BARCELONA CITY GUIDE
"You'd have a hard time finding anything better than Barcelona for food, as far as being a hub."
-Anthony Bourdain
TENNIS
Bring your racquet along and play at one of these courts.
Fit In Tennis This website is very easy to use, it's in English and caters to visitors wanting to learn/play tennis in Barcelona.
Real Club de Tenis Barcelona Barcelona's ultimate private club, and home to the Barcelona Open.
Tennis Point
The online store we know and love has a brick and mortar location in Barcelona with everything you need for any racquet sport.
Watch Professional Tennis
Barcelona Open Banc Sabadel ATP 500 Hosted in April
Mutua Madrid Open ATP Masters 1000 & WTA 1000 Hosted in May
Mallorca Championships ATP 250 Hosted in June
Tenerife Ladies Open WTA 250 Hosted in October
HOTELS
Where to Stay?
We stayed at this beautiful hotel on our first visit to Barcelona. I remember walking into the lobby and it smelled so good! Funny how things like that stay with you. We visited in January, the off season and the staff was so accommodating. The location is perfect and we were able to walk to most of our activities.
We extended our stay by one night and thought it would be fun to stay at the incredibly chic W Hotel. We were able to upgrade to the most amazing suite with a terrace. I imagine this suite is crazy expensive in the summer!
RESTAURANTS
Our first stop was a walk down La Rambla to La Boqueria, Mercat St. Josep. These fresh food markets are absolutely incredible, they smell amazing, and we could've spent an entire day here, eating our way around the food stalls. These fresh food markets are such a special treat, we don't have anything like this in Arizona. Some of the best meals we had were at this market. Barcelona has a booming foodie scene and we visited some of the best restaurants and cocktail bars in the city. Bar Mut was very chic, no set menu, only the freshest catch of the day and very chic cocktails. Our fanciest meal was at Botafumiero, and our server Johnathan was amazing! We let him order our entire meal for us and we had the best seafood with red wine (Louis Cañas) and delicious cake squares that he called "heavenly clouds." Txapela is a great tapas bar to pop into for a quick bite, and CocoVail Beer Hall is a craft beer hall with an American sports bar feel.
Txapela
Ristorante Margherita
Mediamanga
Bar Cañete
El Quim de la Boqueria
Granja La Pallaresa
Cervecería Catalana
Bar Mut
CocoVail Beer Hall
Botafumiero
4 Gats
El Asador de Aranda
ACTIVITIES
MACBA
I‘ve never met a contemporary art museum I didn’t love, and MACBA was no exception. We took our time wandering the galleries and sat outside and watched the skateboarders. My husband grew up skating, so it was cool to see how universal the sport is. We spent the rest of the day wandering the streets on foot, popping into small stores and coffee shops. Grey Street Barcelona was one of my favorites.
Guided walking tour
I love art and history and I wanted to spend at least one day on a guided tour of the city. I always use Viator to set up our tours and we have had nothing but great experiences.
We chose the Barcelona Art and Tapas Small Group Walking Tour with Picasso Museum. We got lost in the Gothic quarter on our way to meet the tour guide (getting lost is not uncommon). We finally found her and we were the only two in the group, so we ended up with a private tour!
The Gothic Quarter is truly beautiful. The sunlight creeps in between the ancient buildings and cast the most beautiful golden light on the cobblestone paths. Our guide was a well of information and we learned so much about the history of the city. She also filled us in on the current political climate, which is rather messy. We had tapas, visited the Picasso Museum, Mercat Santa Catarina, and ended with the most delicious churros con chocolate.
Sagrada Familia
Spain is a treasure chest of unique architecture. A visit to Barcelona is not complete without exploring the work of Antoni Gaudí, the most famous world renowned Spanish architect. The Sagrada Familia is an overwhelmingly detailed Catholic Basilica that Gaudí dedicated over forty years of his life to. I booked a visit online before we left for our trip, and we walked right up and followed the self guided audio tour of the inside and outside. As a self proclaimed minimalist, this is quite the opposite of what normally draws me, but I admire the dedication, detail, and sincere meaning behind every inch of this beautiful creation.
Park Güell
For our last day in Barcelona, we hopped in an Uber and rode to Gaudí‘s Park Güell. It's incredibly beautiful and again shows how dedicated Gaudí was to his craft.
EXTRAS
The people of Spain are so beautiful and kind. Take the time to learn greetings in Castilian or Catalan before your trip. Barcelona is notorious for pickpockets, especially in the touristy areas. Keep your bags zipped up and close to your body. Keep in mind that the afternoon rest is a real thing and most shops close between 3-6pm. Dinner is much later in the evening, beginning around 9pm and can last past midnight.