3 days in Barcelona | the perfect Barcelona itinerary

We have just had an amazing few days away in Barcelona, we loved the city so much and so I am sharing our 3 day Barcelona itinerary here with you in case it inspires your next city break! 

We booked it all a bit last minute but availability was good and we managed to get reasonably priced flights with EasyJet from London Luton and then I booked a 2-bedroom Airbnb apartment in a central Barcelona location and with a roof garden.

The great thing about Barcelona is that it has something for everyone, the beach, the architecture, the cuisine and the sunshine! It was our first time in Barcelona, and in fact our first time in Spain (I did a day trip from France to San Sebastian when I was about 14)! Early spring was a great time to visit Barcelona, although the weather this year had been wet and stormy much later than usual, but I would recommend late April and into May as a good time to go as the spring weather is just warming up and it isn't too hot for sightseeing.

3 days in Barcelona | the perfect Barcelona itinerary

We chose to travel at a very dignified departure time on a Sunday afternoon which meant we arrived in Barcelona late afternoon and so our first evening allowed us to unpack, buy some basic groceries and have a wander around the Eixample district where the Airbnb was located.

Our apartment overlooked the street and we could see La Sagrada Familia from the rooftop.  The Picasso Suites are on Carrer de València and are very convenient for public transport or walking to all the popular attractions in Barcelona. We chose to either walk or get a taxi which we found to be very reasonably priced and readily available either on the street or by using Uber.  The apartments are right next door to a couple of good restaurants as well as an amazing flower and food market.

Barcelona E-Bike Tours | Barcelona Beach and the W Hotel in Barcelona

My shorts are the Trek Shorts in navy from ACAI Outdoorwear
Use my ACAI Refer-a-Friend Link to get £10 off orders over £50 (new customers only)

3 days in Barcelona ...

Day 1 - Monday
An e-bike tour and the beach

On our first day, following a recommendation from my sister, we booked a private e-bike tour of Barcelona with Alfredo who runs his own independent tour guide business. It was the best way to see the city, hear from a local and get our bearings. We covered so much in the 4 hour tour and the e-bikes are easy to use, 

Alfredo took us to all the best places in Barcelona - starting with the harbour area and the Colombus Monument, the beach and along to the Olympic village. The tour also included the Gothic Quarter, La Sagrada Familia, Casa Milà and Casa Batlló, the Arc de Triomf and Ciutadella Park as well as the Barceloneta neighbourhood.

We stopped at every location to hear more about this history and fun facts and Alfreda was very happy to answer our questions and chat in more detail. And for my instagram and blog and love of photos, Alfreda is also a photographer and is very happy to take photos of you, he knows the best poses and locations for fantastic photos and it gave my husband a day off photo duty!

The e-bike tour of Barcelona starts at 10 am and finishes at 2 pm with a drink and tapas (included in the price) at a pretty pavement cafe in the Gothic Quarter, we were lucky to sit outside and soak up the atmosphere and chat more to Alfredo about Barcelona. I couldn't think of a better way to watch the world go by!  We booked a private e-bike tour but Alfredo does keep all his tours to quite small groups.

In the afternoon we decided some down time was needed and had an hour relaxing on Barcelona beach then went back to the apartment to change for dinner. We did find navigating the menu's and choosing restaurants a bit of a challenge. None of us had much experience of tapas or paella and we are not big fish or seafood eaters! After a bit of searching, we ended up having a drink at the Eclipse Bar at the W Hotel Barcelona, it is a magnificent sky bar and cocktail lounge with the best views over the sea and city. But it is also a trendy location full of younger people posing for selfies and enjoying quite loud music so it might not be to everyones taste! We then tried to get a table in the Fire restaurant, also at the W Hotel but this proved impossible until gone 10 pm so we made do with tapas in the bar area. Not ideal but it is the challenge of a new city. 

Below: my red dress is the Ottilie dress from Baukjen (use FAB15 for 15% off),
​and my red espadrilles are from Sosandar.

Barcelona Beach

Day 2 - Tuesday
Shopping in Barcelona, the Gothic Quarter and a Tapas Tour

Having really enjoyed visiting the main shopping street in Barcelona with Alfreda we decided to go back mainly to window shop, wander and find La Rambla but temptation won and we had to have a shopping spree in Zara and Mango. Both Spanish companies and as good as Zara is in the UK, it is so much better in Spain.

Las Ramblas is a busy tourist hot spot and although we were pleased to go and see it, I wouldn't say it was a highlight, we much preferred the Gothic Quarter and pretty squares around Barcelona Cathedral as well as the shopping area near to Casa Milà and where, as well as Zara and Mango, you can find the big fashion houses like Gucci, Chanel and Versace, nice to walk past and window shop!  Do visit Amatller Chocolate if you get time, it is by Casa Milà and has amazing chocolate, presented in pretty tins and apparently the best hot chocolate (probably more suited to cooler weather though)!

We had a tapas lunch near to Barcelona Cathedral, which worked out really well as the cafe we chose had a self-service option where you can go and choose the dishes which really helped us to understand tapas! A lovely chilled glass of white wine too and I was quite happy.

We then met up with Alfredo again for our Unexpected Local Tapas Tour.  My daughter was a bit apprehensive about the food but she embraced it and we loved finding out how to 'eat like a local' and discover the best Catalan dishes in small restaurants and bars off the main tourist areas. This is a walking guided tour around the pretty and narrow streets of the Gothic Quarter and Alfredo explains all about the Spanish and Catalan cuisine as well as sharing snippets of history and facts about Antoni Gaudi. Our first stop was an aperitif of local Cava at 4Gats a restaurant and bar full of history and culture and is a popular place for artists to gather.

