Best of Barcelona

Barcelona in 4 Days Flat

Day 1

Our first day in Barcelona was actually a half day. We took the red eye flight from Toronto and landed around noon then grabbed the subway into the city and headed for our hotel. We stayed at Hotel Praktik Bakery, a lovely little hotel in downtown Barcelona that is half hotel, half bakery, and all affordable compared to many other hotels in the area. Once we got checked into the hotel, our main objective was to stay awake for the rest of the day. We showered and brushed our teeth (two things I highly recommend to help fight jet lag), had a coffee and set out to explore.

We walked down the main drag to the sea side, including Moll Oriental and Platja de la Barcelona. We then went for dinner at Restaurante Mordisco where my partner Matt and I shared deep fried avocado, anchovies on toast (a local dish), seafood tar tar, and grilled squid. The food was good, but definitely not the best I had in the city. We then headed back to the hotel and crashed for the night in exhaustion.

Day 2

The second day in Barcelona we decided we wanted to do something active and really get out to see the city. We started by attempting to go to Brunch & Cake for breakfast, but the wait was so long that we ended up going to a place across the street called Bodega Granada’s. I had scrambled eggs and fruit salad and Matt had a croissant with eggs and meat and a smoothie. The food here was also good, but again far from the best of the trip.

Once fuelling up was out of the way, we headed out for our adventure, which was a hike (and I mean hike) through the various parks up to Castell de Montjuïc. We started in Parc del Mirador del Poble-sec and headed up. I would highly recommend anyone looking for active things to do in Barcelona. The walk was challenging and had may beautiful sights - including views of the city, architecture, and gardens. It took us about an hour of non-stop walking (uphill the whole way) to get to the top. At the summit is Castell De Montjuïc, which is more of a keep than a castle. It has a long and conflicting history with the city of Barcelona, having been used to suppress the local Catalonian populace in several different instances. Checking it out is definitely worth the trip as it is both beautiful and historically significant (and there are informative signs around the place to let you know about this history).

We then walked back down through the park. On the way down, we attempted to go to Bar pep mirador de montjuic. It is a beautiful bar in a fantastic location and the food looked great - but sadly it was full so we continued down in search of lunch. There is also a cactus and succulent garden, Jardins de Mossen Costa I Llobera, right beside the restaurant that was sadly closed when we were there, but also looked like it would be worth while to check out.

We ended up settling on Restaurante Avocado for lunch. If you have dietary restrictions, this place is a great one. There are all sorts of dietary restriction friendly options. Matt had a rice bowl with meat and I had a salmon dish with avocado and edamame that had plantain chips on the side. They also had a great selection of kombucha there, which is always a bonus in my opinion.

Next on the list was Musee De L’Histoire De Barcelona. This is a must do. When you go into the museum, it doesn’t seem like much, once you go down to the subterranean floor, it is well worth the visit. The museum showcases the archeological findings of efforts under the city with a beautiful walkway that lets you walk through what would otherwise be a closed off archeological site. There are also excellent informational blurbs along the way that discussion what different areas and buildings were used for - such as certain buildings with massive “eggs” that were used for fermenting wine and upper class residences with beautiful mosaics. If you are going to Barcelona, I would highly recommend adding this to your list.

To finish off the day, we went for drinks and dinner. We went to a craft beer spot called Kaelderkold. They had a very good selection and we ended up ordering a tasting flight That came with five beers - a red wine saison, a white wine saison, a flower power Hefeweizen, an oatmeal APA, and an oatmeal stout. The tasters were quite generous and we thoroughly enjoyed the beers. We then went to El Pintxo for dinner and got churros from a stall along the main drag on the way home - neither of which I would recommend.

Day 3

On our third day in Barcelona, we went to the (Basilica de) la Sagrada Familia. We booked tickets for this in advance for the earliest entry time, so we had breakfast in the bakery at our hotel - which I would highly recommend, whether you’re staying there or not - instead of going out. I would also highly recommend purchasing tickets for la Sagrada Familia with Guided Tour ahead of time and going as early as possible as it is the most touristy attraction in the city (though still 100% worth going). We actually got the Sagrada Familia with Towers combo, but the towers tour is quite short and not worth the extra cost.

La Sagrada Familia was (and still is) one of the most amazing pieces of architecture I have ever seen. The curves and shapes used for it's construction are so far out of the norm and every detail that has been built has a purpose to it. If you visit, be sure and get the audio guide - it's well worth the time it takes to listen. One of the most interesting things I found out was that there are different pillars holding up the ceiling, which are constructed to look like trees as Gaudi believed that nature was gods creation and mimicing it was a way to honour him, are constructed of different materials with different strengths depending on how much weight they have to bear. This is just one example of the interesting differences of the architecture, but if you're looking for more there's a great podcast on it by 99% Invisible called La Sagrada Familília.

