Founded in 1327, this serene convent is now a museum of monastic life (the few remaining nuns have moved into more modern neighbouring buildings). It…
Must see attractions in Barcelona
- Top ChoiceReial Monestir de Santa Maria de Pedralbes
- Top ChoiceCosmoCaixa
One of the city’s most popular family-friendly attractions, this science museum is a favourite with kids (and kids at heart). The single greatest…
- Top ChoiceMercat de Santa Caterina
Come shopping for your tomatoes or pop in for lunch at this extraordinary-looking produce market, designed by forward-thinking architects Enric Miralles…
- Top ChoiceEl Poblenou Platges
A series of beautiful, broad, sandy golden beaches dotted with xiringuitos (seasonal beach bars) stretches northeast from the Port Olímpic marina. They're…
- Top ChoiceMuseu d’Història de Catalunya
Within the revitalised 1880s Palau de Mar, this excellent museum travels from the Stone Age through to the arrival of Modernisme in Catalonia and the…
- Gran Teatre del Liceu
If you can’t catch a night at the opera, you can still take in the awe-inspiring architectural riches of one of Europe’s greatest opera houses. Opened in…
- Casa Amatller
One of Puig i Cadafalch’s most striking flights of Modernista fantasy, Casa Amatller combines Gothic window frames and Romanesque flourishes with a…
- Recinte Modernista de Sant Pau
Domènech i Montaner outdid himself as architect and philanthropist with the Modernista Hospital de la Santa Creu i de Sant Pau, renamed the 'Recinte…
- Casa de les Punxes
Puig i Cadafalch’s 1905 Casa Terrades is known as the Casa de les Punxes (House of Spikes) because of its pointed tile-adorned turrets. Resembling a…
- Parc de la Ciutadella
Come for a stroll, a picnic, a lake boat ride, a tour of Catalonia’s parliament or to marvel at the swirling waterfall-fountain in which Gaudí had a hand…
- Poble Espanyol
Welcome to Spain! All of it! This ‘Spanish Village’ is an intriguing scrapbook of Spanish architecture built for the local-crafts section of the 1929…
- Colònia Güell
Apart from La Sagrada Família, Gaudí’s last big project was the creation of a utopian textile workers’ complex for his magnate patron Eusebi Güell outside…
- Castell de Montjuïc
Enjoying commanding views over the Mediterranean, this forbidding fortress dominates the southeastern heights of Montjuïc. It dates, in its present form,…
- Tibidabo
Framing the north end of the city, the pine-forested mountain of Tibidabo, which tops out at 512m, is the highest peak in Serra de Collserola. Much of its…
- MUHBA Refugi 307
Barcelona was the city most heavily bombed by Franco's air forces during the Spanish Civil War, and as a result developed more than 1300 air-raid shelters…
- El Fòrum
Once an urban wasteland, this area has seen dramatic changes since the turn of the millennium, including sparkling buildings, open plazas and waterfront…
- Palau de la Generalitat
The early-15th-century Palau de la Generalitat opens through a monumental late-Renaissance facade with neoclassical leanings, designed by Pere Blai, but…
- Museu del Disseny de Barcelona
Nicknamed la grapadora (the stapler), Barcelona's fascinating design museum lies inside a monolithic contemporary building with geometric facades and a…
- Carrer de Montcada
Today running between the Romanesque Capella d'en Marcús and Passeig del Born, this medieval high street (an early example of town planning) was driven…
- Basílica de Santa Maria del Pi
Begun in 1320, on the site of a 10th-century Romanesque church, this striking 14th-century basilica is a classic of Catalan Gothic, with an imposing…