We passed through a small square by the Saint Felip Neri Church and learnt about the aerial bombing of the square during the Spanish civil war. You can still see the bomb damage and despite a number of children dying that day, it was reassuring to see the area full of life and boys playing football and enjoying the mild evening sunshine. With all the atrocities in Ukraine right now, it does make you stop and think.

Our next stop was at La Plata a tiny bar and restaurant favoured by the locals and less frequented by tourists! Alfredo explained that this is the best place for anchovies (obviously Emily wasn't keen but she did try at least)! We had a delicious plate of battered anchovies with a glass of red wine! This was our starter!

We then headed to Barceloneta to one of Alfredo's favourite restaurants, Bitacora. Now, I would never normally give this place a second glance, but seeing past the slightly tatty, battered surroundings, the food was amazing! Alfredo chose us deep-fried squid and a beef dish as well as spicy potatoes and another glass of red wine! Loved it!

This was so far out of my normal comfort zone but it really meant we learnt so much more about this beautiful city and how the locals live.

Barcelona Gothic Quarter

Above and below: Unexpected Local Tapas Tour around the Gothic Quarter in Barcelona.

Day 3 - Wednesday
Montjuic, Poble Espanyol and La Sagrada Familia

After a few drinks the night before, today we were all feeling very tired! But no time to stop ... we decided to escape the city for a few hours and go up to Montjuic Hill where there would be fewer tourists and where it would be a great spot to enjoy the views across Barcelona city and the Mediterranean sea. We worked out that we could get the cable car up to Montjuic Hill (Port Cable Car), this delivered us to the main viewpoint, we then walked up past the Hotel Mirimar and made our way to Montjuic Castle. The short walk took us about 30 minutes and it is uphill (but gentle), there is another cable car but we didn't quite manage to work that bit out! The castle is very pretty and has fabulous views overlooking the port and harbour area. We chose not to go in but it is possible to do so.

We then called an Uber taxi and made our way to the other side of Montjuic Hill to Poble Espanyol which is an open air living museum built to showcase a traditional Spanish village. We enjoyed wandering around the pretty streets and had lunch in one of the restaurants, there are lots of small shops selling traditional Spanish crafts.

Next on our itinerary was a pre-booked tour of La Sagrada Familia, the famous UNESCO World Heritage Site, we had booked our tour with Viator and it was conducted in English and Spanish and took about an hour, we were there in total for about 2 hours.

La Sagrada Familia is probably the most well known building in Barcelona and dominates the skyline. it is an iconic example of Antoni Gaudi's unique architectural style.

It is good if you can visit on a really sunny day and I am told that early evening as the sun is setting can really show the light inside off to it's full splendour. Typically our visit was on a slightly cloudier day! It does get really busy and especially so in high season and summer months so the best option is book either a guided tour or a skip the line ticket in advance to avoid the long queues. As it is one of the main attractions in Barcelona the area around it is busy with tourists, street sellers and guides and this is where you will find all the fast food restaurants - we avoided them!

I had also booked to go up one of the two towers - there is the Nativity Tower and the Passion Tower. We went up the Nativity Tower which was the only tower built under the supervision of Gaudi himself and you can see the architecture close up, there is a small bridge and stunning views over Barcelona city and the mountains beyond. There is an elevator to go up but it is stairs coming back down (although you can ask to take the elevator if necessary). I recommend adding a tower visit to your ticket.

We had dinner that evening overlooking the harbour at Brisa restaurant and we did very well choosing our tapas and tried paella too!

Above: Cable Car going up to Montjuic Hill and Montjuic Castle.
Below: La Sagrada Familia

On our final day, Thursday, our flight home was after lunch so after a slow morning packing up, we enjoyed a final walk through the Parc de la Ciutadella near the Arc de Triomf, relaxed a while in the sun then had lunch overlooking the super yachts!

We chose not to use public transportation but it is still a great way to get around the city, there are also lots of free walking tours but we preferred to embrace the fun of a private e-bike tour which we would absolutely recommend.

We had very full days but city breaks are always like that, trying to fit everything in!

You can also buy a Barcelona Pass if you want to save money on entry to many of the popular tourist destinations, museums and public transport. Barcelona really is a perfect place to enjoy a Catalan welcome and we loved visiting so much.

Parc de la Ciutadella

Above: Fanny Pack / Bum Bag from Amazon (lots of colours).
My shorts are the Trek Shorts in navy from ACAI Outdoorwear
Use my ACAI Refer-a-Friend Link to get £10 off orders over £50 (new customers only)

​We all really loved Barcelona, we were amazed at the size and stunning architecture of La Sagrada Familia and we enjoyed the Catalan welcome and loved learning more about the region and about Spain too.  

Have you been to Barcelona, or is it on your wish list?  Remember to save this blog post so you can refer back to it if you are planning your own trip soon!

Love from
Michelle xx
​

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Other blog posts on Fifty & Fab you might enjoy:

Days out in Cornwall | and my holiday in the Rame Peninsula, South East Cornwall
What to do and where to stay near Broadway in the Cotswolds
​What to do and what to wear in Krakow, Poland
Enjoying the sights of Prague​​

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Other blogs I link up with:

Is This Mutton
#WowOnWednesday 

​Mummabstylish
#Chic&Stylish

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