Barcelona 🇪🇸 New Stamp, Old Favourites…
Quick holiday facts
Duration: 5 nights
Accommodation: Apartments Gaudí by EnjoyBCN booked via Airbnb (£1235)
Flights: return London Luton to El Prat with Wizz Air (£400)
Private airport transfer: booked via Airbnb (£70)
Spending Money: Approx. £1000 covering all sightseeing entry tickets, hola travel pass, lunches, room snacks, evening meals, drinks.
APPROX TOTAL SPEND = £2,705
Sagrada Familia: 100% worth the visit, even with the crowds and heatwave! Book a tour well in advance, with a guide.
Read on for more…
Barcelona wasn't a first for either of us, but it wasn't quite a first *together* either. We'd both been before, separately, at different points - then finally crossed paths there on a whistle-stop day trip in 2016, tacked onto a holiday in Santa Susanna.
Even so, something always felt unfinished about it. Fast forward ten years and we finally got the proper version: more time, more of the city, and a decent run at the bucket list sights we'd both somehow missed across all those visits.
This trip doubled as a school reward for our nephew Klay, who had exactly one item on his wish list: Camp Nou. Everything else was a bonus as far as he was concerned. And this time we really *saw* Barcelona — while also surviving 35°C heat at 70% humidity, which was its own kind of achievement 😅😅😅
Image: nephew Klay in the rooftop pool with THAT VIEW of the Sagrada Familia…
MUST VISIT QUICK VIEW:
A different beach that’s NOT Barceloneta. Go abit further along the coast, it’s worth it!
Camp Nou: for all those footy mad folks! the stadium tour is great, as is the immersive museum.
Masia de Sabor Churreria: for the ABSOLUTE BEST CHURROS!
Can Fisher: for the ABSOLUTE BEST PAELLA we’ve ever tasted….
The View That Sold Us on the Apartment
We didn't book this place for the location so much as the *view*.
Our apartment had a rooftop pool that looked straight down the street to the spires of the Sagrada Familia - nearly complete now, all the towers finally up, with the cranes these days clustered around the front façade instead. Mornings started with a swim, a coffee, and Gaudí's masterpiece staring back at us. Or the other end of day featured an evening swim and a glass of wine staring at new details we saw as the sunset. Imagine it.
It's the kind of thing you can't quite believe is real until you're lying on a lounger with your feet up and it's just... there.
Inside the Sagrada Família
No amount of rooftop views prepares you for actually standing inside, however. The scale is one thing, but it's the light that gets you: stained glass in blues and greens on one side, oranges and reds on the other, so the whole nave shifts colour as the sun moves. We did a proper tour rather than wandering blind, which was worth it: the tree-like columns, the obsession with natural forms, the sheer stubbornness of a project that's outlived its architect by a century - it all makes a lot more sense with context. Absolutely stunning.
A couple of days later: seeing more of Gaudi’s work at Park Guell….
Magic Hour at Montjuïc
One evening took us up to Montjuïc, and we timed it just right for the Font Màgica: the Magic Fountain - lighting up the colours of the rainbow against the dusk sky. We rode the cable car up for the views over the whole city first, all rooftops and haze stretching to the hills, and lush sea views then came back down for the fountain show with everyone else who'd had the same idea. It wasn't on the original plan but it ended up being one of the best evenings of the trip.
The Sagrada at night from our rooftop…
The views over the city travelling up the Montjuic cable car…
Camp Nou
The main event, as far as Klay was concerned. Even mid-renovation, there's something about standing in a stadium that size and imagining it full. We'd built the whole trip around this one for him, and it didn't disappoint — mission very much accomplished… Head to the immersive museum, which if you’re a footy fan, is a must-see. Grab a slice of pizza and get cooled off by the giant walkway fans and mist machines. Spend a long time in the Barca shop decided how many £100s to spend on that kit!
Other highlights that we squeezed in…
A short walk from the bustle of the Gothic Quarter and a world away from the Sagrada Família in style — Barcelona Cathedral is all pointed arches, cloisters, and quiet stone cool after the heat outside. Curious markets and all sorts of things stop you as you wander the gothic streets. Give that at least half a day to do it justice. Eat ice-cream as you go!
Plus, Nova Icaria Beach delivered exactly what we needed after days of walking - sand, sea, and doing absolutely nothing for a few hours. Barcelona's rare trick of being a proper beach holiday and a proper city break at the same time.
Lounging on the Nova Icaria Beach…
Just that little bit further along the coast then Barceloneta, this is a nice beach and has loads to do.
La Rambla lived up to its reputation… 🚶🏻♀️ buzzing, a bit chaotic, definitely one to keep a hand on your bag. It’s classic Barcelona, right? But turning off into La Boqueria market was the real win: stalls piled with fruit so bright it looked photoshopped, and enough fresh juice to make you feel virtuous before the tapas started. We didn’t try the juice (obvs! Lol) but we did enjoy some empanadas. There was a theme to this trip and that was:
All. the. Foooooood!
And then there was more food. Ofc there was! Patatas bravas, jamón, pan con tomate, plate after plate of tapas (mostly consisting of gambas pil pil - Klay’s faves!) shared across the table, sangria in the afternoon sun and cold beer in the evening. One dinner turned into an accidental burger night in a neon-orange little spot, around the corner from Placa Espanya, called Cosmo Burger that had no business being that good - sometimes the best meals aren't the ones you planned.
We went to one of the cities top-rated seafood restaurants, Can Fisher, whilst at the beach. BOOK IN ADVANCE folks, that place is good! Linked below, worth a trip if you’re in the city just for it’s paella alone!
We also managed a metro dash across town or 10! NOT RECOMMENDED IN A HEATWAVE, unless you want to feel liek you’re in an oven. However, it is authentically Spanish to traipse across town using the Hola Barcelona travel card, well worth it, in our humble opinion. Easy to navigate and quick. Just hot, lol.
Barcelona gave us everything we wanted and a fair bit we didn't know we needed.
Image: The Magic Fountains from the Placa Espanya (well, as we were supping Sangria from the rooftop at Arenas…)
New stamp in the passport. Barcelona: the version with us both, finally complete. Already talking about the next one 👀
La Font Magica in all it’s glory…
Image: Final morning before our flight home, more food obviously! This was brunch! Totally delicious at Brunch & Cake.
Can Fisher: literally the best spot for seafood. As you can see, we devoured the paella.