How many days do you need in Barcelona? We spent a week in Barcelona in March 2023 and it was the perfect amount of time. We had enough time to see just about everything we wanted to see and were able to add in some day trips as well. I’m going to share with you my full 7 days in Barcelona itinerary, but honestly we spent 2.5 days doing day trips out of the city, so you could also use this as a 5 day itinerary Barcelona or even a 4 day Barcelona itinerary if you stay in the city the whole time.
Barcelona is an incredible city that has my heart. The people are great. The food is delicious (and inexpensive compared to most other countries). The architecture is like no other. Spring in Barcelona has perfect weather. We did Barcelona March and I highly recommend it. The weather is a dream, its not nearly as crowded as summer and the prices are better as its not their high season.
I loved it the first time I visited 9 years ago with my husband, and fell in love with it even more this time around when we returned with our daughter. If you’re planning to visit with kids this is the perfect Barcelona itinerary with kids. I took my 5 year old daughter and had the best time in Barcelona together. Trust me when I tell you Barcelona is a great spot for a family trip. In Barcelona things to do with kids are abundant and their cuisine is quite kid-friendly. Pan con tomate (bread with tomato) and patatas bravas (potatoes) are 2 of their most famous dishes that you can find at any restaurant. If your kid is picky you can ask for the bread without the tomato and potatoes without the sauce on top. Croquetas, another staple dish, is my daughters favorite!
In the 7 night stay we saw 4 cities in Spain as well as 1 in Andorra. I’m sharing my full Barcelona one week itinerary, including the day trips, so you can decide for yourself what you want to do and what you want to skip. Some of the day trips could have easily been another stop with a hotel, but I chose to do day trips instead.
I find easier when traveling with a child to stay in 1 hotel the entire time. It’s easier to arrive the first day and unpack everything. You can get situated and don’t have to worry about packing up to move around. The time you would spend packing up, checking out then checking into the next hotel, I rather spend it in the car or on the train for a day trip.
Here is our Barcelona trip itinerary and I’ll be including lots of Barcelona travel tips as well (they’ll be in italics)! Fair warning, we were pretty busy most days, but we did have time to sneak in siestas (naps) a few of the days.
DAY 1 – Unpack & Explore your neighborhood
After a 9-hour redeye flight that was a little delayed and long customs lines at the airport, we finally exited the Barcelona airport at 10 in the morning. We were exhausted, but so happy to be in Spain.
I had planned to book a driver to pick us up at the airport, but I honestly forgot. We ended up getting a taxi at the airport and it was a super easy process. The taxi line is easy to find, right outside the airport, and it’s organized. We only had to wait about 10 minutes. Taxis are the only vehicles that do not require car seats for children, however I had brought an inflatable booster seat that I used and liked a lot more than I expected. It’s not what you think. It has it’s shape, but you inflate it a little to finish filling it up. It folds down and fits in your travel bag easily. It’s a great purchase for traveling with a bigger kid. I purchased it because we rented a car for the second half of the week and would be using it more then.
We finally arrived at our hotel, Hotel Almanac Barcelona, and our room wasn’t ready yet. I can’t lie, we were exhausted and hopeful, but they told us they would try to have it ready soon. We left our bags with the hotel and went to a nearby cafe for breakfast. By the time we finished (around noon) our room was ready. I booked my room with my American Express Platinum card. If you have this card you have access to their Fine Resorts and Hotels program, which is fantastic. I usually book my hotels through that system. It gives us several perks, such as early check-in, room upgrade (when available), guaranteed 4 PM checkout, free breakfast daily and $100 credit usually specified for dining or the spa.
We finally got into our room and it was perfect. They had set up an additional bed for Charlie and left us a few welcome gifts on the table. They even set up a reservation for us to join them for sunset cocktails and tapas at their rooftop bar that evening. I can’t say enough good things about the staff here. Truly some of the nicest people. Every single time we entered the hotel they had a little surprise for Charlie… sometimes I chocolate or a cup of popcorn, some chips, etc. They’re just the nicest people and such a kid-friendly property.
After flying all night we were exhausted and decided to head to our room for much needed showers and a nap. I napped less than everyone else and took advantage of the quiet time to unpack all of our bags. I always ask for extra hangers to be sent up to my room when I arrive so I can hang everything that needs to be hung up. Having everything unpacked and organized from the beginning saves you so much time each day because you’ll know exactly where everything is. Plus, unpacking completely and hanging clothes up really helps it stretch out so you’re not ironing clothes while on vacation.
