Barcelona Guide
About BarcelonaBarcelona is today one of the most popular tourist destination in the world and a modern cosmopolitan city offering a variety of interesting attractions to all types of tourists from all over the world. So why does so many people visit Barcelona? This can be resumd in 4 main aspects the outrageous architecture and cultural offers, user-friendly city design, agreeable climate and frenetic nightlife.
The classic type of tourists that visit the coasts of Spain are not very frequent in Barcelona with its bustling central boulevards and stylish modern streets.
The City
Barcelona is the capital of the region called Catalonia in the North-eastern part of Spain.
The city of Barcelona is one of the top cities in Spain in terms of development and infrastructure and since the preparation for the Olympic games in the early 90s the city of Barcelona has seen a constant investment and renovation in general of the city.
The history of Barcelona goes back to the ninth century when the first independent city of Barcelona was established. Before this period Barcelona and the rest of Catalonia was under the Castile domination so compared to most other Spanish cities the history of Barcelona is not that old.
During the dictatorship of Franco the region of Catalonia where greatly suppressed and their language Catalan was completely forbidden and it wasn’t until the 70/80 when the area got its own constitution and the Catalan language was aligned with Spanish..
Architecture
Barcelona is well known for its incredible architecture, seen clearly in the glorious modernista (Art Nouveau) architecture which you can find all over the city. Antoni Gaudí is the most famous architects of the city and he has left a great number of building and monuments in Barcelona: the Sagrada Família church is the most well known which is an incredible building which still isn’t finished many decades after Gaudis death, but there are also many fascinating houses and apartment designed by Gaudi not to forget the incredible Gaudi park. Apart from Gaudi Barcelona has a great legacy, of important Romanesque and Gothic buildings.
Bars & Restaurants
Barcelona is also famous for its great night life and the many bars and cafés throughout the centre - in the Barri Gòtic, Eixample and Gràcia areas.
For full information about what is going on in Barcelona when you plan to visit the city we can recommend the weekly magazine Guia del Ocio which also is available online.
If you are looking for a place to eat out Barclona also offers a great variety of restaurants both restaurants with specialities from all over Spain and also a number of international and of course local restaurants.
Like in the rest of Spain when you go out for dinner you have the option of going out for a light tapa (which are small snacks normally in a more informal atmosphere) or you can go out for real dinner. The options are great all over the centre of Barcelona.
Things to do
Shopping: If you like shopping Barcelona offers plenty of opportunities and is known as the most stylish Spanish city. In the old centre you can shop in the many pedestrianized streets or on the big boulewards or if you prefer shopping malls there are plenty in the outskirts of the old centre.
The best shopping areas are the old streets close to the Ramblas, including c/Portaferrissa, Avenida Portal de l'Àngel and Baixada de la Llibreteria as well as the area the area around Plaça de Catalunya.
Walking: If you like walking there are plenty of things to see in Barcelona: The old historic centre is defiantly worth spending some hours wandering around, the many parks in the centre of Barcelona are also worth a visit and of course the habour area of the city is also nice for a walk.
You can also join one of the walking tours arranged from the tourist office in Plaza Catalunña normally on Saturdays at 10am.