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2.5 days in Barcelona- lost on itinerary!

Hello Wise travelers!

I have 2.5 days in BCN and i am so lost in my planning. A little about us: Mid thirties couple, first time visit, this is our last stop in Spain, don't like art museums, like history and want to hike a little.

Please advise. I am sure i am leaving things off or trying to see things that are in no way near each other.

Here is a rough draft:

Wed Feb 22
Flight from Sevilla BA 8132- arrives at 11am
12:00 Taxi to Hilton Diagonal- check in or leave bags
12:30- Take metro or taxi to Historic District
Lunch- ideas?
2:30 – Free Walking Tour- Barrio Gotic
4:30-6 - Barcelona City Museum
Head back to check into hotel (if needed)
8pm until…… dinner/Drinks (where should we go! Pretty open but would prefer mid to low range on price)

Thur Feb 23 (weather permitting- this could switch to friday if needed)
9am-ish - train to Monserrat (we really like to hike a litlte on each trip so thought this might check that off? by Hike i mean 2 hours or so)
Visit monastery and hike with picnic lunch
Return 2-3pm
Visit Parc Guell- or open to other options for this afternoon
Dinner- ideas?

Friday Feb 24
9-11-Sagrada Famila Tour and Towers- pre-purchase?
11- Runner Bean Gaudi Tour
1pm – visit a gaudi house- which one??
2:30- lunch
3 and onwards? Maybe Montjuic Castle? Las Rablas?

We leave Sat morning. :-(

okay- get out those red pens and go to town! LOL

Thank you,
Lena

Posted by
28083 posts

You can find tapas and quick food in a lot of places, but the traditional lunchtime seems to be roughly 2 PM to 4 PM, and the locals will probably not sit down to dinner before 10 PM. Just so you know.

I'm not sure February is (outdoor) picnic weather on Montserrat due to the elevation. Enric will be able to provide guidance on that, and on the risk (if any) of running into weather so bad that even hiking might be problematic. You don't need to pre-book Montserrat, so you can wait for solid weather info before making a final decision. You need to decide before buying your ticket which transportation option you prefer for the final ascent up the mountain. You must take the same one up and down.

I did a tremendous amount of walking in Barcelona just tracking down a lot of modernista buildings, but I gather you're thinking of countryside hiking, and I can't help with that.

Only a limited number of modernista sites are open to the public, and not all of those are by Gaudi, so your options are somewhat limited. I think La Pedrera (Casa Mila) is best, but Palau Guell is a second possibility. Other places are a bit more obscure and/or in more challenging locations.

You've only allowed 90 minutes to see a Gaudi site and get to you lunch location, which is beyond tight; assume that you will start lunch later. I spent 3 hours at La Pedrera, because I was interested in the material about other Gaudi sites on the top floor. Most people do not spend that long, of course. Since your time is limited, I think you should pre-book a ticket for La Pedrera. The wait in line to buy a ticket on the spot can be very long.

For the same reason, you need to pre-book La Sagrada Familia. The usual recommendation is to go for the first time-slot of the day so you have some time in the church before it gets too crowded. If you want to go up one of the towers, that's a separate ticket, which I'd suggest booking for 1 hour later. You can return to the body of the church after ascending a tower if you don't get the two tickets timed perfectly. There's a museum onsite that has interesting information about construction of the church. It doesn't take too long to see but it could be skipped if necessary. Someone here pointed out that once you enter the gift shop, you cannot return to the church, so do be careful about that.

You haven't allowed sufficient time to visit the church and get to the starting point of the planned Gaudi tour.

Parc Guell may need a pre-purchased ticket to avoid a line. Although it's interesting enough, this would not be one of my top targets, and it takes a while to get there if you don't use a taxi. It does have the advantage of variety, since it's outdoors. Still, I'd choose one of the other modernista sites by a different architect, either the Palau de la Musica Catalana or Sant Pau.

