Barcelona certainly has no shortage of stunning tourist attractions, and if you’re looking for the best of them, I’ve got you covered!
But what about local life? What about history? What about all of the city’s beautiful little secrets that can’t be captured with a selfie stick? Well good news. I’ve got you covered there too! Here are the top 5 gems of Barcelona that I discovered quite by accident, without the help of any tourism guidebook!
These aren’t necessarily in any sort of “least to most favorite” order. But I will say that if you only do one of these things, make it #1!
A Quick Note About Museums
I’ve want to give you some amazing nuggets of Barcelona culture, but I have a confession: I did not make it to very many of the museums.
Why?
Well, first of all, there is so much to do, it’s impossible to accomplish everything!
But also, I guess I didn’t plan correctly! Most attractions in Barcelona offer some sort of discount and option to skip the line if you purchase in advance.
Well, we did not purchase in advance. So when we tried to go to the Picasso Museum on a whim, the line was too long.
It was, unfortunately, only AFTER my trip that I became an affiliate with Articket. This is a little passport booklet that provides admission to 6 of Barcelona’s best museums for nearly half of what you’d pay if you bought each ticket individually. PLUS you get to skip the line, which is a huge deal during peak season. You can buy it in person for 58 euro, or online for 30 euro. If you know that you’re going to want to visit museums during your trip, this pass really is a must. Please use this link to purchase, and once you fill up your passport book, please let me know your favorites so I can be sure to catch them on my next trip!
And now, onto my personal Top Five Can’t-Miss Experiences for the best of Barcelona’s culture and history!
Top 5 Local And Historical Experiences of Barcelona
5. Get Lost!
Barcelona is a city that lends itself well to aimless wandering. My husband and I took our entire first day and dedicated it to getting lost in the Gothic Quarter. You won’t get bored, I promise. Just find a little, narrow street that interests you, and follow it to the next little, narrow street until you find a shop, plaza, or restaurant that makes you feel compelled to stop. Grab a gelato and watch the street musicians and bubble blowers. Look at the tiny statues and carvings on the walls, and wonder about their story. We wound up on our tour of Basilica de Santa Maria del Mar as a result of one of these aimless wandering afternoons. There is a lot to see in Barcelona, and yes that takes planning, but taking some time just to explore is the best way to really “meet” this beautiful city.
Recommended time: All day if you want!
4. Go Church Hopping!
Contrary to what you might have heard, Sagrada Familia is not the only beautiful place of worship in Barcelona! It is certainly the most crowded and famous, but if you want to get a taste of the more “everyday” side of churches and cathedrals, there are some really beautiful and deeply historical sites that are absolutely worth visiting.
A Quick Note On Pricing
Most of these churches and cathedrals offer free entrance sometimes, and other times they charge a fee. The fee is never very high (from my experience, always under 10 euros), and the restrictions on when you can gain free entry were a little bit opaque and confusing to me. If free entry is very important to you, I suggest looking into that information on your own. I was planning to include whatever I could find here, but I’ve heard that the rules change sometimes. I’m also not an expert on holidays in Barcelona, so it’s likely that I would miss something. You will get the most updated, accurate information by researching close to your particular travel dates!
CHURCH OF SAN FELIPE NERI
The outside of the church is a huge part of the historical appeal. During the Spanish Civil War, two bombs were dropped in this square, and the outside of the church still bears deep scars from the aftermath. When you walk inside the church, you are met with a beautiful baroque design, some signs of wear and tear on the ceiling, and if you are extremely lucky, the haunting reverberations of someone playing the organ. This is a quintessential Barcelona church as it is meant to be experienced. Mysterious, beautiful, steeped in rich history, and not teeming with crowds. To put the tourism element in perspective for you, this church is listed on TripAdvisor, but at the time of this writing, it only has three reviews written in English.
Side note: If you are facing the church, turn over your right shoulder. You will see a shoe museum (!!!), as well as a cute little cafe where Antonio Banderas and Scar-Jo filmed a scene of Vicky Cristina Barcelona!
BASILICA DE SANTA MARIA DEL MAR
Do you see that view? That’s from the top of Basilica de Santa Maria del Mar. tower. No crowds, no fuss…and no wonder I didn’t bother with the Sagrada Familia tower!