By the time we were all up and got dressed to head out it was like 4PM and we had reservations at 6PM for tapas on the rooftop of our hotel. Since we didn’t have a ton of time, we opted to just walk around and stay nearby. Our hotel is on Passeig de Gràcia, so that’s the area we explored. My daughter, Charlie, decided that her favorite Golden Goose sneakers were too tight when she saw the Golden Goose store and said she needed new ones. She had good timing. She got new sneakers and we explored our neighborhood a bit. Familiarizing yourself with your neighborhood the first day is always a great idea. I like to see what restaurants are nearby, where my nearest pharmacy or little market is, if there’s a subway station nearby, etc. That way you’re not trying to figure it out when you need something.
We made it back to our hotel just in time for our tapas and cocktails on the rooftop. I always try to plan dinner near our hotel or in our hotel the first night. You might be exhausted or not really familiar with the area yet, so it’s easier to stay close. The rooftop bar at our hotel is the Azimuth Rooftop and it’s fantastic. You can sit inside or outside (they have heaters for the cooler nights) and they have a selection of tapas and cocktails that are delicious. We had 4 tapas and a round of cocktails (a mixed fruit juice for Charlie).
A few hours later we decided to go out to a late dinner, which is the norm in Spain anyway. Since we had taken a nap, we were good with staying up late. We decided to check out Vinitus, a highly rated restaurant near our hotel. We opted for some more tapas and a bottle of wine. The restaurant is quite popular and super busy, but the food is good. It’s definitely not the usual Spain experience that service is slow. Here it is super fast and the dishes come out unusually fast. If it wasn’t for the bottle of wine we took our time drinking, we would have been done in about half an hour. It was a simple but yummy dinner. The perfect way to end our first day in Barcelona.
We took it super easy the first day as we were really just adjusting to the time change. We knew we had a whole week there so we weren’t too worried about getting a lot done. If you’re on a tighter schedule then you’d definitely want to do more the first day.
DAY 2 – Sagrada Familia
After a much needed full nights sleep, we were refreshed and ready to see all of Barcelona. We had breakfast at our hotel, since breakfast daily was included. It’s one of the several perks when booking with my American Express Platinum (more details on that above).
While my hubby and daughter got ready for the day, I walked a block to a beauty salon where I had made myself the first hair appointment of the day. I usually get a blow out before leaving on vacation, but we left Monday night and all beauty salons in Miami are closed on Sundays and Mondays. If I’m gone for a week or a little more I tend to make myself a blow out appointment at a nearby salon. Making an appointment for a blow dry during your trip means that you don’t have to bring shampoo, conditioner, a blow drier, flat iron, special brushes, etc. and most importantly you don’t have to worry about the voltage conversion or burning out your hair tools. I rather spend the money on a visit to the beauty salon instead of the overweight baggage fee if I had to bring all of those things. Plus, my blow out last a week, so its a 1 time visit for me. Worth every penny!
As soon as I made I back to the room, we all finished getting ready and headed to likely the most famous thing to see in all of Barcelona – the Sagrada Familia. This spectacular work by architect Antoni Gaudi has been under construction for well over 100 years and is expected to be completed in 2026.
Last time we were in Barcelona 9 years ago, we decided not to enter it because we had gotten mixed reviews about it. This time we decided we were going to check out the inside of the Sagrada Familia and I’m so glad we did. It’s truly gorgeous! The stained glass shines the most beautiful colors into the Basilica and the amount of detail throughout is just breathtaking. One side has stained glass windows in yellow and orange tones, while the opposite side has them in the green and blue tones. They give the most beautiful glow inside. Every single surface is covered in detail. The ceiling is so intricate. Even the door is carved with words. I could go on and on about how amazing it is, but I’ll let the pictures speak for themselves.
Buy Sagrada tickets online to avoid the long ticket line. Be mindful of the time you want to go when purchasing online, because they give you a 15 minute window. I bought them the morning we visited to make sure I got the time right, however it was a weekday during low season. If you’re visiting during high season, I suggest you buy them in advance to ensure you can get them. I’m pretty sure that’s why we skipped it last time… there were no tickets available online and the line to buy tickets at the door wrapped the block. Sagrada de Familia tickets cost 26 Euros per person and children 10 and under are free, so it was 52 Euros for our family to visit. Whether you buy your tickets online or at the door, you have to get in the Sagrada Familia queue where they scan your bags and your tickets before letting you in. We opted to just see the Sagrada Familia inside ourselves, but there’s plenty of tour options if you prefer that.
