Things to do in Barcelona
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Centre d’Interpretació del Call
Once a 14th-century house of the Jewish weaver Jucef Bonhiac, this small visitors centre is dedicated to the history of Barcelona’s Jewish quarter, the Call. Glass sections in the ground floor allow you to inspect Mr Bonhiac’s former wells and storage space. The house, also known as the Casa de l’Alquimista (Alchemist’s House), hosts a modest display of Jewish artefacts, including ceramics excavated in the area of the Call, along with explanations and maps of the one-time Jewish quarter.
The area between Carrer dels Banys Nous and Plaça de Sant Jaume was the heart of the city’s medieval Jewish quarter, or Call Major, until a bloody pogrom in the 14th century drove…
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Robadors 23
On what remains a classic dodgy El Raval street, where a hardy band of streetwalkers, junkies and other misfits hangs out in spite of all the work being carried out to gentrify the area, a narrow little bar has made a name for itself with its Wednesday night gigs.
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Organic
As you wander into this sprawling vegetarian spot, to the left is the open kitchen, where you choose from a limited range of options that change from day to day. Servings are generous and imaginative. The salad buffet is copious and desserts are good. The set lunch costs €9.50 plus drinks.
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Palau de Dalmases - Espai Barroc
Perhaps the most pretentious bar in town, this 'baroque space' occupies the ground floor of a handsome 15th-century palace. Like a Peter Greenaway set, it is often the stage for a little light baroque music or operetta - the perfect accompaniment to your outlandishly priced goblets of wine.
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Monty Café
This laid-back Italian-run cafe has a terracotta floor, art on the walls, classic marble-top tables and a series of varied, secondhand lounges down one side and a bar at the back. Great for coffee, a long list of teas and cocktails, it also offers food from pasta to bruschetta. It’s a great place to lounge around over your laptop.
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Caelum
Centuries of heavenly gastronomic tradition from across Spain are concentrated in this exquisite medieval space in the heart of the city. Sweets (such as the irresistible marzipan from Toledo) made by nuns in convents across the country make their way to this den of delicacies. There's a shop adjoining the pretty cafe where you can buy goodies to take home; there's also an atmospheric underground chamber where you can secret yourself for tea and pastries from 3.30pm to closing time.
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Coquette
With its spare, cut-back and designer look, this fashion store is automatically attractive in its own right. Women will love to browse through casual, feminine wear by such designers as Tsunoda, Vanessa Bruno, Chloé Baño and Hoss Intropia.
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Cerveseria Catalana
The ‘Catalan Brewery’ is good for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Come in for your morning coffee and croissant, or wait until lunch to enjoy choosing from the abundance of tapas and montaditos (canapés). You can sit at the bar, on the pavement terrace or in the restaurant at the back. The variety of hot tapas, salads and other snacks draws a well-dressed crowd of locals and outsiders.
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Parco
The Italian love affair with Barcelona manifests itself here with this branch of the stylish Milan sushi-restaurant-cum-cocktail-bar. With a little fusion music in the background, start the evening with a round of bulbous cocktails before ordering plates of sushi and sashimi. Lighting is low, while red and black dominate the décor. Those unlucky enough to miss out on a lounge may find themselves uncomfortably perched on backless chairs.
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Port Olímpic
A busy marina built for the Olympic sailing events, Port Olímpic is surrounded by bars and restaurants. An eye-catcher on the approach from La Barceloneta is Frank Gehry’s giant copper Peix (Fish) sculpture. The area behind Port Olímpic, dominated by twin-tower blocks (the luxury Hotel Arts Barcelona and the Torre Mapfre office block), is the former Vila Olímpica living quarters for the Olympic competitors, which was later sold off as apartments.
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Igueldo
White and maroon décor and smooth lines tempt patrons into this refined, contemporary Basque option. Sink into a white leather chair or perch at the back bar for chuletón a la parrilla (one kilo of grilled chop for two), or an intense cochinillo confitado con peras (suckling pig prepared with pears). Igueldo is a winner at lunch with a menú del día (€20) that include choices such as penne con txipirones (pasta with tiny cuttlefish).
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Casa Amalia
This formal restaurant is popular for its hearty Catalan cooking that uses fresh produce, mainly sourced from the busy market next door. On Thursdays during winter it offers the Catalan mountain classic, escudella. Otherwise, you might try light variations on local cuisine, such as the bacallà al allioli de poma (cod in an apple-based aioli sauce). The four-course menú del día is exceptional lunchtime value at €12.
The orange and white decorated joint has split-level dining that makes the most of its space.
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Liquid
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Speakeasy
This clandestine restaurant lurks behind the Dry Martini bar. You will be shown a door through the open kitchen area to the ‘storeroom’, lined with hundreds of bottles of backlit, quality tipples. Dark decorative tones, a few works of art, low lighting, light jazz music and smooth service complete the setting. The menu has tempting options like the huge hunk of burrata cheese with white asparagus and strips of ravishing jamón (cured ham).
