1 year anniversary in Barcelona ideas

Check out the concert offering at the Palau.
http://www.palaumusica.cat/en

Hi,

Barcelona is a gorgeous city. Really nice pick for your 1 year!
I would recommend three things (my favourite spots):

1. La Sagrada Familia (book on their website so you can skip the queue)
2. El Parc Guell. Even though you now have to pay to see everything, it's well worth it.
3. Montserrat (a 30-50€ day trip to hike on marvelous hills, see Catalunya from one of its highest points, and visit an antique monasterio).

These three things are really unique, and are well worth the trip.

Then, if you like to enjoy more common things too, I can recommend chilling on the beach (Sitges and Milanova are my favourite), and the Barceloneta nightlife (if you like big clubs like I do!).

A website which is getting pretty big in Spain at the moment is nightsapp.es where you'll find free parties in the biggest clubs (Pacha, Opium, etc.) every night of the week.

If you're looking for something more intimate, I would recommend a marvelous place, El Monasterio, In the Hospital street (carrer del Hospital). It's a quiet cloister, which, at night, makes a perfect setting for your romantic anniversary evening. There is a small restaurant under the arcades, where they sometimes play live music.

Have a nice trip!
Cheers

Hi there,

I'd first like to make some corrections to Genaro's post (thanks for it, btw!):

1.) Sagrada Família: DO pre-book always, you don't want to have to queue for hours! Indeed breathtaking yet very busy and crowded, just sayin'...

2.) Park Güell: you only pay for the monumental area (8€) which is 10% of the park, the rest is free. I grant you that what's precisely unique are the monuments yet the rest of the park contains a few others (ie the Viaduct) as well as a magnificent views over the city at the top (Turó de les Tres Creus)

3.) Montserrat is not a hill, it's a set of mountains (highest peak is Sant Jeroni, over 4000 feet) in one of the most surrealist landscapes in Europe. It's a well worth visit... check post #5 here.

4.) The Catalan coast has many nice beaches, from the little coves of La Costa Brava to the golden sandy beaches of Costa Daurada -hence the name, "daurada" is Catalan for 'golden'. Even Barcelona has 2.5 miles of beaches, included the famous one in La Barceloneta -named the best urban beach by National Geographic. Yet, as Gerano mentions, a visit to Sitges or Vilanova i la Geltrú, two towns at 40km south of Barcelona, easy reachable by train, can be a nice one-day excursion. Not only for the beach but for the towns themselves (ie. Sitges)
5.) I am sorry but I can't identify the last suggestion Genaro made. I don't recall any old monastery in Carrer Hospital nor any arcades (?). Are you sure Genaro it was in this address?

As per my own suggestions, and noting "romantic" is a very subjective term, I'd propose for example...

EATING OUT: A drink/dinner at Mirabé at sunset located in the slopes of Collserola hills, north of the city with a nice view over Barcelona. A taxi from Plaça Catalunya to Mirabé: roughly 20-25€, but can be also reached by metro+bus. Or a meal at Torre d'Alta Mar, an upscale restaurant located on top of a tower at the Port Vell (Old Port) downtown Barcelona. Note it's a bit pricey (dinner, say 75€ p.p.). Or a beer at Bosc de les Fades (Forest of the Fairies) located in the southern part of La Rambla, near the Columbus statue. Some more ideas here. But again, a dinner in a secluded small unassuming restaurant anywhere in the Gothic Quarter can be as romantic as anything I've mentioned! You'll just have to wander!

STROLLING: There are some spots spread across the city that can be very romantic: Plaça Sant Felip Neri, the cloister of Monastir de Pedralbes,

VISITING ONE OF THE MANY PARKS OF THE CITY: the maze at El Laberint d'Horta, Parc de la Ciutadella, Parc de la Tamarita...

If all else fails there is nothing more romantic than an evening stroll along the beach. In a city that is next to the sea it seems a shame to miss the opportunity to breath in the sea air and work up an appetite for dinner. If you really want to up the romance, bring along a bottle of cava to sip while the sun goes down. Head to La Barceloneta and walk the beach front to Port Olímpic...

Three years ago, I had good food on a quiet square at www.elspescadors.com.

Ah yes, thanks Laura, Els Pescadors is one of those traditional (albeit these days it's a bit upscale) fishermen restaurants located in El Poble Nou, a non-touristy --or not too much just yet ;)- neighbourhood, in a small very cozy square typical from the Barcelona of the early 20th century.

Hi Enric!

Here is the place I was talking about: https://www.google.es/maps/place/Jardins+de+Rubi%C3%B3+i+Lluch/@41.380957,2.169954,19z/

We call it El Monasterio with my friends because it looks like a monastery, but it's actually cloister shaped gardens.
:)

It's really nice for a quiet, romantic evening.

Ah, ok, "you" call it that :))).... I suspected that was the place you were referring to, but indeed it's not a monastery nor any sort of religious building, nor has ever been. That was the Old Hospital de la Santa Creu, one of the first health institutions in Europe, created in 1401 by King Martí The Humane and which was the result of the union of the six existing hospitals in Barcelona. These days it contains, among other, the headquarters of the National Library of Catalonia (worth visiting from an architectural point of view!), the Royal Academy of Medicine (open on Wed for visits to an 18th century morgue) and the famous Massana School of Design.

It's a nice place to visit in the afternoon, quiet and cool in summer sitting among orange trees: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PndJLmOOZII

Teleferic to the top then romantic stroll down Montjuic thru the gardens to reach the Magic Fountains light show by Placa Espanya.