After the Sagrada Familia, we checked out the parks surrounding it. Right across from the Sagrada Familia is the Jardins Sagrada Familia. There you’ll find some food trucks and seating for a quick lunch or snack (we shared a fruit cup and delicious sandwich) and a playground with the best view in Barcelona. We always search for playgrounds with a view and this one did not disappoint. Look at Paris’ best playground with a view we found last year.
On the other side of the Sagrada Familia is the Plaza de Gaudi. Here is the famous spot where you’ve seen photos of the Sagrada Familia taken from. Several people were waiting to take a photo with that view, but it only took a few minutes to get our turn. There’s also another small playground here that we obviously had to stop at too.
After the Sagrada Familia it was time for lunch. We were planning to head to the beach but couldn’t get an Uber, for whatever reason they’re not popular in Barcelona, so instead we just searched on Yelp for restaurants near us and realized there was a great Italian spot, Paisano Bistro, down the block from where we were. It was the perfect opportunity to change it up from Tapas. We stopped for a pizza and pastas, all of which were great. Around the corner was a gelato spot so we finished our meal with that and then headed back to our hotel for a late afternoon siesta with a full belly.
We didn’t get up until about dinner time. On this trip I made a conscious effort to make less reservations than usual. I didn’t want to be on a tight schedule. We had looked up good restaurants near our hotel and decide to walk to that area and see how the waits were. One had a crazy long line outside, so we continued. We finally settled on Cachitos, as it was well rated and could seat us right away. The restaurant seems rather small from the outside, but its actually huge inside and such a hidden gem! Cachitos is the cutest tapas & wine bar with a huge dining room, spacious seating, the kindest staff, no wait for a table and some of the best food we had on this trip. We had a bottle of wine and tried some of their more popular tapas. At the end we wanted just 1 more plate but couldn’t decide on what to order… the chef was passing by and suggested the pasta stuffed with chicken, truffle and foie gras. It was insanely delicious and melts in your mouth! After dinner we headed back to the hotel to get a good nights rest… we had an extra long day coming up.
DAY 3 – Day Trip to Madrid
Day 3 was our first of several day trips and our longest one. If you’re doing a Barcelona itinerary 5 days or even a 4 day Barcelona itinerary, then you likely won’t be able to do this or any of the other day trips. If you do have time for it then here’s my Madrid Barcelona itinerary.
We took the fast train to Madrid, as it’s a 2 and a half hour ride (driving would have taken 6 hours). These tickets I bought about a month prior to ensure we could get the times we wanted. The prices vary greatly so look at the date and time options if you’re flexible. Some one ways were 200 euros, while others were like 27 euros. It’s a huge difference, especially when you need 6 tickets total (3 one way tickets there and 3 more to get back). We ended up choosing the 10:40AM departure, which I know seems late, but we much rather have a relaxing morning and return super late.
Our train arrived in Madrid at 1:25PM, which was perfect for enjoying the afternoon in the city. The Madrid Puerta de Atocha station is right across from the Parque de Retiro, so we started there. We walked around the park, stopped for a snack by the water and eventually made our way out of the park to get an Uber to take us to lunch. Uber in Madrid is more readily available and easy to use than we experienced in Barcelona.
I had made us lunch reservations at Astor after seeing it on Yelp about a month before our trip. The reviews were so good that I knew I had to try it. Let me tell you, they were so on point! The staff was incredible… they went to the back to find some crayons and stacking toys for Charlie to use during our lunch. We started with the best Provoleta I’ve ever had. Then I had the mushroom risotto, Charlie had a pasta and my husband had the steak. Everything was delicious! We ended with a desert and an after dinner drink they brought us. It was so sweet… they were on a tray and it even had a juice version for my daughter so she could toast with us. Our lunch at Astor Madrid was a 10/10! I highly recommend making reservations– the restaurant is small and gets very busy.
As we were leaving the restaurant someone from the staff was out front with their children, about my daughters age. The girls started talking and it was the sweetest thing ever. My daughter speaks very little Spanish and theirs speaks very little English but they were introducing themselves and having a laugh together. Such a heartwarming moment. I wish I had asked to take a picture of them together because it was so cute to see kids from different countries try to communicate and just having a great time together.
