Five Things To See In Barcelona

Barcelona is a lovely city and there are plenty of things to see and do when you visit. Here are some suggestions that will give you a good overall feel for the city:

1. Architecture

Besides seeing some of Antoni Gaudi’s magnificent buildings in Barcelona (especially La Sagrada Familia), you’ll also want to walk around and check out the architecture in the Gothic Quarter (Barri Gotic).

You can find the Barcelona Cathedral, also known as Cathedral La Seu or Santa Eulalia inside the Gothic Quarter. This gothic cathedral was constructed way before Gaudi's time and was undergoing renovation when we visited. Still, you'll be able to see a good example of gothic style during 14th century Barcelona.

If you visit the cathedral, make sure you also see the thirteen white geese that live in the cloister. Supposedly it's a mystery how they got there in the first place, but their ancestors have been living at this cathedral for centuries.

2. Plaças

Plaças are public squares in Barcelona filled with great atmosphere. They can comprise of statues and fountains or clubs and restaurants. They are places where people meet up, relax, read, eat, and socialize.

Plaça de Catalunya

Plaça d'Espanya

3. Parks

Barcelona can be a bit of a concrete jungle, but if you like greenery, it also has some nice parks. Park de la Ciudadela is the oldest and one of the largest parks in Barcelona. It is known for its large garden, walking areas, lake, and waterfall. Jerry and I walked through the park to get to another destination, but unfortunately didn’t stop to take pictures. I wish we had. Instead, we spent more time at the parks below.

For modernistic architecture, you can check out Park Güell which was designed by Gaudi. Not your typical park.

The largest park is actually in Montjuic (means "Mountain of the Jews") and encompasses many other attractions as well.

You can take a cable car to get to Montjuic, but if you want to save money, then I wouldn't recommend it. Sure, you'll get great views of the city, but the wait is long and it's a pricey ticket for a seven minute ride. If you're not pressed for time and don't mind a small hike, I suggest saving your money and walking up to Montjuic from Placa d'Espanya instead.

Besides walking around Montjuic's park, you can also check out the castle (above) and the many museums located at Montjuic.

The 1992 Olympic Stadium is also at Montjuic.

4. Beaches

Barcelona was voted by National Geographic as being the best beach city in the world. Barcelona has a few beaches, but Barceloneta is the one closest to the city centre. Its Mediterranean coastline was majorly revitalized for the 1992 Olympics and boasts some of the best features an urban beach can offer.

Barceloneta Beach stretches out for 1.1 km starting out from Olympic Port.

Not sure why Barceloneta Beach had speech bubbles all over the place. They were interesting and said different things. Too bad I couldn't read them.

There were many beach volleyball games going on.

There was also a play structure for kids at the beach.

Nice showers to rinse off under after taking a swim.

5. Fountains

You will find numerous decorative drinking fountains while walking around Barcelona. They serve many purposes. You can drink from them, rinse your hands, or give water to your dog. They’re almost as easy to find as vending machines in Japan.

One of the many drinking fountains in Barcelona. Legend says that if you drink out of the fountain at Las Ramblas, you're guaranteed to return to Barcelona.

Many tourists say that one of their favorite attractions is Montjuic's Magic Fountain show. I think I've been spoiled though by the light and water shows at Bellagio in Las Vegas and especially the extravagant ones in Disneyland, so I wasn't incredibly impressed. If you like fountain shows in general though, it's definitely worth checking out.

The Magic Fountain of Montjuic is especially beautiful at night, so watch it after the sun goes down if you can. You have a wonderful show of light, color, and water acrobatics with musical accompaniment against the backdrop of the Palau Nacional Museum.

Almost every travel guide will tell you that no visit to Barcelona would be complete without taking a walk down Las Ramblas. It’s a busy street filled with other tourists, market vendors, street artists, and restaurants.

Many street artists include caricature artists and human statues as well. In fact, Barcelona has the most elaborate human statues I've ever seen in a tourist city. They seriously take the motto "Go big or go home" to heart, and drag huge equipment and accessories with them to complete their perfect statue.

While walking down Las Ramblas and admiring these street artists, be aware of pickpockets. Las Ramblas gets very busy and is a popular location for pickpockets to strike. Watch your wallets and carry your purses and bags in front of you. Stay alert.

Beware of Pickpockets and Scams

While Barcelona is a lovely city, it’s unfortunately full of pickpockets and scam artists. Jerry and I were warned many times by friends and family before visiting. Even the locals and waitresses had warned us while we were there! Jerry and I believe that we escaped getting robbed twice during our visit. I’ll recount one of the instances here:

On our last morning in Barcelona, Jerry and I walked to Las Ramblas to take the metro to catch our flight. With our luggages in tow, we step into the elevator to go downstairs. A young gentleman rushes into the elevator just in time before the door closes. His eyes scan us before he asks “Where are you from?” with a huge smile. Right after we reply, he steps over next to Jerry and starts “dancing” with him. We don’t know what he’s doing. It looks like he’s trying to show Jerry some “futbol” moves that require their legs to get entangled with each other. Jerry, his personal space greatly violated, shoves the man off him and tells him to “get away”. These pickpockets are good. He lifts his hands up in the air, still smiling, with a look of “what’s wrong?” on his face. He seems nice and you might feel like a jerk for pushing him away…but no well-intentioned stranger needs to start touching you without permission. I’m guessing that’s why they would target a guy before a girl first. Jerry was shocked at first and it took him a few seconds before pushing him away–but those few seconds is all a good pickpocket needs to strip you of your wallet. As a girl, I would have reacted immediately and pushed him if he started touching me. While girls might be more cautious about male strangers getting too close in general, guys probably let their guard down more and end up being more confused rather than defensive.

So what happened next? The elevator door opens and the pickpocket walks out to meet up with (who we think is) an accomplice and they walk up the stairs towards the exit. When Jerry and I looked at the metro map, we realized that we actually took the wrong entrance and needed to go to another metro line. When we exited the station, we saw the same gentleman who had just tried to rob us a few minutes before. He was standing near the elevator with a few buddies, no doubt scoping out their next victims. He never intended to board the metro train. I would have liked to take a picture of them, but unfortunately we were in a rush to get to the airport.

I think we were spared because Jerry used a money belt. The pickpocket probably had enough time in those few seconds during the “futbol” distraction to rifle through his pockets for cash. Fortunately for us, we always keep our valuables in a money belt or in secret compartments while we’re in transit.

Many people don't like wearing money belts, but keep in mind that even zipped bags and purses aren't safe. In huge crowds, pickpockets can easily unzip purses and take valuables. Take a look at the huge crowd here getting ready to watch the Magic Fountain. Everyone gets bumped while walking by each other, and it's easy to not notice getting robbed.

Besides the “futbol” scam that we ran into, there are a number of other common ones that tourists encounter. Simplest way to avoid getting robbed is to not have your valuables easily accessible. Keep your valuables tucked away and enjoy seeing the city without an unwanted trip to the embassy. Don’t be an easy target and stay safe!

What do you like most about Barcelona? Have you ever been scammed or robbed while traveling? What happened? What precautions do you take to prevent theft? 

Also check out: