4 days in Barcelona

The food in Spain -- particularly Barcelona -- is probably one of the two best cuisines I have ever had. (The Philippines is the other.) The irony is that I noticed the quality of the food. Though I like a good meal, I don't travel for food, yet I noticed it in Spain. I ate the Iberian ham every day.

For me, the must-see site was the Barri Gotic (Gothic Quarter) of Barcelona. Follow Rick's Barri Gotic walk, which takes visitors on a 2.5-hour tour through that mysterious and beautiful area, pointing out the historical sites, architecture and intrigue.

Though I didn't take the Hop on Hop off in Barcelona, I did in London and Paris and liked it.

A must-see site is a museum, but I'll mention it anyway: the Salvador Dali museum in Figueres, a town about 1.5 to 2 hours north of Barcelona by train. (There are two train systems between Barcelona and Figueres, a super-fast one and a regular one, exemplifying Europe's investment in infrastructure.) Also, the Dali home in nearby Portlligat is as quirky as the genius artist.

As I recall, there is not just one hoho itinerary, so you might plan to take one for the sights where you’ll be satisfied with a less intense visit than to those that appeal most to you. Another good point about hoho tours is that they do get you where you want to go with no fumbling around about routes.
Inmo, the two must-sees, in a city with many, are Casa Mila and the Palau de la Musica Catalana. Let’s add a third, Parc Guell. You’lI think you’ve landed on another planet. I believe you may need reservations for all of them.
Again, inmo, Monserrrat is a waste of time when you have so little. The abbey is a replica, the original having been destroyed by Napoleons army. The vast majority of visitors seemed to be there with the intent of getting a photo of themselves with the statue of the Virgin, despite the “No Photo” sign. Not being into idolatry, we skipped that line.
Though you reject museum visits, I’ll take the liberty of recommending Montjuic, with its Miro Museum and the twin Museums of The Art of Catalunya, Romanesque and Gothic.
One more quickie. A viewing of the lighted up fountains, after sunset in front of the castle, is a lovely must-see.

The Magic Fountain hasn't been operating in 2024 due to drought.

https://mesto-barcelona.cz/en/you-must-see/Magic-Fountain/

Montserrat - Some like to go for hiking and views. Some like the cable car for the experience and views. Good art museum, but not your interests. I enjoyed the Abbey, but I wouldn't call it a "must-see".

What kind of places do you seek out when you travel? That might make suggestions a little easier I.e. we love history, so we build that into our itinerary. We found after our first trip that we really enjoyed Modernista architecture (La Sagrada Familia), so on our trip in May we visited Casa Mila, Palau Guell, San Pau Recinte and Palau de Catalan Musica and enjoyed all of them. If I had to do it again, I would have gotten tickets to a performance at Palau de Catalan Musica - we did take the morning tour in English. If you like art, the Picasso Museum is popular and gives an overview of his style progression. The Miro art museum is wonderful if you like modern art.

Montjuic was a happy surprise for us. The views from the top are impressive. We went all the way to the castle and walked through, reading the displays that describe, among other things, the place it played during Franco’s regime. Looking over into the moat when Franco’s soldiers shot prisoners was a sobering moment. It was being used as an archery range the day we were there. We walked through the site of the Barcelona Olympics on our way down the hill. Just be aware in your planning that the fountains have been indefinitely turned off because of the drought, so you’d want to check that.

On our first visit, we went to Montserrat. The trip was straightforward and the novelty of the train and cable car made it more fun, but in retrospect I’m not sure I would do it again. We started relatively early and got back to Barcelona about mid-afternoon. The two most advertised things to see are the Black Madonna and the choir, but I think have cut back on the choir. We did go all the way up the mountain to the hiking area.

Second the recommendations for Sagrada Familia, Recinte Modernista de Sant Pau, and the Dalí Theatre and Museum in Figueres…all fabulous! Also agree that Montserrat is missable.

Besides Barcelona, where else (if anywhere) are you going to be visiting?

Have you been to Spain before? IOW, there are lots of things to do in Barcelona that are neat in the broader Spanish sense, and then there are the more specific things that are Barcelona-centric. If you've been to other Spanish cities, you "understand" tapas or pintxos, but a first time to Spain, obviously food is a big part of the reason to visit a place like Barcelona. A food tour - guided or self-guided - is pretty fun.

From a BCN-specific perspective, the hop-on bus is always a reasonable option just to get some bearings in a relatively stress free way. It's a nice option on the day of an arrival from the US after a red-eye flight. I'm a bigger fan of just getting out - walking/wandering, relaxing in a park, sitting in a cafe people watching, or anything that keeps me out in the sunlight until dinner (early dinner in Spain).

For four days, I see no reason to even leave BCN unless you really want to mix things up. There is much more than a few days worth of legit and interesting stuff to do in BCN. Just doing the whole Gaudi architecture touring is something, paced at a couple places per day, eats up those four days with other interesting things and food fun taking up the rest of the time.

I would suggest the beautiful Palau Musica for a must see in BCN. I put it up there with the Opera Garnier in Paris for its beauty, and you can get a tour plus you can find a show for an evening you're there.

Long story, short, though, is that the city has more than enough to keep folks interested - indoors and out. Keep it simple and stick to BCN.

If I took a HO/HO bus on my arrival day after an overnight flight, I'd be asleep within 15 minutes. I have just enough adrenaline after arrival to get to my hotel and drop off my luggage; after that, I'm either walking or asleep. I have very serious doubts about the HO/HO buses in Barcelona since seeing an extremely long line of people (too many to fit on a single bus) at the Placa de Catalunya pick-up point back in 2016. There was no bus in sight. It appeared one could wait a long time to get back on a bus after hopping off. Barcelona is a very walkable city with interesting architecture, and it has an excellent public-transportation system.

All of the following Barcelona sights call for purchase of tickets in advance if you want to see them. Not all sell out far in advance, but the ticket lines can be an hour long, or more, and you might get to the head of the line and be told the first available ticket is for 3 hours later, or that all them day's tickets have been sold. The tickets are timed, so you need to figure out a reasonable schedule before you start buying. It's a pain in the neck, because who knows how much time you'll want to spend at each place, how long it will take to get to the next one, when you'll want to stop to eat, etc. The best technique is to plan to visit one of the tough sights at the beginning of each day so ther's less need (or no need) to buy advance tickets for sequential sightseeing stops.

• La Sagrada Familia
• Parc Guell
• Casa Mila/La Pedrera
• Casa Batllo
• Picasso Museum
• Palau de la Musica Catalana (English tours sell out first)

Those are not "musts"; they are just extremely popular to the point that it doesn't work to buy walk-up tickets. Each visitor needs to decide his or her own priorities, especially considering the high entrance fees at any of the top sights in the city, not to mention that all but the Palau de ls Musica Catalana are likely to be packed to the gills (true even in 2016, and more people are traveling now).

I've been to Barcelona four times and haven't been to Montserrat yet; I'm much more interested in the city's funky architecture and the art museums--but those are just my preferences.