After lunch we walked around the neighborhood a bit… it’s not as touristy as other parts of the city and it’s beautiful.
We finally decided to get an Uber to take us to the Prado Museum. When we arrived we noticed that the line to get in wrapped around the building. We made the decision to skip it and do something else. I started searching for things to do nearby on my phone and came across tickets to a Flamenco show starting in 25 minutes. We bought the tickets, got in another Uber and rushed to the show. We got off the car 1 minute before they closed the doors. I hadn’t done any research so I have no idea if it’s one of the better shows, but it was a lot of fun. We saw Madrid: Emociones Live Flamenco Performance. I believe the prices were reduced since it was so last minute, but I paid $67 for the 3 of us. The show had little tables in the front, followed by a few rows of auditorium seating. Our seats were in the last row, but they brought my daughter a booster seat, so she was able to see her perfectly.
The show was 1 hour long, which means we still had a couple of hours until our train back to Barcelona. We decided to go for a long walk around the city. Getting lost in these cities is so much fun. The streets are beautiful and I love people watching. When you have time to spare just walk around and you’ll be amazed at what you find. While roaming around the city we decided to walk to a nearby rooftop bar for a drink. As we were heading there, we ended up on a main street right as the sun was starting to set and it was beautiful. I really wish I had stopped to take out my camera to take a good photo. This is just a quick phone picture.
We finally ended up at a rooftop bar I had heard good things about, Casa Suecia. It’s a really trendy spot on the rooftop of the NH Collection Madrid Suecia hotel overlooking the city with good music and great drinks. The design of the place is awesome. They do have a separate entrance on the side of the hotel and they charge you 12 Euros per person to enter, but its credited towards a drink. Basically they just ensure that you have at least 1 drink per person.
When we finished there it was finally time to head back to the train station for our train back to Barcelona. We bought a few snacks and activities for Charlie at the train station and checked out the “jungle” as my daughter called it, in the train station. We finally boarded our train at 9:10 PM and didn’t arrive back in Barcelona until 11:40 PM. It was a super long day and we didn’t get to bed until way past midnight, but we had such a great time and made some incredible memories.
DAY 4 – Tibidabo & Casa Batlló
This day we slept in and got a slow start. We went downstairs for breakfast like we did everyday and after that I headed to the gym for a quick workout. Meanwhile, my hubby went to pick up a rental car we had for the rest of the trip. We knew we wouldn’t use it the first few days, so we opted to pick it up the 4th day to avoid the expense of the rental car and the daily parking fee at our hotel. We rented a car through Hertz in the city and it was about 150 Euros for a small SUV for the 4 days.
It wasn’t til well after noon that we finally made our way out for the day. Our first stop was Tibidabo, a hill overlooking Barcelona with a beautiful church and an amusement park that you have to visit if you’re in Barcelona with your kids. We visited it last time we were in Barcelona and I knew that my daughter would love the Tibidabo Amusement Park. We decided to do it the day we had a car because I remember that getting to Tibidabo was a trek including a bus, the Tibidabo Funicular, etc. There’s parking right by the entrance of the amusement park, so driving was the best way to go for visiting here. I noticed lots of construction at the Tibidabo Amusement Park, so it appears to be growing.
Tibidabo takes a while to get to as it’s on the outskirt of the city at the top of a hill. However, being at the top of the hill means you get some of the best views of Barcelona. They say that on a clear day you can even see as far as the island of Ibiza. It wasn’t that clear for us, but the view was still incredible. At Tibidabo you get beautiful views, a church worth visiting and an amusement park all in one.
There’s several rides available, and appears to be more coming soon. You can buy an individual ride for 3 Euros or a wristband that allows you to ride all of the rides as many times as you want. We ended up buying the unlimited band for my daughter and I to avoid having to go back to buy more tickets. It wasn’t a huge difference, but the individual rides would have been a little cheaper since we didn’t ride them all and we didn’t do any more than once. Imagine the view those people are getting on that ride that goes straight up?! See the red cart at the top of it? Well there’s several people in there! We weren’t brave enough to get on that one, but we did do the airplane ride that was pretty cool.
