Saturday, July 06, 2024

How to spend a day in Barcelona, from artisan shops to tapas bars

Donde fueres, haz lo que vieres 

Reading about  Spanish proverbsLa Disfidas …   missing Rolex watch

A falta de pan, buenas tortillas


No time for a siesta, plenty of time for a fiesta


“But if there was no Barcelona, why would you get out of bed in the morning?”

- Ray Hudson, Footballer


“Even the moon was embarrassed by the beauty of Barcelona.” 

- Andrew Barger, Writer


“To travel across Spain and finally to reach Barcelona is like drinking a respectable red wine and finishing up with a bottle of champagne.” 

- James A. Michener, Writer


It’s hardly any wonder that Barcelona is so popular with tourists: it has everything – a vibrant culture; a pleasantly warm, sunny climate; great food and wine; galleries full of Miro and Picasso; not to mention all that Gaudi. It even has 4km of sandy beach facing the Med. . .

Countdown for the start of Cruïlla Barcelona 2024, which will take place from July 10 to 13 at the Parc del Fòrum in Barcelona, a 100,000 square meter venue where a maximum capacity of 25,000 people per day will be maintained to prevent overcrowding.


Rambling down La Rambla


For this fourteenth edition, the lineup will be headlined by Avril Lavigne, Oques Grasses, María Becerra, Chucho Valdés, Nunatak, Eva Sola, Amaral, Ganges, Gonzalo Hermida, Pet Shop Boys, Calexico, Ladilla Rusa, Albert Pla, The Tyets or Johnny Marr


Spain beat Germany to usher in new era of Barcelona-steered international dominance



 “No es más rico el que más tiene, sino el que menos necesita.”




How to spend a day in Barcelona, from artisan shops to tapas bars

The capital of Catalonia, Barcelona is hardly a city you can experience in one day, but this action-packed itinerary provides an introduction to the variety of activities on offer — a taster that will keep you coming back for more.

How to spend a day in Barcelona, from artisan shops to tapas bars

The capital of Catalonia, Barcelona is hardly a city you can experience in one day, but this action-packed itinerary provides an introduction to the variety of activities on offer — a taster that will keep you coming back for more.

The front of a church in Barcelona
This iconic Spanish city holds some of the country's most important cultural sites, architectural history and culinary spots.
PHOTOGRAPH BY MARGARET STEPIEN
ByDuncan Craig
July 2, 2024
This article was produced by National Geographic Traveller (UK).

When it comes to the visitor experience, Barcelona runs the full gamut. This Spanish icon has some of the country’s most important cultural centres and fabled architecture; access to hilltop views and beaches alike; and a culinary scene that straddles the inventive and the traditional. Here’s an itinerary for a day that takes in a bit of it all — from an early-morning hike to a visit to an art museum, and from sunset by the Mediterranean to a mandatory tapas dinner.

8am: Morning hike up Mount Tibidabo

On the ungroomed slopes of the nearby Pyrenees, skiers talk of earning their turns; in Barcelona the same might be true of cocktails. Blow the cobwebs off the previous night’s indulgence, and set yourself up for another day of the same, with an invigorating, hour-long hike along the trails threaded through the foothills of Mount Tibidabo, which overlooks the city. Your target is the summit church, set, incongruously, amid a retro funfair. Depart on the trail that starts at the Tibidabo Funicular base station, then ride the train back to your starting point.

10am: A mooch in the art museum

With its hillside perch on the flanks of Montjuïc hill, grand sweep of steps, and domes and towers inspired by St Peter’s in the Vatican and the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela, the Museu Nacional d’Art de Catalunya isn’t exactly a model of restraint. That exuberance extends to a collection of (mostly Catalan) art as dazzling as an Iberian sunset. Fortify yourself with a tallat (espresso with a splash of steamed milk) in the cafe tucked in one corner of its vast Sala Oval banqueting space.

A women looking at a piece of vibrant Catalan art in Barcalona
The grand Museu Nacional d’Art de Catalunya features domes inspired by St Peter’s Basilica in Vatican.
PHOTOGRAPH BY MARGARET STEPIEN

12.30pm: Drinks and a bite by the pool

So galvanising was the 1992 Olympics for the city, you’ll still hear it spoken of fondly to this day. The seminal images of the games were divers twisting and piking high above the skyline from the purpose-built facilities on Montjuïc. The site has morphed into an informal open-air bar with a loyal local following. Grab a sangria or Aperol spritz, order a walnut and goat’s cheese salad or jamón ibérico sandwich and take your place in the banked seats from which the crowds once cheered. The two pools below open during the summer.

3pm: Dive into the Gothic Quarter

Fanning out from the 13th-century Catedral de Barcelona and corralled by the thoroughfares of La Rambla and Via Laietana, the Barri Gòtic is an endlessly browsable maze of artisan shops, craft boutiques and indie clothing stores. Narrow lanes and high footfall rule out anything more rushed than museum pace. Search out Sombrerería Obach, a century-old, family-run hat shop specialising in fedoras and traditional Catalan barretinas; and, of 1941 vintage, Granja Dulcinea chocolate shop.

4pm: Coffee in Plaça Neri

If the frenzy gets too much, retreat to Plaça de Sant Felip Neri. It’s an atmospheric little square (more of a trapezoid, in fact), with a central fountain sheltered by a towering rosewood, and an eponymous church whose facade is pockmarked by blast damage from the Fascist bombing raids of the 1930s. Dip into the thick-stoned cool of the Hotel Neri, order a coffee and ask to take it on the compact roof terrace among the terracotta pots and banana plants.

A busy bar in Barcelona. Partons line up at the bar to be served, and stacks of glass bottles sit on shelves behind.
Quimet & Quimet is a traditional standing-only tapas bar, a short walk from the neighbourhood of Poble-sec.
PHOTOGRAPH BY MARGARET STEPIEN

5pm: Hit the beach

It may not feel like it when you’re deep in the Gothic Quarter but one of Europe’s great urban seafronts is just a gargoyle’s spit away. Early evening it’s at its best, as the sun retreats behind Montjuïc and beachgoers disperse. It’s a stroll of a little over a mile along the expansive promenade from the sail-shaped W Hotel at one end to Frank Gehry’s 115ft-high, iridescent Peix (fish) sculpture at the other. The route traces the full expanse of Playa de la Barceloneta, which is studded with wood-framed chiringuito beach bars.

7pm: Tapas at Quimet &Quimet

Behind triple-height crimson doors on a quiet lane a short walk from the centre of the lively neighbourhood of Poble-sec, this is the city’s most sought-after tapas bar. It’s standing-room only in a high-ceilinged room decoratd wall-to-wall with wine and vermouth bottles. The faux bickering between sixth-generation brother and sister Quimet and Neus is a delight, as are the heaped montaditos (open sandwiches); salmon, yoghurt and honey is the pick.

9.30pm: Cocktails at the Nobu

Nul points for nominative inspiration, but Rooftop — set on the 24th floor of the Nobu Hotel in western Eixample — can lay claim to being the city’s loftiest bar. It’s possibly its coolest, too, with soft-lit, low-slung tables, four-poster day-beds and panoramic views stretching from mountain to Med. A signature jalapeño and ginger martini is the best way to round off your day. Check in to one of the hotel’s 259 elegant rooms and suites, and you can return the following morning for a wallow in that inviting pool.

Published in the Jul/Aug 2024 issue of National Geographic Traveller (UK).