This one is a little more popular with the tourists, but still not Sagrada Familia level (to be fair, that is a pretty high bar!). There are some free entry times, which we learned after our visit. When we went, they charged 5 euros for entry, or 8 euros for entry and a 45 minute guided tour.
We opted for the guided tour, and we are so happy that we did. It was interesting, informative, and took us all the way up to the towers, which afforded stunning panoramic views of the city.
During the uprisings in 1936, the basilica was set on fire, and it burned for 11 days. During the tour, we got to learn about which parts were new, which parts were under restoration, and even the parts that were original and still showed some damage from the fire.
We actually thought it was ridiculous that we got such a wonderful tour for only 3 euros more than standard entry. It was worth way more than that. If you’re really watching your budget and want to see this beautiful Gothic basilica for free, you have that option. If you’re willing to pay 5 euros for entry, I promise you, you’ll want the tour for the extra 3 euros. These tickets can also be purchased online (they offer a longer tour as well!), but you can also play this one by ear. It’s not a huge tourist spot, so the line won’t be super long.
BARCELONA CATHEDRAL
We did not go inside this Cathedral, but I am including it on my list anyway because it is high on our list for when we return!
I’ve heard the interior is beautiful, but I won’t describe it because I haven’t seen it. The exterior is stunning, and I won’t bother describing it because I have a picture (taken at 8:30 AM, which is probably the only time we possibly could have gotten a picture without any people cluttering up the view!).
Since I’m not offering much in the way of description, I’ll at least provide you with this little tidbit: There are GEESE in this cathedral! Live, white geese!!!!!
Why?
No, Barcelona isn’t trying to add “Cathedral by day, petting zoo by night” to its list of fascinating combinations (see: the magically delicious artichoke, cheese, and caviar combination!). The geese are in honor of Saint Eulalia, one of Barcelona’s two patron saints. According to her story, when 13-year-old Saint Eulalia was beheaded, a white dove flew from her neck. Supposedly the goal was to reference her age and her story by keeping thirteen white doves in the cathedral. It turns out that doves are prone to flying away. Geese are not. In other words, there are thirteen geese in the cathedral because thirteen doves were simply not feasible.
This cathedral offers free entry on Sundays.
RECOMMENDED TIME: About an hour for Basilica de Santa Maria del Mar
HELPFUL WEBSITES: Barcelona Cathedral website (includes visiting hours for the cathedral and its terraces, as well as hours for mass); Basilica de Santa Maria del Mar website (you don’t need to get tickets online for the tours, but it’s helpful to see what times they run! We showed up at the right time by sheer luck!)
3. Enjoy Sunday's Local Traditions
Sundays in Barcelona are full of hidden gems! Let me tell you about some of them:
-Visit Placa Reial. It’s a beautiful square to visit anytime. There’s a beautiful fountain, some restaurants (I didn’t eat at any of them; they looked a little touristy), and a pair of lampposts designed by Gaudi (they were his first—and last!—commission from the city). But make sure you check it out on a Sunday!
On Sundays, from 10am-2:30, local collectors set up their, well, collections. They use this weekly market as a forum to buy, sell, trade, and show off their goods! These collections seemed to include stamps, coins, cava bottle plaques….a few other items too, but mainly stamps and coins. It’s a delightful taste of local culture. Barcelona presents itself as a very young, hip city, but this is where you can catch some of the older culture out to play. Part of the charm was observing this incredibly charming local experience, so I felt a little weird taking pictures. I’ve also read that after 2:30, they break down this market and set up a different market. This one seems to be geared more toward selling than trading or displaying. I wish I’d known about that one!
–Sardana dance party! At 12:30pm every Sunday, a small band sets up in front of the Barcelona Cathedral, and groups of people gather for a traditional Sardana dance! Everyone gathers in a circle, leaving their bags in the center for safekeeping, and the dance begins! What starts out as one large circle of people making small, precise movements turns into a large circle and several other smaller circles of people making larger, but still precise, movements. It’s another experience of enjoying the locals in their beautiful, natural habitat.
