Things To Do in Barcelona

It’s no secret that Barcelona gets a lot of visitors, and the main attractions manage that demand carefully. If you don’t already have a ticket for the most popular sites before you arrive, you risk missing out. No matter the season, buy timed-entry tickets in advance for the Basilica de la Sagrada Família, Parc Güell, and Museu Picasso. You can still buy tickets on the door at less busy spots, but in almost every case it pays to get them online. You’ll often save a euro or two, and you’ll usually be able to skip the lines.

You might also consider getting a sightseeing pass. Depending on what you want to see, a range of discount programs can help you make big savings. Barcelona Card includes free admission and skip-the-line access to more than 25 museums, unlimited public transport for 3, 4, or 5 days (including airport trains), and discounts on around 70 cultural activities, including up to 20 percent on the major Modernista buildings. Buy it at Barcelona Turisme offices, or online for a 10 percent discount. Online prices are:  51.30€ for 72 hours, 60.30€ for 96 hours, and 70.10€ for 120 hours. Prices for children aged 4–12 are 31.50€, 39.60€, and 44.10€.

The 2-day Barcelona Card Express, costs only 24.30€ online, and includes free public transport, but offers discounts rather than free admissions. For both cards, check the website for discounts of up to 50 percent.

For art lovers, Articket BCN provides skip-the-line access to six major art museums for 38€: Museu Picasso, Museu Nacional d’Art de Catalunya, Fundació Joan Miró, Fundació Antoni Tàpies, Centre de Cultura Contemporània de Barcelona (CCCB), and the Museu d’Art Contemporani de Barcelona (MACBA). You’ll save 45 percent if you make it to all six, but for most visitors the Barcelona Card is probably a better bet.

When weighing the options, bear in mind that on the first Sunday of each month, admission is free at many museums including Museu Picasso, Museu Nacional d’Art de Catalunya (MNAC), and Museu d’Història de Catalunya. MNAC is also free every Saturday after 3pm, and Museu Picasso offers free entry on Thursday evenings.

Also: beware of unofficial websites that charge higher rates than the ones listed here.

A word on Audio Guides

Barcelona’s museums and historic buildings are sophisticated, well-funded places, and technology is to the fore. Almost every attraction features an audio guide, often via an app you access on your phone, and many (including the cathedral and Sagrada Família) offer augmented reality.

But just because you can, does it mean you should? The danger is you spend half your visit fiddling with your phone. Where audio guides are especially helpful, we’ll recommend them on this website, but many of Barcelona's extraordinary sights require no enhancement. So, consider switching off your phone, removing your earbuds, and immerse yourself in simple contemplation.

Planning your Barcelona sightseeing geographically

Most of Barcelona (with the notable exception of the Gothic Quarter and Raval, near the sea) is laid out on a grid. Locals refer to the sea (mar) or mountain (montaña) side of streets to give directions, but for the sake of explanation here, we’ll place the Mediterranean to the south (which it isn’t exactly) and to the north the mountains that you can see from almost anywhere in the city. There are essentially four parts of Barcelona that interest visitors most: the Old City of the Romans and the Middle Ages; the 19th-century planned city, called Eixample; the waterfront; and the mountain called Montjüic.

In the oldest part of town, les Rambles (pronounced “las ramblas”) is a central north-south artery from Plaça de Catalunya down to the sea. It’s actually a succession of streets, whose names—Rambla de Santa Mònica, Rambla dels Caputxins, Rambla de Sant Josep, Rambla dels Estudis, Rambla de Canaletes—recall the various religious orders that were once located here. To the west of it lies the Raval neighborhood, and to the east, the oldest part of Barcelona: the Barrio Gotico and El Born. The Picasso Museum, the Cathedral, the church of Santa Maria del Mar, and the Palace of Catalan Music are found in the warren of narrow streets holding the Gothic Quarter and the Born neighborhoods. The Raval is home to the Museum of Contemporary Art and the CCCB (Contemporary Center of Catalan Culture), along with lively eateries and shops reflecting the ethnic culture of recent immigrants.

Above the busy hub of Plaça de Catalunya stretches the Eixample, the Catalan word for “expansion,” which is exactly what took place in the second half of the 19th century after Barcelona’s medieval walls were demolished in 1860. Urban planner Ildefons Cerdá freed up the city from the narrow twisting alleys of the Gothic Quarter, shooting his wide thoroughfares and identically spaced blocks of buildings northward, which connected old Barcelona with the village of Gracia; the Rambles were extended beyond Plaça de Catalunya as the Passeig de Gracia (or “the passage to Gracia”), now a chic shopping boulevard.

Seeing Great Works of Moderniste Architecture Beyond Gaudi

If you'd like to explore the city's hidden treasures of Modernisme, those that aren’t open specifically as historic museums, consider putting these beauts on your itinerary:

Caixa Forum—Near Plaça d’Espanya, this former factory built by the major Modernista architect Puig I Cadalfach re-opened in 2002 as a handsome venue for La Caixa bank’s traveling art exhibitions. If you don’t want to pay for the art shows, you can still roam around the brick pavilions and go up on the undulating rooftop, which you will probably have pretty much to yourself. Av. De Francesc Ferrer i Guárdia, 6-8.

Fundació Mapre—The elegant Casa Garriga Nogués, an extraordinary Modernista mansion by Enric Sagnier in l’Eixample, is now also a space of traveling art exhibitions, which rarely cost more than 3 € to enter. Carrer de Diputació 250. Complete information at www.fundacionmapfre.org/fundacion/en/exhibitions/casa-garriga-nogues.

Hotel España—This still-operating hotel in Raval was renovated by Doménech I Muntaner in 1903-04, given another facelift in 2010 and still another in 2025. Stroll in to see Modernista features like the outrageous alabaster fireplace by sculptor Eusebi Arnau, which still dominates one of the dining rooms. Carrer de Sant Pau 9-11, www.hotelespanya.com.

Palau Baró de Quadras—Open by appointment only, the former residence at Av. Diagonal 373 has been chopped up over the years, but many stunning original elements are still intact.

Want to see more in the company of a local expert? Try the architectural tours at Insight Barcelona (www.insight-barcelona.com); their tours access a number of sites that aren’t usually open to the public.

Futbol (Soccer) Experiences in Barcelona

“More than a club” is FC Barcelona’s motto, reflecting the great soccer team’s role as a powerful symbol of Catalan identity, and counterweight to Castilian archrival Real Madrid.

The club’s stadium Camp Nou, where the likes of Lionel Messi, Ronaldinho, and countless Spanish stars made their names, reopened in 2025 after a top to bottom renovation. The new ground holds 105,000 fans, making it the biggest football stadium in Europe. You can usually get tickets via the website from around 60€ for any game other than El Clásico against Real Madrid, when prices soar.

You can also visit the stadium for the Camp Nou Experience, Arístides Mallol, s/n, (tel. 90-218-99-00). A basic ticket at 28€ lets you tour the museum and its extensive collection of trophies and famous players’ shirts, while the Total Xperience at 42€ adds the chance to take shots against a goalkeeping robot, customize a soccer shirt, and take a virtual reality tour of the Barça universe.