plenty of areas to explore and wander into. Additionally, I suggest you buy tickets in advance since you will be required to show up at a certain time to enter the park. Antoni Gaudi has a large influence in Barcelona, you will notice a lot of his work are part of the top 10 places to see in Barcelona.
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Casa Mila, Casa Balto and Casa Amatller
These are the popular houses made by Antoni Gaudi. You can take tours of all the houses if you wish to see the interior. However, I was only interested in seeing the interior for the Casa Mila which is my favorite of the three. There is a beautiful rooftop setting where you can get a distant view of the La Sagrada Familia. It is intentionally surrounded by the archway. It was important for me to see the exterior of all the houses because they look so magical. What I love about Casa Mila is that it looks like a house you would see in Atlantis or somewhere deep in the ocean with its smooth textures. Furthermore, I suggest you buy your tickets in advance.
La Rambla
This is the famous street for shopping and food in Barcelona. There are lots of cute little shops on the street, eat good food and explore. Unfortunately, when my friends and I were visiting, it was two days after the terrorist attack in August 2017. The street was covered in beautifully lit red candles in respect for those who were hurt.
Mercat de La Boqueria
Mercat de La Boqueria is another popular place to visit in Barcelona, there are food vendors galore. Nevertheless, this is a place you can get lost in and you will want to try everything. I suggest you visit more than one time just to try everything! There are so many options from desserts to fruits to drinks to Jamon and Queso, etc.
Ciutadella Park
This is a beautiful park to stroll in. Juust take a walk with your friends, have a picnic or more. additionally, this is close to the Arc De Triomf. The park is a nice place to kind of get away from the feeling of being in a city and just relax.
Arc De Triomf
The Arc De Triomf is a beautiful archway that sits in the middle of a walkway. There is a long road for pedestrians with lots of street performers. You will hear all types of music played by many artists along this strip.
Picasso Museum
So, if you took the time to go to Madrid and check out the Museo del Prado, I highly suggest you go visit the Picasso Museum. My major in college was Studio Art which involved studying a lot of artist including Picasso and Diego Velazquez. In Madrid, you will see the famous “Les Meninas” by Diego Velazquez. In Barcelona, at the Picasso Museum you will see Picasso’s studies, obsessions and interpretation of this piece by Velazquez. There is an entire room dedicated to Picasso’s pieces of Les Meninas.
Gothic Quarter
Gothic Quarter is close to the Picasso Museum which I suggest you check out after the museum. There are a lot of old buildings and places to check out which makes it a pretty site to see. There are lots of little local shops to discover in this area.
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Montserrat
The Montserrat is a beautiful day trip from Barcelona of a gorgeous quiet Monastery in the Mountains. This a great place to hike up the mountain and see the Cross of San Miguel. If you would like to know more about it, check out my “Guide to Montserrat: A Day Trip from Barcelona, Spain”.
If you are looking for other day trips like this one, read about Catalonia, the perfect day trip from Barcelona.
BONUS: Chök The Chocolate Kitchen
If you are a sweets lover and chocolate lover like myself, Chök is the place for you! Their chocolate croissant is to absolutely die for. However, I do warn you that it is very sweet. This is a great little shop to get your sweet fix in Barcelona!
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Montserrat was one of my favorites too!
I lovee Barcelona! #gltlove
I loved Barcelona but only went for 2 days so I didn’t make it to all of these places. Great tips for next time! #gltlove
I love Barcelona. Really want to go back because I haven’t seen everything.
Love,
I love BCN and these are great tips! I’ve been 4 Times! There is also a Dali museum that is about his early works which is fascinating and the Miro museum is excellent too.
I am so bummed I didn’t go to the chocolate kitchen!! WHAT!? I need to go back, haha! Beautiful post, you captured Barcelona so elegantly and included all the beautiful things!
Ooo yes! My sister lived in Spain and loved it! I can’t wait to go myself!
I’ve been dying to see the Sagrada Familia since I first saw pictures of it. The stained glass looks incredible inside. Between that and Montserrat, I really need to book a trip.
Wow Barecelona has so many amazing sights to see! I am actually in the process of applying to work abroad as a teacher and this is one of the places I am considering..so thank you so much for sharing!
Valerie
The interiors look amazing… Fabulous designs. So many beautiful and historically rich places to visit ?
How could anyone not love Barcelona?! Such a beautiful place. I didn’t know Montserrat was so nearby though, I’ll have to check that out next time I go! 🙂
Barcelona is one of my favorite places. Gaudi was such a talented man! Love all his architecture!
I totally agree!
So pretty! I have yet to visit Spain but I will someday! The architecture in Barcelona is unbelievable. Those fairytale looking buildings are amazing. It looks like they’re covered with frosting! I love it.
Great list of the popular attractions- would love to visit them and the surrounding area. The architecture of the Sagrada Familia is so unique.
Seems like a tough place to put away your camera huh! This city’s architecture is amazing! I am assuming that one can use these sweet treats as rewards 🙂 Thanks for sharing.
Totally! Lol I had my camera out the whole time!!