Also up here is the Tibidabo Barcelona church, known as the Sagrat Cor church, which is beautiful. It’s open to the public and for 3 Euros per person (kids are free) you can take the elevator up to the middle of it. From there you have even better views of Barcelona. Even if you’re just visiting for the Tibidabo Amusement Park, make sure you save some time to visit the church at Tibidabo too.
Then there’s some spiral staircases that continue up to the top. The final staircase is a little metal staircase all the way up to the Jesus statue thats at the very top of the church. Once you get up there, there is a super narrow walkway where you can step out to see the views. Last time we were here we took a picture together and my daughter had asked that we recreate it with her on this trip. She was a champ because we had to climb a whole lot of stairs to get up there, but she did it. It’s not perfectly centered, but my hand was reaching out over the balcony trying to take the photo while holding onto my phone for dear life on a super windy day. That’s as wide of a picture as it would take, but you get the idea.
At this point we were starving and decided to make our way back to the area of our hotel. We parked the car at our hotel since we have valet parking already paid for and walked over to the Majestic Hotel (we stayed here last time and loved it) to check out their rooftop bar for some tapas and drinks. The Majestic Hotel’s rooftop bar, La Dolce Vitae, is a dream! They have sweeping views of the city and delicious food. It was the perfect way to relax after the long day the day before.
We ordered several tapas and a bottle of wine, along with a passion fruit mocktail for Charlie, which was super cute! They have the best presentation with their food and drinks. Between the beautiful views and the perfect weather we really didn’t want to leave. We definitely hung out here for quite some time.
The only reason we left was that I had bought some tickets for an experience. Across the street is Casa Batlló, one of Gaudi’s famous works in the city. Is Casa Batllo worth going in? I had not entered last time, but I heard it was fun so we decided to make it a first time experience for all of us. I was hesitant when I saw the Casa Batllo price. Tickets for all of us were close to 100 Euros. I bought our tickets online and selected the silver ticket. Our Casa Batllo ticket price was 47 Euros each and children under 12 are free, so we only needed the 2 tickets. All tickets include the Gaudi Cube (this is the cool room in the video), but the upgraded silver ticket also includes the Gaudi Dome (it’s cool, but not really worth the extra money) and the virtual reality tablet. If you’re taking kids, this is 100% worth the upgraded cost. There’s an audioguide connected to a tablet that shows you Casa Batllo inside and almost every room has a virtual reality element to find. In one room inside Casa Batllo a turtle would come out of the wall and swim across the room and you could follow it with your tablet. Up on the rooftop there were flocks of birds seen on the tablet. My daughter loved entering each room with her tablet and looking for the “magic” element. If you’re still wondering if Casa Batllo is worth it… Without a doubt, Casa Batlló is a place you want to enter when you visit Barcelona!
Upstairs they do photos on the balcony that you can buy later for like 15 Euros. I am clearly that person that buys the souvenir photo, but it’s really cute with the background of the Guadi house and I’m a sucker for photos.
The very last room you enter is definitely the highlight of the tour… The Gaudi Cube is a room where all 6 walls have LED screens so you’re inside a room with colors flying past you. It’s really cool! You can see some of it in the video below.
DAY 5 – Bagà & Andorra
We were up bright and early for another LONG day. This is the main reason we rented a car. We wanted to visit the tiny country of Andorra thats just a 2.5 hour drive from Barcelona. It’s a beautiful ski town and we originally hoped to get Charlie a ski lesson for the day but it was much warmer than expected and no snow on the mountain anymore. We were all excited to visit somewhere new and add another country to all of our lists.
We also heard that Bagà was on the way (less than an hour and a half from Barcelona and just a few minutes from the highway) and worth a visit so we did both stops that day. The charming old Pyrenees town of Bagà was a huge surprise and so worth a visit. I loved it so much that I already created an entire post showing you exactly where to visit and even giving you a map that marks all the spots you have to see when you go. Here are some go my favorite photos from Bagà, but if you want to visit then make sure you check out my Bagà Blog Post for all of the details.
After Bagà we continued on to Andorra. Andorra is a tiny country between Spain and France. It is one of the oldest (dating back to 803 AD) and smallest (180 sq miles/468 sq km) countries in the world. It is well known for skiing, shopping and spas, it even has the largest spa complex in southern Europe. Although it was too warm for skiing, we still spent the afternoon exploring the town of Andorra de Vella and it’s beautiful. Getting to Andorra is fairly simple, it’s just a long drive.