Once done at La Sagrada Familia, we decided to head for lunch as our breakfast had been quite small. We went to Cerveseria Catalana, which was by far the best food I had the entire trip. If you head there, I would highly recommend ordering the octopus (pulpo in Spanish), which comes deliciously seasoned on creamy mashed potatoes, and the eggplant chips, which are lightly fried with a honey balsamic drizzle.

Post lunch, we headed out to the Museu Picasso. We arrived with about an hour to spare before it closed. This proced to be the perfect amount of time, as the museum is not very large. There was an amazing selection from both his early times and his later more famous works and I would recommend it to any art lovers visiting the city.

We decided to do some more wander exploring (our favourite kind) next and ended up at Ciutadella Park. After our stop in the park, we decided to grab some ice cream/sorbet and wander back to our hotel for a rest. We ended up at Farggi, a cute though touristy ice cream shop on the main drag then wandered back to hotel, ice cream in hand, for a little siesta.

Post nap we went to dinner at Somewhere Arago. This is a modern food spot that touts having food from all over the world. The food was good, though not amazing and looking back, I equate the whole experience with more of a chain feel than an authentic Catalonian one. After dinner, we headed for a night cap at the Dow Jones Bar. This bar operates on a very neat concept - that of the stock market. Drinks that are ordered more (aka more in demand) are more expensive and drinks that are less in demand are cheaper. The selection was great, the drinks were decent, and it was especially neat to see the price of our drinks increase after we had ordered and paid for them.

day 4

On our last day in the city we decided to make another try for Brunch and Cake. This time we were successful. Brunch was good, but not nearly as good as the photos make it look. I ordered a little fruit on the side of my breakfast and because of this they said I couldn’t post any photos of their brunch (because it wasn’t according to their menu), which I thought a little odd.

After brunch we headed out on a walk about. First stop up was Casa Vicens. This is another of Gaudi’s architectures. It is a newer museum that includes gardens (expanded from the originals) and a gorgeously maintained house. This was definitely one of my favourite activities in the city, if not my favourite. The house has amazing detail and is far more intimate a setting than some of Gaudi’s other works.

When we finally finished our amazing visit to Casa Vicens, we continued to walk North. We were heading to Parc Del Laberint D’Horta. It was quite a walk with a lot of up hill and I would not suggest it if you’re there in the heat of the summer (we had to stop multiple times for liquids and shade) as you can get most of the way by subway. When we arrived at the park, we were told that we needed cash to enter, which we did not have on hand. Rather than walk back down the hill and hike back up it again, we decided to try the ATM at Universitat De Barcelona, which is located beside the gardens. This campus was beautiful and I would definitely recommend strolling through if you’re in the area - and it does indeed have a working ATM on site.

Once we had cash in hand, we headed back to Parc Del Laberint D’Horta, which proved to be well worth the effort. The area is part park, park gardens and all beautiful. It also features neoclassical architecture, a maze or labyrinth (as the name suggests), a terraced pavilion and water features. It is a gorgeous place to spend an afternoon and would make for a great picnic spot with lots of cool shady areas. I will also note that we saw many families there and that the labyrinth seemed to be great entertainment for kids, if you’re looking for family friendly activities.

We ended up taking the subway home after the park, as we couldn’t face the walk back to our hotel. We then crashed for another siesta (a theme of this trip). Post siesta we got up and got ready for dinner, which was at El Cafe de la Pedrera - a restaurant in Casa Mila. We booked this as a package in conjunction with a night time tour of Casa Mila itself to finish off our stay in Barcelona.

The dinner itself was quite good and I felt was good value for the price of the tickets. The servers and kitchen were quite efficient however, which lead us to have quite a bit of time to kill between dinner and the main event. I would suggest lingering over dinner if you wish to do this combo. Once it was time for the tour, we headed into the main entry. This house, or Casa, still has residents living in it, so you can see the foyer but then take the servant’s stairwell up to the roof, rather than trapping past people’s doors at night. The stairs emerge into a beautiful “attic”, which features beautiful brick arches. There are also several displays that speak to Gaudi’s methods and some neat models of the house itself.

Once through the attic, you exit onto the roof. It is a beautiful open expanse with essentially no flat surfaces. There are dome like structures spotting it and I would be surprised if you didn’t recognize the roof line. This tour featured a cinematic experience where video was projected onto the domes and set to music. This show was interesting for the first few minutes, but quickly became old and some of the videos I found to be tacky. We then exited the roof and headed back to the foyer where there were drinks and small desserts waiting for us.

As a whole, this was a nice way to end out time in Barcelona. I believe that we had the space more to ourselves than we would have had during the day, however I was sad by how little of the city you could see at night and it is definitely less photogenic in the dark. Additionally, I would definitely have preferred to have time to wander the beautiful roof rather than be subjected to a video montage. Were I to do it again, I think I would forego the experience, do a tour of the house during the day, and then do dinner at the cafe at a separate time.

Top 8 Hit List

Hotel Praktik Bakery

Hike to Castell de Montjuic

Musee De L’Histoire De Barcelona

La Sagrada Familia

Cerveseria Catalana

Museu Picasso

Casa Vicens

Parc del Laberint d’Horta