The Palau de la Musica Catalana requires a tour (available in English). You might be able to book it when you arrive in Barcelona, but I wouldn't risk just walking up for tickets. The tour is short and the location convenient. Sant Pau is a bit farther out and has multiple buildings (takes more time), and it's partly outdoors. It's much less crowded than the other top modernista sites. There are some English-language tours but my timing was off and I used the audio tour, which was a decent substitute. No pre-booking required.

One other place I'll mention is the Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya on Montjuic. It's a large place, and much of the collection does consist of paintings, but it also has an interesting modernsime collection and some wonderful frescoes and architectural elements rescued from very old churches.

Posted by
93 posts

A few comments:

Hilton Diagonal is a bit far from everything (I considered it on my trip). You might consider one of the smaller hotels off the Rambles.. which puts you right in the middle of things especially if you have a limited time.. On our Rick Steves tour we stayed at the Hotel Nouvel which is right on the Rambles and right in the middle of things and a short walk to most of the places you want. A side benefit is you can take the Aerobus from the Airport directly to the Catalunya square which is a short walk. Normally I don't do buses but the Aerobus was quick and easy and pretty nice. So as a taxi guy, I highly recommend for convenience.

Your timing seems a bit "optimistic" and maybe possibly unrealistic.. I'll give you some thoughts:

  • My first thought is no-way you will be lucky to do 50% what you are attempting. Barcelona is a very crowded city and the crowds form and make it difficult to do things quickly, especially the Gaudi houses and museums. The Jewish/Historic area gets packed as well. . If it were me.. I would probably take the day that you are planning for Montserrat and instead dedicate it to Barcelona. I'd add Monserrat only if you had an additional day, but that is me. In the end you will be dedicating an entire day to Monsarrat and I suspect you will end up wishing you had spent more time in Barcelona, maybe even at little more leisurely pace than . You are also doing this toward the end of your trip I think, and my experience by then the go-go-go tends to get a bit old by then.. Just my opinion.

  • Some of the Gaudi houses tend to get VERY crowded. I'd recommend them early in the day.. Highly recommend La Pedrera.. This was my favorite and if I could only do one would be it but don't try this mid-day or later. Casa Batllo is interesting as well (didn't go inside this one).. Palau Guell is interesting but was absolutely packed when I went..

  • Sagrada Familia might take you longer than you think. It is extremely crowded there. We went with the RickSteves tour so it was all arranged.. But I would recommend getting tickets in advance and at an early time. I think Sagrada Famila was just wonderful and having seen it 35 years ago was amazed to finally actually go inside and see how amazing and unique. You will probably end up taking the subway there.. As a side note, I recommend familiarizing yourself with the subway as it is useful for saving some time. It is clean and safe.

  • Montjuic... I liked going up the cable car to the Monjuic fort.. just an amazing view of the city.. (although don't use any rick steves books for the route.. It is in my opinion all screwed up especially the funicular which is actually underground.. Map in books is not really very useful.. If you are short on time, take a taxi up the mountain to the base of the cable car. But the cable car ride is kinda nice and exploring Montjuic area was nice.. But I consider it an area to go if you want to take a little slower pace. On your itinerary and if you are going to Monsarat I would probably skip and focus on things in the historic area.

  • The gothic area is really cool. Personally I'd spend ample time in this area. Eat etc. . Also down by the cathedral it is very pretty at night.

  • Take a walk down the Ramblas, great place to people watch, Numerous places to eat along there as well. You can take the ramblas all the way from Catalunya square down to the water.

  • I didn't do Parc Guell (ran out of time).. but I've heard it is nice.

  • As a recommendation since you seem pretty ambitious would so recommend you prioritize what you want to see.. (eg Gaudi houses, Gothic district, cathedral, parks etc) and plan your time around those. Anything Gaudi or Museums do early in the day, that way you will be much more efficient in your time. Then you can plan your visits to parcs and maybe Monjuc at the more crowded mid day or afternoon.

