Barcelona Seven Days (May 5-11)... what would YOU plan?? :)

Comments in random order.

1. Spend all your time in Barcelona. Big city with more than enough for 7 days. We spent 8 days there as part of our 22 days in España last October.
2. Do not plan long trips to anywhere else. Forget Tarragona and Perpignan. If you must go to Tarragona, take the train (fast (1.2 hours) and affordable).
3. This AirBnB was perfect for us (and has 2 bedrooms, in case one of you snores) - https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/19288657 . Location: On Gran Via de les Corts Catalanes near the Rocafort Metro stop. Many good restaurants within walking distance.
4. I might consider a day trip to Sitges. 40 minute ride on the R2 Sud. Lots of beaches and good food. We loved our 3 days in Sitges.
5. Another possible day trip is https://www.barcelona-tourist-guide.com/en/tour/montserrat-spain.html . Total time is 9+ hours.
6. Buy your tickets to Sagrada Familia in advance (as in today, http://www.sagradafamilia.org/en/) AND get the 0900 time. You need to visit, but understand that it gets 10,000 tourists a day.
7. Park Güell (https://www.parkguell.cat/en/) is worth a visit. Take the #24 bus (from Plaça de Catalunya, https://www.barcelonaexperience.com/blog/how-to-get-to-park-guell-barcelona-blog/ ) to get there (it will save a LOT of uphill walking. The part of the park that costs money is not worth it, in my opinion. Just walk a lot inside the park.
8. Buy a T-10 card. One for both of you. It is a big city. Use the Metro to get close and then walk. The Metro is clean, safe and fast.
9. Use TripAdvisor and Yelp for restaurant guidance.
10. Parc de Montjuïc is worth a visit. Take the funicular (use your T-10 card) and then the cable car (more money).
11. If you are flying in/out of BCN, the Aerobus (http://www.aerobusbcn.com) is the only sensible way to travel from/to. You must buy ticket vouchers online in advance.
12. Understand that Barcelona is and is not part of España. Half the population speaks Català and wants to secede from España. The other half speaks Castellano and wants Catalunya to remain in España. They are quite emotional about this.
13. Consider going to a concert at https://www.classictic.com/en/special/palau_de_la_musica_catalana/632/?date_from=01-05-2019&date_until=31-05-2019

Stick to the area around Barcelona. There is a lot to do

Think of it as your FIRST trip to Spain and expect to go back. That way you won't try to cram everything in.

There's lots to do in Barcelona. If you use an AirBnB, be sure you follow all the rules and fill out all the paperwork that Barcelona requires.

I am really glad I went to Tickets and Bodega 1900 (which was easier to get into). For Tickets, reservations open at midnight 3 months prior to the dining date. You have to be lucky to get the reservation, but it's really worth it. Review here

Use Rome2rio.com to plan your day trips and decide if the time is worth it. Tarragona is about 1 hour each way on the train and they run frequently.

I also had a nice tour of the Freixenet cava winery outside Barcelona. Had a nice tour, and then lunch in the village square. Pleasant way to spend a day. We just took the train, which is about a 45 minute ride.

Dave barnes gives great advices.
Even if Flamenco is from south of Spain, consider going to palau Dalmases. Great place, great shows.
If you’ve seen ruins in Italy, don’t bother too much with Tarragone. It’s nice but not incredible.
Montserrat would be an easy better day trip in my opinion.
Perpignan is not a must see. Much preferred Collioure, but I wouldn’t do it.
Agree with a show at palau de la musica catalan. Fantastic modernism architecture inside.

My favorite day-trip from Barcelona was Girona, but I haven't yet been to Montserrat.

It's true that Barcelona has a lot to see, and for many of the most popular sights you'll want to get tickets in advance in order to avoid the probably very long ticket lines. The only way to be sure of even getting in on the day you want to go to these sights is to buy your tickets in advance: La Sagrada Familia, Parc Guell, Casa Batllo, Casa Mila/La Pedrera, Palau de la Musica Catalana and Museu Picasso. Note that most of those are timed tickets, and it's not easy to figure out how far apart to make those entry times if you want to visit more than one sight per day. That makes cramming Barcelona into a short trip quite difficult.

The Picasso Museum tends to be unbelievably crowded, to the point that it affects ones ability to get close enough to the art to see it and read the labels. If you are not a big fan of Picasso (mainly early work), I urge you to choose one of Barcelona's many other good art museums instead.

I wouldn't try to squeeze France into a short trip to Barcelona. It's unclear how many days you actually have in Barcelona. The arrival day (if flying in from the US or Canada) is of questionable value because you're likely to be sleep-deprived and jetlagged. That's not a day to pre-purchase an expensive sight entry. And your last day is the day you basically wake up, pack, eat breakfast and head to the airport if you're returning home. So how many full days do you really have in Barcelona? Is it just May 6 - 10 inclusive? That's only 5 days.

I live in a country with some excellent Roman ruins and I've been to many in Italy. I was looking forward to Tarragona's Roman ruins and was completely underwhelmed. The best part of my day trip was the scenice train ride along the seashore. That's not to say that there's nothing to see in Tarragona, but my impression was that most of the ancient sights are medieval, not Roman. There is a museum in Barcelona that has excavations of Roman and Byzantine ruins that's very well done.

You can combine Figueres and Girona into a single long day trip by train. Start at the Dali Theatre when it opens, then spend the afternoon/evening in Girona on the way back to Barcelona.

"The Picasso Museum tends to be unbelievably crowded,...choose one of Barcelona's many other good art museums instead."
I agree.
Personally, I think the Picasso museum in Paris is much better.

Barcelona with seven full days

Day 1
•Sagrada Familia (BOOK a first up visit)
•Hospital Sant Pau
•Eixample - Passeig de Gracia, Casa Mila & Casa Batllo

Day 2
•Palau de la Musica Catalana (BOOK a first up visit)
•Las Ramblas - La Boqueria, Placa Real
•Bari Gotico - Cathedral

Day 3
•Picasso Museum (BOOK a first up visit)
•La Ribera - Basilica Santa Maria del Mar
•Parc de la Ciutadella & Barceloneta

Day 4
•Park Guell (BOOK a first up visit)
•Montjuic (funicular from Parallel) - Joan Miro Foundation, Castello, Olympic Ring
•Plaça Espanya - MNAC, Las Arenas, Magic Fountains

Day 5
Figueres (Dali Museum) & Girona

Day 6
Montserrat

Day 7
Tarragona or Sitges

NOTE:
Joan Miro is closed Mon
MNAC is closed Mon
Antoni Tapies is closed Mon
CCCB is closed Mon
MACBA is closed Tue

We were in Barcelona in 2012 and amongst many highlights was the Fat Tire Bicycle tour and the day trip to Montserrat.