If it’s not ski season, 1 day in Andorra is sufficient to see the main area.We spent a few hours seeing the city and having lunch then decided to make our way back to Barcelona. It was perfect timing because we saw people in the streets with Andorra flags and then we noticed police blocking off an area… turns out there was a big soccer game against Romania that night and Andorra was about to get really busy.
We made it back to Barcelona earlier than expected so we quickly showered and changed to head out for the night. We started at the rooftop bar at our hotel again, since we heard they had a DJ that night. After a round of drinks, we headed to dinner. First we tried going to Cerveceria Catalana, my favorite restaurant last time we were in Barcelona, 9 years prior. They do not take reservations and they’re currently rated #1 on TripAdvisor. Well, there was like 100 people standing outside and they were saying that it would be over an hour wait. So we left and headed back to Cachitos, the tapas & wine bar nearby that we loved so much and had another amazing dinner there.
DAY 6 – Parc Guell & Barrio Gotico
We woke up on Sunday ready to finish exploring Barcelona. This would be our last full day in the city. Little did I know that things to do in Barcelona on Sunday are quite limited because a lot of things are closed.
First up was visiting Parc Güell, another famous Gaudi work in Barcelona. The estate was Gaudi’s family home until his death. Today it is a park where tourists go to see his work. Parc Guell is one of the most popular things to see in Barcelona and it’s as busy as you’d expect. I originally figured we would drive to Parc Güell since it’s not super close to us, but after speaking to our concierge we decided the best way to get to Parc Guell is to take a taxi. Our concierge explained to me that the area has minimal parking and lots of tourists.
Once we arrived there was a long line outside. We hadn’t purchased our tickets yet, so we got in line. Parc Guell price is 10 Euros per person, but children 6 and under are free. Once inside you’ll follow the path that takes you all around the beautiful property. We managed to find little nooks where we could get photos without people behind us if we were patient.
I visited 9 years ago and it looks the same but the crowds this time were 5 times what they were last time. It was super crowded and quite honestly hard to enjoy. I wanted a photo on the bench with the gingerbread houses in the background and had to wait for like 15 minutes to get a quick moment on the bench for our photo. And that bench is super long, which means tons of people were taking the same photo at the same time. Busy tourist spots just aren’t my favorite, but it would be a shame to miss Parc Güell.
We left much quicker than anticipated and finally found a taxi. Rather than heading back to the hotel, we went straight to el Barrio Gotico. There’s so many things to do in Gothic Quarter Barcelona, so I knew we’d want to spend some time in that area. We were planning to have lunch, check out the neighborhood and visit the Picasso Museum (luckily it’s open on Sunday, but it is closed on Monday- which would be our last day in Barcelona, so this was our last chance to visit it).
El Barrio Gotico is a beautiful old neighborhood that you have to explore when you’re in Barcelona. Just get lost walking around those little streets. Everywhere you look it’s beautiful.
While in this old city Barcelona neighborhood I looked for good restaurants nearby and found La Gambeta, a highly rated restaurant known for paella and inside a cave. We headed straight there and it was amazing. We hadn’t pad paella yet this trip, and I love it. Most paella’s are for 2 people, meaning you have to order 2 portions for them to make it for you. Since it’s usually not my hubby’s favorite dish we hadn’t had it yet. But he will agree that the paella at La Gambeta was delicious. They also had lots of tapa options, which worked out perfectly for my daughter.
After lunch we walked over to Museu Picasso, also located in the Barrio Gotico. Picasso lived in Barcelona during his childhood and gave his earlier works to this museum. It’s the only Picasso museum to have opened while he was alive. Tickets to enter were 12 Euros per person (for the basic ticket without the audioguide) and free for anyone under 18. We opted to buy our tickets upon arrival because we weren’t sure what time we’d make it there. There was a short line and it was a fairly quick process that day.
After the museum we headed to the Barcelona Cathedral that is nearby. Unfortunately there was a huge Samsung advertisement on it. I really don’t know how the city allowed that, but it completely ruins it if you ask me. I had seen a photo of it online before our trip and I thought it was fake. I couldn’t believe that huge advertisement was really there. There is a hotel across the street from it, Hotel Colon, that has a rooftop bar overlooking the Barcelona Cathedral. I was planning to visit that bar, but I changed my mind when I saw the advertisement that would be right at eye level. Hopefully it’s gone soon and they never do that again.
