Barcelona

Exploring Barcelona

The ultimate itinerary for the ambitious traveler, see all of the top sites in Barcelona within a matter of just four days.

By Brittany Starr | @JustDoItBlog | 13 March 2012

One of the best European getaways I have experienced is in Barcelona, Spain enjoying a weekend immersed in the structural beauty & culture. My personal favorite is Barcelona's Gaudi designs. As far as food goes there is an amazingly wide variety of tapas coupled nicely with fine wine, and if you are there for more than 4 days I would highly recommend visiting Barcelona's beaches and partaking in the legendary night life during your stay.

To fully enjoy the architectural & cultural aspects of this wonderful city, I have designed a four day itinerary, constructed for a long weekend with travel beginning after work or school on Thursday night and ending Monday morning.

Prior to leaving for Barcelona:
1. Book a hostel downtown within a few blocks of La Rambla (a popular street in Barcelona filled with both tourists and locals).2. For photography enthusiasts, this is your dream vacation. Be sure to overpack your photography options; bring your tripod, wide angle & zoom. Forget about the middle lens. Leave your 18-55 mm at home & keep the wide angle on.

Thursday evening / afternoon:

If you arrive at the airport before everything closes go to the Tourist Information Center and buy an Art Ticket and either a Barcelona Card or a T-10.
Here is why:
>The Art Ticket not only gives you a discounted package deal on several of the art museums, but it allows you to skip the public lines, and if you plan to go to the Picasso Museum on one of the free entry days this ticket alone will save you up to 3 hours of waiting time.
>The Barcelona Card will get you on most metros along with discounts to many of the museums that the art ticket does not cover. If you do not plan on visiting other museums outside of this ticket you can just buy the T-10 which gives you a discounted price for buying metro rides in bulk.

If you arrive via plane into the main airport (the one closest to Barcelona) take the metro to the La Rambla stop or the airport's bus to Plaça de Catalunya. If you are able to, go settle into your hostel/hotel, lock up your valuables and prepare your attire for a high pick-pocket risk evening. I personally would recommend one of those shoulder bags which has a flap where you can position the bag to have the opening flap closed toward your body. While the night is still young, take a stroll down La Rambla where you can watch the dozens of street performers put on their nightly shows. Be extremely careful because some of these shows are used solely to lure tourists in to be pick pocketed by the performers' friends.

Friday (Day 1):
Grab breakfast at the local cafe before heading for the metro. If you have not purchased your T-10 ticket already, you can purchase it at one of the kiosks in the metro station (bring smaller bills since some of the machines do not accept bills larger than 20 €). Take the metro to Paral-lel. Once at Paral-lel look for the "Funicular Montju ïc" which is located down a long hall by the exit, still inside of the station (you do not need to scan your metro card again to access it so don't exit the station). Note that the funicular is only open from 09:00 - 22:00.

When you get off of the metro at the top of Montju ïc take a left out of the station and follow signs for the Parc Montju ïc. From here you have a few options,

Option 1

Walk roughly 5 minutes to the Fundació Joan Miró which will be on your right (if you have not purchased your art ticket you may do so here) Spend 1 - 2 hours walking around & admiring the art. **Get the audio guide, it is totally worth the extra Euros** Photography note: You are not allowed to take photos here. So if you are wanting to break the rules I would recommend keeping your wide angle lens on and putting your camera strap around your neck (yes you will look like a tourist) then if you want a pic cross your arms over top of the camera loosely with your left hand behind your right forearm so you can tilt your camera up toward the picture and press the button to capture an image without anyone noticing.
Walk roughly 10 minutes through the park next to Joan's Fundació to the road way & up the big stone staircase. At the fork take a left toward the road & cross the street to visit el Museo Olimpico y del Deporte (1-2 hours) or continue on to look at the Olympic Stadium (20 minutes max). For a less scenic view you may walk along the road in which case you just walk straight along the road following signs for the Olympic Stadium.
Back track up the hill about 3 minutes to the Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya (it will be on your left). Place your things into a locker (it costs 1 € to pull the key out of the locker which you will get back when you return the key) and grab a map. If you have an art ticket you will need to show it to the customer service desk where you will get another ticket which will get you into the separate exhibits. Allow 2-4 hours to walk through the entire museum.
Once outside take a break and sit with the locals on the large stone steps that overlook The Magic Fountains of Montjuïc (if you are here during the warmer months the famous fountain show makes these stones the prime location for viewing the extravagant show).
Ending 1: From here walk down the steps to the round about with the large statue. Take the metro back to La Rambla and begin to look for places to have dinner.
Ending 2: If it is still early in the day, you can also backtrack to the Castell de Montjuïc which may be accessed by foot or by gondola. This place supposedly has the best views of Barcelona.

*For a visual tour of this trip in photos click HERE*

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Brittany V. Starr has recently graduated from Palm Beach Atlantic University with a BS in Medicinal & Biological Chemistry and a Dance Performance minor. Brittany loves working in many different fields. Her two most recent occupations include Senior VP for Garbage Gone Glam and the Biochemistry Lab Technician for the PBAU Chemistry Department.

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