2. Enjoy the Street Performers
Barcelona is home to some amazing street musicians and performers! If I’m being honest, I’m a bit jaded. I live in New York, which is also home to a lot of street (and subway) performers. We have some decent ones, but also many that are noisy and off-putting. Further, they often reek of desperation. Some even get critical or rude if you don’t give them money.
The Barcelona street performer vibe is very different. First off, they usually perform in an open square or wide alleyway, which allows you room to walk past them without fighting through hordes of people (often not the case in NYC!). This also allows the sound to flow in a way that isn’t completely overbearing.
Secondly…they are really, really good!! We could have sat for hours watching some of the musicians. In fact, for one night, we did!
Introducing: The Already-Famous CB Milton!
We went out for gelato at Manna Gelats (which I HIGHLY recommend!), and wandered to a nearby square to find a spot to sit. We grabbed a seat on some steps and started watching a guitar player who said he was finishing up his set and about to play his “last song.”
That air of desperation for a quick buck was nowhere in this man. He radiated a contagious love for his music, and everyone in the crowd felt it. His “last song” was nowhere near it. The crowd kept cheering him on, and it was like he wasn’t even capable of putting down his guitar. Every time he finished his “last song,” he conceded to play “one more for the road,” and the next thing we knew, nearly an hour had gone by that way. I’m not sure what was more magical: the electric energy of the evening, or the fact that my Spanish had improved enough to understand when a man told me that this guy used to be pretty famous in the 90s, and that I should look him up. His name is CB Milton, AKA Clarence Milton Bekker. Learn about him here!.
Runner Bean Walking Tours
Q: What do Roman walls, mysteriously misplaced Hebrew writing, the Spanish Inquisition, and statues that secretly point you to brothels have in common?
A: They are all deeply embedded in the history of Barcelona. Don’t you want to know how? And why?
Whenever anyone asks me what they should do in Barcelona, the first thing I suggest is a walking tour. Maybe two. In fact, we took three! As I’ve mentioned about a thousand times, this city is so rich in history. You can’t help but feel it.
But here’s the deal:
Feeling a general sense of history around you is one thing. Actually knowing the hidden mysteries of the city is quite another. That makes the difference between enjoying a city on the surface and falling madly in love with it. It’s like switching a TV from black and white to color. Everything just becomes more vibrant.
Runner Bean's Free Tours
There are many different walking tour companies out there. We used Runner Bean. Runner Bean offers two free (donations accepted) walking tours. If you enjoy walking and are interested in history, I promise you, you will want to take them both.
One is a Gaudi walking tour, which we took with Lisa. She showed us Palau Guell, Casa Batllo, Casa Mila, and Sagrada Familia, and told us fascinating stories about their inspiration, construction, commissions, and even what it was like to work with Gaudi. We didn’t go inside any of the buildings (Runner Bean offers a separate option if you want to go inside, but that one is not free!), but don’t let that stop you from taking this tour. The history on its own is absolutely fascinating, and if you do go inside any of the buildings afterward, your experience will be so much more exciting for having already learned about them.
We also took the Gothic Quarter walking tour (another free one) with Miguel. Like Lisa, another fantastic guide. Super engaging and informative as a historical storyteller. Beyond that, he was also extremely considerate and adaptable; he modified the tour to show us some extra special sites that you can only see with a small group, and he even made sure that the “walking tour” was accessible for a wheelchair-bound guest. After the tour, he stuck around to give us some restaurant recommendations (we went to one of them; it’s on my Food page!).
Runner Bean's Dark Past Night Tour
Those are the free tours (seriously, there is NO reason not to take both of them), but we also took one of the paid tours: The Dark Past Night Tour. This one, as the name suggests, meets in the evening, and focuses on the more sinister side of Barcelona’s history…stuff like the Spanish Inquisition and murder sites, including creepy legends. It’s not a ghost tour, but certainly includes the occasional ghost story. Our tour guide, Ross, was definitely the silliest and most theatrical of the bunch, and I’m not complaining! We had a great time. Definitely 16 well-spent euros!
If you’ve been to Barcelona before and you are seeking a deeper understanding of the city, take these tours. If you’ve never been to Barcelona and are looking for the best way to get acquainted with (and inspired by) a new city, take these tours. Just take these tours.
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