Barcelona itinerary feedback

I love Barcelona's modernista architecture, but I have no idea whether Casa Batllo will hold any interest for an 8 year old and a 10 year old. I sort of feel like two modernista sights in one day would be one too many. Yes, in my experience Casa Batllo is the most crowded modernista sight in the city. It is not more crowded than the Picasso Museum, however. It will not be a piece of cake to keep your family together in the museum. Are you sure that experience is going to be worth $100? At least at Casa Batllo you can still see the architecture even in elbow-to-elbow crowds--or at least full-grown adults can. In the museum, you'll neendto expend some effort to get close enough to the art to appreciate it.

The Miro was much less crowded on the day I visited it, but again, I don't know that it is particularly appealing to children.

I'm not good at identifying activities for children, but I know the subject has been discussed before.

Girona is easier to get to than Figueres, much less Cadaques, and Girona has a walkable wall. You'd just take the train to Girona. Last minute tickets on the regional train would not be especially expensive. The Dali sites are the main reason a lot of people go to Figueres and Cadaques, though both Cadaques itself and the ride in are pretty. The Theatre and Musrum in Figueres may well be off-the-wall enough that your children will be interested.

If you're going to Girona or Figueres, you don't need to rent a car; the trains work well to these. I believe Cadaques is harder without a car.

I loved the Casa Batllo, and while it was crowded, I didn't find it too crowded to enjoy. I actually found it worth the high entrance fee. I think the included video guide would be great for kids (for instance, you point it at the fireplace and see a fire; you point it at a model of the house and see it open up in layers). I did get there soon after it opened, and would recommend this if you're going.

Of course, the Sagrada Familia has large crowds, and it's also recommended to go early. I didn't go on my recent trip, so I can't give more specific advice.

Something to keep in mind as an "optional" is the amusement park in Tibidabo, with the bonus of views over the whole city (even better than the Monjuic views).

Great plan as it is, but a few suggested tweaks on my part.

DAY ONE

•Late afternoon: metro to Camp Nou experience (FC Barcelona stadium tour)


DAY TWO

•Sagrada Familia

•Montjuïc (Castell de Montjuïc, Olympic Stadium, Mirò Museum)

DAY THREE
•Park Guell

•Afternoon by train to Montserrat

DAY FOUR

•Morning food tour of Gracia neighborhood (Devour Barcelona)
•Passeig de Gracia (Casa Mila & Casa Batllo)

•Parc de la Ciutadella
•Barceloneta

DAY FIVE

•Day trip: rent car and drive to Figueres, Cadaques, and/or Girona

DAY SIX

Day exploring Ramblas, Barri Gotic, El Born
•Boqueria Markets
•Cathedral of Barcelona
•Picasso Museum

•Basilica Santa Maria del Mar


Thank you all for your suggestions! We will carefully consider whether Casa Battlo and the Picasso Museum are worthwhile.

djp_syd, I appreciate your revisions. I was surprised by the suggestion to do Parc Guell and Montserrat on the same day. Can you tell me more? You think that Montserrat is really more of a half-day trip?

Yes, perhaps impossible with your kids, as it's an early start and a tight schedule.

08:00 Park Guell opens
10:30 Leave Park Guell on foot for Lesseps metro station
11:00 (approx) Metro from Lesseps via Pl. Catalunya to Pl. Espanya
11:30 (approx) Arrive Pl. Espanya to buy ticket for Montserrat
11:56 R5 train to Montserrat (next train is at 12:36)
13:01 Arrive at the base of the mountain (for cable car or funicular)
19:00 Last cable car down the mountain

R5 train schedules
https://www.fgc.cat/downloads/horaris/R5_Manresa_220x450_LA51-1tz.pdf

Montserrat information
https://www.montserrat-tourist-guide.com

Another alternative would be for your arrival day, but like most people I'm not keen on scheduling (let alone booking) things on this day.

16:00 Camp Nou (closes 19:30)
19:00! Park Guell (closes 21:30)

Agreed - though you have said you traveled before with them, but every time we go with the kids, that arrival day we are toast. For my boys, the soccer day would be a highlight, but they would be too tired to enjoy it on arrival day. We come from west coast so you may be different, but I don't like booking things on arrival day. Especially because last trip at Christmas we ended up stuck in London an extra day upon arrival, now I try to think of that in my planning.

Sagrada Familia is best at opening IMO. We got there about 30 min before opening, were first in line, and then had about 20 minutes in there before it was packed as they were checking people's tickets. Totally worth it, as the experience about 45 minutes later when we came down from the tower was not the same.

And we spent HOURS at Camp Nou, the tour and then the shop....

Kim

Thanks--this is helpful. I agree that we will be tired the day we arrive and maybe Camp Nou is too much for that afternoon, especially if we run into any delays. Camp Nou will be a highlight for my six year old. If we had to cut something and put Camp Nou on one of the full days, what would you cut?

What is a good first day activity in Barcelona? When we were in Paris last year, we did a boat tour on the Seine on the day we arrived, which was good because it was just sitting (or lying down across our laps for one kid) and orienting ourselves to the city. Should we plan to just walk around Eixample? Take the Metro somewhere for dinner?

I don't think doing Monserrat and Parc Guell on the same day will work. I'm expecting the kids will not be able to wake up early enough given their jet lag, and we won't want to be rushing that much.

This is the shortest international trip we've ever taken and I've never been to Barcelona before, so I don't have a great sense of priorities or of the scale of the city. I'm trying to pack a lot in but also make it a reasonable and fun schedule.

On your arrival afternoon i would just get the metro to Arc de Triomf, then walk thru Parc de la Ciutadella, past the Estacio de Franca to finish at Barceloneta. Perhaps settle for just the one day trip ...

DAY ONE
•Parc de la Ciutadella
•Barceloneta

DAY TWO

•Sagrada Familia

•Montjuïc (Castell de Montjuïc, Olympic Stadium, Mirò Museum)

DAY THREE
•Camp Nou experience (FC Barcelona stadium tour)

•Park Guell


DAY FOUR

•Morning food tour of Gracia neighborhood (Devour Barcelona)
•Passeig de Gracia & Eixample (Casa Mila & Casa Batllo)


DAY FIVE

•Day trip options
1) rent car and drive to Figueres, Cadaques
2) train to Figueres, Girona
3) train to Montserrat

DAY SIX

Day exploring Ramblas, Barri Gotic, El Born
•Boqueria Markets
•Cathedral of Barcelona
•Picasso Museum

•Basilica Santa Maria del Mar