Visiting the magnificent Barcelona 

Barcelona is a city that has it all, beaches, weather, architecture, food and art. It's great for solo travellers, backpackers and even families travelling to Barcelona! All of these unique aspects of the city make it one of my ideal holiday destinations and I try and go back as often as I get the chance. I took this as an opportunity to write a little bit about this amazing city and to help inspire you to visit and explore Barcelona one day too (hopefully soon).

Parc Güell

Parc Güell is like the playground that you could only dream of and this magical park is 42 acres of space for you to explore and enjoy. This was the ultimate playground of the architecture Antoni Gaudi and he put more or less everything that you could imagine would be in a dream into the park. It features typical Gaudi architecture with interesting and organic forms, as well as brilliant mosaics and places that were designed unlike any traditional park that you have ever seen. My favourite thing has be the huge mosaic lizard fountain, which is extremely colourful and is definitely an icon that will stick in your mind after visiting.

Visit the colourful neighbourhoods

Barcelona is unfortunately a place where the common tourist can easily be tricked into so experiences that are not so authentic. I would highly recommend visiting some of the various neighbourhoods in Barcelona, such as Gracia. I love this place for the food, cafes and views from the hills. This is a wonderful neighbourhood and is home to many young professionals as well as interesting bohemian types too. There are many more of these great neighbourhoods too and it never really takes long to leave the touristy areas and hit the more authentic spots where only the locals go. Better yet, you could find some local friends and get them to show you around. Since this can be quite difficult, especially in a touristy city like Barcelona, I will give you one helpful tip: try out a private experience with Withlocals! These guys provide an online platform to connect travellers with local people, allowing you to discover real and authentic experiences that locals would actually experience themselves: It could be a picnic in the park, a home dinner or a tour discovering the local street art… The possibilities are endless.

La Barceloneta Beach

I already mentioned that Barcelona has some great beaches and it definitely has the advantage of being located directly on the sea. The main beach or La Barceloneta Beach, as it is known, is one of the best places to soak up the sun and brilliant blue waters of the city and it is incredibly conveniently located near the very centre of the city. You can quite easily go here for a dip with friends and then head out to lunch or dinner directly afterwards. It really doesn’t get better than that. Although it may seem as though the beach looked like this forever, this is actually not the case as the port was reclaimed and the beach is actually artificial! The beach is also a great place to experience some other very interesting architecture and sculpture, such as Frank Gehry’s 56 metre long (and 35 metre high) Peix sculpture. This giant golden goldfish faces towards the Mediterranean Sea and has become an iconic landmark of the Barcelona skyline.

La Sagrada Família

The name of this church translates to the Church of the Sacred Family and is another one of Gaudi’s legacies in Barcelona and perhaps his most imposing and iconic. The radically shaped spires of the church can be seen from more or less everywhere in the city and are something that you will picture forever when you think of the Barcelona skyline. The interior is just as impressive as the exterior with the organic, but geometric forms that need to be seen to be believed. The church is under constant construction and has never actually been finished!

I hope you have enjoyed reading about just some of the amazing things to do in Barcelona. Barcelona is a great city that everyone should experience if they get the chance. Happy exploring and enjoy the sunshine!