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Castell de Montjuïc
The forbidding Castell (castle or fort) de Montjuïc dominates the southeastern heights of Montjuïc and enjoys commanding views over the Mediterranean. It dates, in its present form, from the late 17th and 18th centuries. For most of its dark history, it has been used to watch over the city and as a political prison and killing ground.
Anarchists were executed here around the end of the 19th century, fascists during the civil war and Republicans after it – most notoriously Lluís Companys in 1940. The castle is surrounded by a network of ditches and walls (from which its strategic position over the city and port become clear).
Until 2009 the castle was home to a…
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Palau de la Música Catalana
This concert hall is a high point of Barcelona’s Modernista architecture. It’s not exactly a symphony, but more a series of crescendos in tile, brick, sculpted stone and stained glass. Built by Domènech i Montaner between 1905 and 1908 for the Orfeo Català musical society, it was conceived as a temple for the Catalan Renaixença (Renaissance).
The palace was built with the help of some of the best Catalan artisans of the time, in the cloister of the former Convent de Sant Francesc, and since 1990 it has undergone several major changes.
The palau, like a peacock, shows off much of its splendour on the outside. Take in the principal facade with its mosaics, floral…
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Bar Celta
This bright, rambunctious tapas bar specialises in pulpo (octopus) and other sea critters like navajas (razor clams). It does a good job: even the most demanding of Galician natives give this spot the thumbs up. Sit at the zinc bar, order a bottle of Ribeiro and the traditional Galician tazas (little white cups) and tuck into your raciones (larger portions of tapas dishes).
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Museu del Futbol Club Barcelona
One of Barcelona's most visited museums is the Museu del Futbol Club Barcelona, next to the club's giant Camp Nou stadium. The museum, renovated in 2010, provides a high-tech view into the club, with massive touch screens allowing visitors to explore arcane aspects of the legendary team. The best bits of the museum itself are the photo section, the goal videos and the views out over the stadium. You can admire the (in at least one case literally) golden boots of great goalscorers of the past and learn about the greats who have played for Barça over the years, including Maradona, Ronaldinho, Kubala and many others.
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Inopia
Albert Adrià, brother of star chef Ferran, has his hands full with this constantly busy gourmet-tapas temple. Select a pintxo de cuixa de pollastre a l’ast (chunk of rotisserie chicken thigh) or the lightly fried, tempura-style vegetables. Wash down with house red or Moritz beer.
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Escribà
Antoni Escribà carries forward a family tradition (since 1906) of melting barcelonins’ hearts with remarkable pastries and criminal chocolate creations. Try the Easter bunyols de xocolata (little round pastry balls filled with chocolate cream). Escribà has another branch in a Modernista setting at La Rambla de Sant Josep 83.
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Sergio Aranda
Trained in the art of jewellery creation in Switzerland, Aranda produces an original line of goods, including jewellery made using ancient coins. He also specializes in pearls, making all sorts of original and even daring necklaces and other items for ladies looking for something combining the extroverted and unique with the classic.
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Elisabets
This unassuming restaurant is popular for no-nonsense local fare. The walls are lined with old radio sets and the menú del día (set menu, €10.75) varies daily. If you prefer a la carta, try the ragú de jabalí (wild boar stew) and finish with mel i mató (a Catalan dessert made from cheese and honey). Those with a post-midnight hunger on Friday nights can probably get a meal here as late as 1am.
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Plaça Reial & Around
Just south of Carrer de Ferran, near its La Rambla end, Plaça Reial is a traffic-free plaza whose 19th-century neoclassical facades are punctuated by numerous eateries, bars and nightspots. It was created on the site of a convent, one of several destroyed along La Rambla (the strip was teeming with religious institutions) in the wake of the Spain-wide disentailment laws that stripped the Church of much of its property.
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Montserrat
Montserrat (Serrated Mountain) is the spiritual heart of Catalonia and your best opportunity to enjoy awesome scenery on a day trip from Barcelona. Comprising a massif of limestone pinnacles rising precipitously over gorges, this wondrous place has drawn hermits (er, independent travellers) since the 5th century.
Montserrat, 50km (31mi) northwest of Barcelona, has weird rocky crags, ruined hermitage caves, a monastery and hordes of tourists from the Costa Brava. The Monestir de Montserrat was founded in 1025 to commemorate numerous visions of the Virgin Mary. Today it houses a community of about 80 monks, and pilgrims come to venerate La Moreneta (the Black Virgin), a…
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Fundació Joan Miró
Joan Miró, the city’s best-known 20th-century artistic progeny, bequeathed this art foundation to his hometown in 1971. Its light-filled buildings, designed by close friend and architect Josep Lluís Sert (who also built Miró’s Mallorca studios), are crammed with seminal works, from Miró’s earliest timid sketches to paintings from his last years.
Sert's shimmering white temple to the art of one of the stars of the 20th-century Spanish firmament is considered one of the world's most outstanding museum buildings; the architect designed it after spending much of Franco's dictatorship years in the US, as the head of the School of Design at Harvard University. The…
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