We were planning to walk over to La Boqueria on Las Ramblas next since we hadn’t done that yet either, but just like all of the stores in the city, it was closed. If you’re in Barcelona on a Sunday be aware that most things will be closed so have a very specific plan of things to do in Barcelona on Sunday so you don’t find yourself bored.
You’d think we had a long enough day at this point, but it wasn’t over yet. We headed back to our hotel to relax and shower then back up to our rooftop bar, the Azimuth Bar, for a pre-dinner drink while watching the sunset. We were given drink vouchers when we arrived and had $100 dining credit from booking through our Amex, so we were able to visit several times without any expense.
Rooftop bars at sunset are probably my favorite thing to do in Barcelona and I highly recommend you make time for it when you’re there.
While sitting there we did a little research to find a restaurant for dinner. We noticed that Botafumeiro had reservations available. Botafumiero is one of the top restaurants in Barcelona. We went last time (2014) and it was incredible. It is fine dining and ohhh so yummy. Since I decided to not make many reservations for this trip, I didn’t think we would end up going there again, but it was meant to be.
We stopped at our room to change since we were in our hotel anyway and had dressed casual thinking we were doing a simple dinner. Luckily we had 1 dressier outfit left, which was perfect since we were going to a fine dining spot. We walked the mile to the restaurant and arrived minutes before our reservation.
Botafumiero is a huge fine dining seafood restaurant that is one of the most famous spots in Barcelona and rightfully so. You walk into a foyer with lobster tanks and fridges full of fresh seafood. The walls by the bar are lined with photos of famous people dining there, everyone from Beyonce to past US presidents to Denzel Washington are on that wall. Within a few minutes they led us to our table through the dining room. You can’t tell until you walk in, but the restaurant is huge. The service is impeccable and we had the nicest waiter.
We over ordered for sure, but everything we tried was delicious. We started with some bread, the seafood croquettes, fish and shellfish soup, shellfish stuffed cannelloni and a bottle of wine. My husband then ordered the Oven baked sea bream with potatoes & spring onion and I ordered the Sole with cava sauce and shrimps and black truffle. My daughter ate from the appetizers and our plates. The plates were quite big and fantastic. After all of that, we didn’t have space for dessert but we ordered it anyway. My daughter requested the mango and passion fruit dessert and we also ordered the homemade cannelloni. Since that wasn’t enough, they sent us a third dessert on the house. Again, everything was delicious. By far this was the biggest meal and our favorite of our trip. The whole bill was 239 Euros which I thought was surprisingly inexpensive considering how much we ordered.
After dinner we walked the mile back to our hotel so we could digest all that food before getting into bed.
DAY 7 – Girona & La Boqueria
Let’s finish this 7 days in Barcelona itinerary with the very last day. We got up rather early so we could squeeze in 1 more day trip and the last few things we wanted to see in Barcelona as well.
First stop of the day was the city of Girona, a charming old city with one of Europe’s best preserved Jewish Quarters. The Jewish Quarters date back to the 13th century with medieval walls and stone stairways throughout. Girona is a little over an hour from Barcelona by car, but there’s also other forms of transportation if you’re not renting a car. The train is actually the quickest and easiest way, taking a little over half an hour for the journey.
Unlike Bagà a couple days prior, Girona was full of tourists. We saw many walking tours, particularly full of younger people, and they were all discussing the same topic- the hit series, Game of Thrones. Several scenes from season 6 of Game of Thrones were filmed in Girona, as Braavos and King’s Landing. We wandered the streets for a couple of hours in this little old city and truly felt like we had stepped into the set of Game of Thrones.
This spot below was the most crowded. One of the most famous scenes from season 6 was shot in Girona at the steps of the Girona Cathedral. The left is my photo and the right is from the Great Sept of Baelor scene.
If you’re going for the Game of Thrones scenes everything is close to each other. A day in Girona is plenty of time. We focused on the Jewish Quarters and the bridge with the view of the colorful buildings.
If Girona is on you list of places to visit, make sure you download my map that syncs to your phone. It maps exactly what to do in Girona for a day.
