My 1st travel to Barcelona! (5days)

We were recenly in Barcelona and wanted a unique walking tour. We chose Hidden Tours Barcelona. They offer several tours by those formally homeless. Our guide was wonderful. He knew the city and history. Check it out for off the normal tour groups. Just four of us.

Bon dia summerset1991...

Food is something very important in our culture, there are over 15000 eateries in Barcelona... as you can imagine it's impossible to "recommend" you only one. What sort of food do you like? what's your budget?... too many variables, sorry! Do have a look here for some inspiration: http://www.timeout.com/barcelona/restaurants and also http://www.bcnrestaurantes.com/eng

Note that although we receive a lot of tourism all year around, August is particularly busy especially noting that many locals also take their annual holiday in that month. Saying so because if you plan to visit some of the most popular attractions (ie Sagrada Família, Casa Batlló, La Pedrera, etc) DO pre-book in advance otherwise your can end up in epic queues!

I don't know where exactly you're coming from, but in case your neck of the woods are not as hot and humid as ours during summer, note that some days in August, the weather can be particularly uneasy. Temperatures are not that high (90's) but some days can be quite humid (>80%) and this combination makes walking around a nightmare as one's always sweaty, even at night it's difficult to sleep if you don't have air conditioned as temps don't go below the late 80s. On those days (a few every summer) one needs to take things sloooow. You should take this into account when planning an itinerary, too often people make theirs too full of activities half of which end up not being able to do. If you come from a place with similar climate you'll surely understand what I'm talking about. The local weather is best predicted by the Catalan National Weather Service. It's not in English, but weather symbols are universal, right? :) First graphic is the hourly weather for today and tomorrow and the graphic underneath the weather for the next 8 days, including the possibility of rain (blue bars)

Funny thing... you say it's your "first time in Spain"... sorry to disappoint you but you're not going to be visiting Spain :)).... well, politically the territory you're about to visit it's (still) part of that country, but for everything else it's not. You're visiting Catalonia: different language (local language is Catalan albeit Spanish is also spoken), different culture and different traditions and heritage. Don't expect toros and flamenco for example: the first one is banned by law (what enjoyment can one find in watching how an animal is tortured to death?!) and the second one is only found in shows-for-tourists as it's not part of the local culture. Yet, if you're thinking into practising your Spanish don't be put off, you'll still be able to do so: many have Spanish as their mother tongue as we have had quite a lot of immigration from regions that speak only Spanish and those that have Catalan (the local language) as their mother tongue instead can also speak it.

Since you're visiting in August, and this month harbours many Festes Majors (cultural festivals) from many towns and cities in Catalonia, I'd consider visiting one. I'd suggest either the ones in Gràcia (a neighbourhood of Barcelona) -some more info- or the ones in Sitges (about an hour south of the city by train), so not only you will have a terrific time but you'll also be able to experience some of our traditions and heritage -which you'll see are quite different from the stereotypes you might have seen in Hollywood movies when depicting "Spain".

The city of Barcelona has 2000 years of history and it's one of the most vibrant cities in Europe therefore, as you can imagine, she has plenty of stuff to visit and to do for weeks on end. However, if you want to add some escapade during your stay, there are plenty of places worth visiting at a short train/bus ride away, after all Catalonia is just the size of Maryland. Among many other: Sitges, Besalú, Tossa de Mar, Tarragona, Girona, Montserrat... etc. are potential ideas for you to consider. You should first decide which sort of things you like/prefer in order to choose accordingly (history?, rural?, beachy?, nature?)

These are some online resources that can be helpful for you to plan your itinerary: http://www.barcelonaturisme.com/ | http://www.infocatalonia.eu | http://www.timeout.com/barcelona | http://lameva.barcelona.cat/en | http://www.catalunya.com/?language=en

Enjoy!

Our favourite restaurants in Barcelona were Zona Del Ombra and Elsa y Fred. We enjoyed La Pedrera more than Sagrada Familia because there are fewer mobs and tours but the attractions we really enjoyed the most were the Hidden City Tour as mentioned in a previous answer and Sant Pau which is a 15 minute walk from SF. Sant Pau was an fantastic and almost undiscovered so you don't have to contend with mobs of people. We also did a Fat Tire Bike Tour up to Mont Juic on e-bikes. It was terrific and lots of fun. As for museums we loved the collections at the Miro Museum and the National Catalan Art Museum. The Picasso Museum was an interesting building but the collection was underwhelming and the crowds, even in mid-September made for a less than enjoyable experience. We took a day trip to Monserrat which was OK but I would have rather had an extra day in Barcelona. If you like to walk and explore, 5 days is barely enough time in Barcelona and I wouldn't recommend cutting any days.