L'Eixample

The elegant, if traffic-filled, district of L'Eixample (pronounced 'lay-sham-pluh') is a showcase for Modernista architecture, including Gaudí's unfinished masterpiece, La Sagrada Família. L'Eixample also has a celebrated dining scene, along with high-end boutiques and wildly diverse nightlife: university party spots, gilded cocktail lounges and the buzzing gay club scene of 'Gaixample' are all part of the mix.

Explore L'Eixample

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Top attractions

These are our favorite local haunts, touristy spots, and hidden gems throughout L'Eixample.

  • Basilica

    La Sagrada Família

    The Temple Expiatori de la Sagrada Família (Expiatory Temple of the Holy Family) is considered to be the symbol of Barcelona by many residents, and the…

  • Architecture

    La Pedrera

    In the top tier of Gaudí's achievements, this madcap Unesco-listed masterpiece, with 33 balconies, was built in 1905–10 as a combined apartment and office…

  • Architecture

    Casa Batlló

    One of Europe's strangest residential buildings, Casa Batlló (built 1904–6) is Gaudí at his fantastical best. From its playful facade and marine-world…

  • Gallery

    Fundació Antoni Tàpies

    The Fundació Antoni Tàpies is both a pioneering Modernista building (completed in the early 1880s) and the major collection of leading 20th-century…

  • Architecture

    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…

  • Architecture

    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…

  • Architecture

    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…

  • Palace

    Palau Macaya

    The 1901 Palau Macaya is one of Barcelona's great yet least-known Catalan Modernisme gems. It was designed by architect Josep Puig i Cadafalch, who was…

  • Museum

    Museu Egipci

    Hotel magnate Jordi Clos has spent much of his life collecting ancient Egyptian artefacts, brought together in this private museum divided into thematic…

  • Architecture

    Palau Baró de Quadras

    Puig i Cadafalch redesigned this 1882 residential building in exuberant Gothic-inspired style, with two distinct facades, between 1902 and 1906. The main…

  • Museum

    Museu del Modernisme Barcelona

    Housed in a stuccoed, red-washed 1902 Modernista building by Enric Sagnier, this museum seems like a big Modernista-furniture showroom. Several pieces by…

  • Museum

    Museu del Perfum

    At the back of the Barcelona-founded Regia perfume shop, this museum tells the story of the scent world through the ages, with 5000 bottles of infinite…

  • Architecture

    Palau Montaner

    Though fascinating on the outside and made all the more enticing by its leafy gardens, this 1893 creation by Domènech i Montaner is especially spectacular…

  • Gallery

    Sala Fundación MAPFRE

    Originally built for a rich banking family by Enric Sagnier in 1902–05, the stunning, carefully restored Modernista Casa Garriga i Nogués has been taken…

  • Architecture

    Casa Golferichs

    Designed by Joan Rubió i Bellver for businessman Macari Golferichs, this quirky 1901 Modernista villa is an oddity of another era on one of the city’s…

  • Architecture

    Casa Serra

    Puig i Cadafalch let his imagination loose on the Casa Serra (1903–08), a neo-Gothic whimsy today home to government offices. With its central tower…

  • Architecture

    Universitat de Barcelona

    Although a university was first set up on what is now La Rambla in the 16th century, the present, glorious mix of (neo) Romanesque, Gothic, Islamic and…

  • Architecture

    Casa Lleó Morera

    Domènech i Montaner’s 1905 contribution to the Illa de la Discòrdia, with Modernista carving outside and a bright, tiled lobby in which floral motifs…

  • Church

    Església de les Saleses

    A singular neo-Gothic effort, this church is interesting because it was designed by Joan Martorell i Montells (1833–1906), Gaudí’s architecture professor…

Top experiences

Whether it’s a guided tour of a historic landmark, private tasting of local delicacies, or an off-road adventure — explore the best experiences in L'Eixample.

  • Activities