After Girona, we headed back to Barcelona to hopefully squeeze in the last couple things we had left to do in the city. We had to return our rental car this day so my hubby dropped my daughter and I off at the hotel and went to return the car. I had promised to take my daughter to the Lego store by our hotel days before, not realizing that it would be closed on Sunday. We used the spare time while my hubby returned the car (on Monday) to walk to the Lego store. I have to admit… even I was amazed! I’ve never seen a Lego store quite like this one. There was gigantic Lego structures of some of Barcelona’s most famous buildings and lots of fun things, like the Encanto house from the Disney movie. I had promised her a “prize” from the Lego store for trying so many new foods on the trip (I have a picky eater and yes, I bribe her to try new foods lol).
My husband eventually joined us at the Lego store so we could continue with our day. We walked down Las Ramblas to La Boqueria. We finally went inside one of Barcelona’s most famous spots on the very last day. La Boqueria is the most famous of the food markets in Barcelona and it’s amazing! They have everything from fresh fruit to spices, candy, fresh seafood, wine, etc. If you’re going to La Boqueria don’t get discouraged by the huge crowds (it’s busy). When you walk in just continue walking in further. There’s duplicates of most of the stands and only the very front ones are super busy. We bought some goodies to bring home to our families and a fresh fruit smoothie for Charlie.
There was 2 things left on my list of things to see in Barcelona – the beach area, Barceloneta, and Montjuic that you can get to from the cable car in Barceloneta. We walked from La Boqueria down to the beach, but honestly quit before getting to the good part. We were exhausted and kinda over it. It was way too cold for the beach anyway. I wish we had one more day to do Monjuic and Barceloneta, but it didn’t happen. Now I have a reason to take my daughter back one day.
We ended up getting a taxi to take us back to our hotel since we were several miles away at this point. No exaggeration, my phone says we walked 17,000 steps that day. No idea how my daughter did it without complaining, but she did.
Once back at our hotel, it was time to start packing. The amazing staff at our hotel, the Almanac Barcelona, had sent us a bottle of wine that we finally got to enjoy while we (really I) packed. I’m in charge of all the packing and unpacking always. Not because my husband won’t help, but because I’m so OCD and need it done the “right way”.
It was finally time to get ready for our last dinner in the city. Since arriving I had wanted to go back to my favorite restaurant from the last trip 9 years earlier, Cerveceria Catalana. This is the one I visited a couple days prior that had over an hour wait. We went earlier this time and it was a Monday. Luckily they were able to get us seated in about 10-15 minutes. The restaurant is currently #1 on TripAdvisor which has kinda ruined it. It’s extremely busy, they rush you, and the food is good but not amazing. I was honestly disappointed. We definitely had other meals that were better. It wasn’t bad, but it’s not worth waiting an hour for a table. By the time we left there was a super long line outside of people waiting for a table. They do not take reservations, so waiting is the only way.
We made it back to our hotel to finish packing and get ready for bed. We would be waking up bright and early to head home.
DAY 8 – Going Home
I didn’t count this day on my 7 days in Barcelona itinerary because we didn’t do anything. We had breakfast and grabbed our bags to head to the airport. Our Barcelona trip was officially over and it was time to go home.
Could we have stayed longer? Definitely! It’s an amazing city with so much to see and do. The best part of Barcelona is just hanging out there and enjoying it. If you’re just going to rush through all the touristy things and check them off your list then you’re going to miss so much of the experience. Spain is so special because of the vibe…. long lunches, siestas during the day, tapas on a rooftop, late dinners, etc. Please don’t miss out on that when you’re there. If you’re planning a trip, please plan a 4 day Barcelona itinerary or 5 day itinerary Barcelona at the very least. You need the days to truly submerge yourself in the city and their culture.
Since this blog post is extra long, here is a quick roundup of my favorite restaurants….
FAVORITE RESTAURANTS
Botafumiero – Delicious fine dining seafood restaurant that is a MUST when you visit. Reservations are recommended.
Cachitos – A delicious and simple tapas and wine bar, perfect for a chill dinner. The restaurant is spacious with ample seating and incredible service. No need for reservations.
Astor (Madrid) – Spanish and Mediterranean restaurant in La Latina neighborhood in Madrid that was one of the best meals of our entire trip. It’s a small location. Make reservations in advance, it fills up quickly.
Azimuth Rooftop at the Almanac Hotel – A rooftop bar on Passeig de Gracia with great cocktails and tapas. On the weekend they have live music.
La Dolce Vitae Rooftop at the Majestic Hotel – A rooftop view on Passeig de Gracia with incredible views of the city. They have incredible tapas and cocktails.
No Comments