We are landing in Barcelona at ten am on Friday July 6, leaving Sunday July 8th for a little loop up to southern France, then back to Andorra and Montserrat before we fly back home.
It’s a quick trip, but we do want to see the highlights of Barcelona. We are not Art or museum lovers, however we both love architecture. My husband does not like spending time in the city which is why we usually make it short and sweet.
What are my must do sights?
If you're flying in from North America on Friday, that day may be pretty much lost to jetlag and sleep deprivation, so I wouldn't plan one of the expensive modernista sites that day. Maybe walk around the Barri Gotic and, if still not brain-dead, the Eixample.
For architecture lovers, La Sagrada Familia and the Sant Pau modernista site would be great stops on Saturday for sure. You'll need to pre-book LSF to avoid an interminable ticket line. You'll probably want to include one of the towers for a close-up view of some of the architectural elements. So far, it has been possible simply to walk up to Sant Pau and buy your ticket on the spot, which will provde some much-needed flexibility.
Other important and worthwhile architecture-related sites include: Parc Guell, Casa Mila/La Pedrera, Casa Batllo and the Palau de la Musica Catalana. (There are others.) All require pre-purchased tickets because of the lines, and this will be a serious challenge for you because you have so little time. Who knows how long you'll be at each site? I'd say 90 minutes is about the minimum for most of them, but Sant Pau needs a bit more time and the Palau somewhat less. The Palau requires a tour, but English-language tours are very frequent and not terribly long.
Fortunately, I think a few of the sites sell slightly more expensive tickets that don't tie you to a specific entry time. I believe you'll need to take advantage of that if you want to try to squeeze in more than 3 sites.
Andorra la Vella was not an attractive town in 1972, and I gather that it resembles an outlet mall these days. I think your time would be better spent elsewhere. I don't know what route you're planning to take, but I enjoyed the lovely historic center of La Seu de Urgell when I visited it in 2016.
Edited to add: I should have mentioned that the top modernista sites in Barcelona--except for Sant Pau--are often very crowded. This is especially true of Casa Mila and Casa Batllo. If your husband really dislikes crowd scenes, it might be better to skip those two in particular. Parc Guell, being outdoors, doesn't feel so mobbed.
I am looking at tickets and I can get early ones for park gruel but not familia... would doing the park early in the day and familia late in the day work? That gives us time in between to wander, or see some other architecture.
In Andorra I have a very beautiful hotel in the hills with pool booked to just relax. We also like hiking and may do that. Not worried about the city.
It’s a very short trip for us as my husband didn’t have much vacation time but we will be back that way again I’m sure to see more of Spain!
This was more to just dip our toes in :)
Friday
•Ramblas - Boqueria markets & Placa Real
•Passeig de Gracia - Casa Mila & Casa Batllo
•Park Guell (Book late)
Saturday
•Sagrada Familia (Book early)
•Bari Gotico - Cathedral
•La Ribera - Basilica Santa Maria del Mar
•Barceloneta
Given your interests, you may do better not buying tickets for any of the Modernista interiors like Casa Batllo or Casa Mila, which are not only very crowded but hard to coordinate logistically on a short trip. Instead, just do a walk to see the Modernista buildings (many of which can't be visited inside anyway). For instance, one of my very favorites is the Casa Comalat: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Modernista_buildings_in_Barcelona#/media/File:Salvador.Valeri.i.Pupurull.Casa_Comalat.Back.Barcelona.JPG
Many other Modernista buildings are nearby. If you click the "X" on the upper right of the picture I linked, you'll get the Wikipedia page about Modernista structures in Barcelona.
I agree with seeing the St. Pau site, as it's not nearly as crowded as others and you don't need advance booking. You may also like the cable car (teleferic) up to the top of Monjuic, with its views over the city; you can then walk or take a bus down through the park.
We like the Sagrada Familia and the Palau de Musica Catalana
La Sagrada Familia will be quite crowded later in the day. As long as you are prepared for that, I think it's still worth doing.
Since Harold mentioned walk-bys for the modernista sites: The map I used in Barcelona, which cost me €1 at the tourist office, had a lot of modernista sites marked on it. When I started out to walk somewhere, I checked to see whether there was anything near my route.
You have time to see Parc Guell and Sagrada Familia. We see Sagrada Familia in the morning and Parc Guell in the afternoon but anytime should be good. I would get a ticket for the audio tour and Nativity Tower as well. Finally, I'd recommend a restaurant for dinner at Ofre, we went there before Rick recommended it. Small establishment with delicious food and wine.
The earliest I could get into Familia was 10:45am. What time should I book Park Guell?
Thanks so much for your help! I’m a teacher and I’ve been flat out busy at work and have not planned well for this trip in two weeks! Scrambling now! And I still have another week of work, so glad I have you all to help ! Haha
Are you going to ascend one of the church towers? That would significantly increase the amount of time needed there. And how do you plan to get to Parc Guell? I took the Metro, but that leaves you with a long uphill walk so isn't terribly fast. There's a bus (92?) that makes for less walking, but I'd suggest a taxi to save time.
And you may want to fit lunch in there. I believe there would be more convenient food options near LSF than around Parc Guell, but if you're not doing a tower, it's likely to be early for lunch when you leave LSF. Barcelona eats very late, perhsps as late as 2 PM, though you should be able to buy a pre-made sandwich or salad before that, and some places will have tapas out not much later than noon, I think.