Good luck!

Posted by
7175 posts

The Barcelona Hilton is on Diagonal but you also have the Hilton Diagonal Mar.
You will need to be very specific as to which one so as to avoid confusion with cab drivers, or indeed us here.

Posted by
7175 posts

Wed Feb 22
11:00 BA 8132 arrives from Sevilla
12:00 Taxi to Hilton Diagonal Mar ?? - check in or leave bags
13:30 Take metro or taxi to Plaza Catalunya. Grab some lunch
14:30 Free Walking Tour of Barrio Gotico. Is it this tour ??
http://freewalkingtoursbarcelona.com/tours-en/free-gothic-quarter-tour-barcelona/
17:00 Basilica of Santa Maria del Mar, Parc de la Ciutedella, Barceloneta
Have a seafood dinner in Barceloneta

Thu Feb 23
Visit Park Guell (go here first thing - PREBOOK)
Train to Monserrat to visit monastery and do some hiking
(Note that it is best to run out of daylight on the train back from Montserrat than when at Park Guell)
Have dinner at a tapas bar in Eixample, such as ...
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Ciudad-Condal/168195233218836

Friday Feb 24
09:00 Sagrada Famila Tour and Towers (PREBOOK)
12:00 La Boqueria Markets for lunch
14:00 Passeig de Gracia - visit Casa Mila or Casa Batllo
16:00 Montjuic
19:00 Plaza Espanya for Magic Fountains of Montjuic
Have dinner in Poble Sec

Posted by
9 posts

David- You recommend not doing an organized Gaudi tour- do you have a DIY tour you would recommend instead? My thought on that one was just to learn more about the history of Gaudi and Modernism. But i think I agree on passing on a second walking tour as we might be toured out! LOL

Posted by
7175 posts

It's not that I'm not recommending a Gaudi walking tour, I think it's more a case you don't have the time, and they don't actually spend time inside the sites visited. The audio guide at Sagrada Familia will inform you a lot, but do some reading beforehand so it all makes sense.

After Sagrada Familia ...
Take metro line 2 (purple) to Passeig de Gracia, changing to line 3 (green) for Liceu, and the Boqueria market.
After lunch take metro line 3 (green) from Liceu to Diagonal. Walk down Passeig de Gracia, passing/visiting Casa Mila, and Casa Batllo on the 'Block of Dischord'.
Metro line 2 (purple) from Passeig de Gracia to Parallel, funicular and teleferic up Montjuic, then walk back down to Plaza Espanya for the Fountains show.

Posted by
28083 posts

I enjoyed the Modernisme Tour offered by the tourist office, but it would be hard to fit it into a 2-1/2 day itinerary. As David says, such tours do not usually go inside the sites. First, the entry fees are mostly over 20 euros per person. Second, as I think I mentioned previously, the sites tend to be crowded and it's hard to get through one in less than 90 minutes, so just one site would chew up most of the time on a tour.

You may find the Ruta del Modernisme website interesting.

There's a small modernism museum that I enjoyed visiting for 10-15 minutes as part of the tourist office's tour. It's at Carrer de Balmes, 48, about 2 blocks beyond Pl. Catalunya and 2 blocks off Passeig de Gracia. Sorry that the website seems to be only in Catalan and Spanish. If you happen to be walking in that area and have a spare 15 minutes or (better) longer, it's worth going in, if you have an interest. If I'm decoding the website correctly, it's closed on Mondays (including Monday holidays) and is open 10:30 till 7 on Tues-Sat, 10:30 till 2 on Sundays/holidays. The fee is 10 euros (perhaps a bit high for the size of the collection, but it is nice).

Another source of information is the maps commonly offered to tourists. You'll typically find a lot of sights marked. If they aren't obviously museums, they may well be modernista buildings. Your hotel can probably suggest where you could walk to see some. If you'll clarify where your hotel is, I may be able to point out an area not too far away.