We are doing a tower. Google maps says it’s a 25 min walk to Park Gruell from familia.
I am thinking Lunch and then the park?
So maybe a late entry, after four?
4 PM should be safe, but the walking time you cite sounds unrealistic to me. Google Maps is giving me 34 minutes for 1.4 miles (uphill at the end), and I'm not sure it's taking me to the entry point for the Monumental Zone.
Good to know! I will make sure we have an hour to walk as we are not fans of speed walking uphill in the heat! Haha! We did Italy a few years ago and my husband at the end refused to walk any more “hill towns” 🤣 where I would then make him climb a tower!
Thanks for the tips!!!
I would definitely plan to take a taxi from Sagrada Familia to Park Guell. That way, you can actually enjoy your time there, instead of being tired even before you get there.
I would book Park Guell on the evening of your arrival.
Friday July 6
•Ramblas - La Boqueria markets & Placa Real
•Bari Gotico - Cathedral
•Park Guell (BOOK entry for 7:30pm)
Saturday July 7
•Passeig de Gracia - Casa Mila & Casa Batllo (walk by photo ops)
•Sagrada Familia (BOOKED 10:45am)
•La Ribera - Basilica Santa Maria del Mar
•Barceloneta
Given your interest in architecture you might want also fit in to a quick visit to the Glories area for a modern contrast to the modernista sights.
Thanks for all the tips!
I also made a change to our itinerary... instead of Andorra we are scooting over to San Sebastian for two nights. We love driving and it’s only four hours from our spot in France.
We know two nights isn’t much but we are ok with a quick dip to see the area. Just gives us an excuse to come back :)
Any tips for that area?
I didn't have a car in the Basque Country, but what I saw of the countryside from buses and trains was very pretty, so my suggestion is to try to take different routes in and out. However, ViaMichelin estimates the driving time from San Sebastian to Barcelona at 6 hours with no stops, no getting lost, no searching for parking, etc. VM is considered to be optimistic, so with stops for lunch and gas, that may turn into an all-day drive. Are you sure you want to do that?
We will be in France when we drive to San Seb, plus we will stay two nights before we drive back to Montserrat before we go back to Barcelona to fly home.
We actually love driving! Which is why we decided to add in Basque Country.
We are not worried about the time. We live in an area of Canada where we have to drive long distances regularly! We will jump in the car and go to Boston for a weekend and it’s 8hrs away!
... but shouldn’t a relatively short vacation be about the destination, not the driving. Ultimately, your choice of course.
It's a matter of trade-offs. That trip to Boston doesn't cost you anything except time at home. On a European vacation, it costs you sightseeing time in a place to which you might not return soon (or at all).
A thought on Barcelona: Since you will have been on a plane overnight whe3n you arrive on July 6, why not check into your hotel in Barcelona early (appear very "tired" and "sleepy" when you ask for early check-in. Set your alarm for noon, grab a bite, then plan to visit Park Guell around 13:30 hr. (if you want to go to the "monumental zone--which I suspect nearly everyone does, you'll need a pre-p0urchased ticket for this too). Allow several hours there with a snack in the park, then head for La Sagrada Familia to arrive around 16:30 hr (you're probably too late to get tickets to visit the interior, but try to pre-purchase tickets for this time, later in the day may not as be quite as high a demand as earlier in the day) If you can't get tickets just walk around the place at street level, it's magnificent. To walk inside the gated area, you may have to wait in line for a ticket). If you do happen to get tickets for the interior, allow 3 or so hours to visit, then stop by a Tapas Bar on the way to Casa Mila for the Jazz performance on the roof at 20:15-22:15 hr (again with pre-purchased tickets; you may still be able to get tickets on line for this event).
Next day have breakfast then visit Sant Pau Recinte Modernista for a couple hours, take the bus to have lunch at or near the Boqueria Market then take the bus or metro to The Transbordador Aeri del Port (allow an hour or so to wait in line) and ride to Montjuic, walk to the Miro Foundation/Museum (check hours but I think open typically to 18:00 hours, maybe later in the summer). Then take the bus down to Placa Espanya for the Magic Fountain Montjuic (or if you're too early for the fountain, have dinner at one of the roof-top cafes/restarurants at The Centro Comercial Arenas, then walk back to the fountain). Then head back to your hotel before departing Barcelona on July 8th.
If you familiarize yourself with where the metro stations are and the bus routes (buses run frequently and cover the entire city), this itinerary is not difficult to do (we did something very similar a year ago, and we're in our late 60's).
Hi Sandi...just got back yesterday from Spain. We too arrived in Barcelona at 10am on a Friday from NB. We immediately checked in to our place (was able to snooze a bit on flight) and did a walking tour of the Gothic area with Runnerbean Tours (free tour and really good overview) at 4pm. That is all we did on arrival day. Next day at 10am did Park Guell and took our time and walked to Sagrada Familia for a 4pm entry time. Had time to walk by Sant Pau (did not enter) and have lunch near LSF. On the walk back to our Airbnb, we passed Casa Batllo and Casa Mila. It was a great day!
Jon, I read your timetable with interest as it matches our time in Barcelona! Thanks for your ideas!
Sandi, we will be ending out trip in Barcelona, after having spent 5 days in San Sebastian. I'm excited about exploring both cities! I hope you have a wonderful trip.
Laurie
