Even if you are a pure Barcelonian, one of those who avoids the Rambla, does not set foot in Barceloneta all year and has never visited the Sagrada Familia, surely you have left something to do typically Barcelonian and you did not know it.
Surely also, no matter how much you are from Barcelona, there has come a weekend in which you have been left without a plan and you have searched: What can I do today in Barcelona? What can I visit this weekend? What activities are there? What are the best plans in the city?
To solve these doubts, and many more, we leave you a list of authentic Barcelona things that any citizen has to do (or not) to be able to say loud and clear that he is a full-fledged neighbor of Barcelona.
1. Enjoy the Catalan delicacy: calçots (spring onions)
Claiming to be from Barcelona (or Catalonia) and not having eaten calçots should be punishable by imprisonment because, in Catalonia, happiness is measured in calçots. And if you have done it, but not in a farmhouse, it should be punishable. Therefore, we leave here some farmhouses and restaurants in Barcelona for you to subvert your mistake.
2. Know the sweet history of Chocolate Street
It is popularly known as Chocolate Street because in the seventeenth century almost spontaneously began to install various chocolate shops. And, to this day, they are still there. Likewise, you can’t consider yourself a Barcelonian if you haven’t tasted chocolate in one of the stores on Petritxol Street.
3. The magic of Gràcia: Barcelona’s most popular festivals
Walk through all the streets -yes, standing in line- of Gràcia during the Fiestas de Gràcia, the most popular neighborhood festivities in the city. Flip over the decorations, complain about the amount of people, sing your heart out at one of the concerts at night, get out of there among the crowds that fill its narrow streets. To repeat.
4. Visit the Miró mosaic without worrying about the crowds (high difficulty).
We said we wouldn’t go through La Rambla, but walking over the Miró mosaic on La Rambla, next to the memorial of the 2017 attack, and in front of the Liceu, is something that, if you do it hating the masses of tourists, is allowed in the manual of the good Barcelonian.
5. Visit Camp Nou (even if you’re not a Barça fan).
Even if it’s against Albacete: you have to see a game at the Camp Nou. And if not, there’s always the FC Barcelona museum, the most visited museum in the city.
Then, celebrate it in Canaletes. Even if you’re an Espanyol or Madrid fan, enjoy (even from afar) the celebration of a Barcelona title at Canaletes and read this article to explain to everyone why the culés celebrate here.
6. Discover the secrets of the magic fountain of Montjuïc
Go to the magic fountain of Montjuïc (surrounded by tourists) and enjoy the show. Although if what you want is to be a real expert, sign up for the visits made by the City Council to the inside of the Font to see how it works.
7. Pass under the Arc del Triomf and the Pont del Bisbe in search of unique experiences.
Pass under the Arc del Triomf. Not because it means anything in itself, just to do it. And if not, you have the other option, passing under the Pont del Bisbe and not looking at the skull, which you know what it means.
8. Books and roses in Sant Jordi
Enjoy Sant Jordi with all the fireworks: with your book and your rose. Stroll through the literary Superilla, find the most beautiful rose and your ideal book and, in short, enjoy the most beautiful day of the year in the city.
10. Meet the unfinished Sagrada Familia
Enter the Sagrada Familia before it’s finished (so you have time) and check if you know everything you need to know about it. And if you’ve had enough of it,you can go and visit the other, more unknown Sagrada Familia in Catalonia.
11. The rest of Gaudí’s legacy
To say only the Sagrada Familia is a bit of an understatement. Really, you should visit La Pedrera, La Casa Batlló and everything that went through Gaudí’s head.
12. Get wet on the beach in Barcelona
Barcelona is a city of the sea, and very often we forget to relate something more with the sea. Lately, amazing marine animals keep appearing along the coast. From dolphins to whales or sharks, the sea of Barcelona is very much alive, and it is a good idea not only to know it, but also to visit it with some of the companies that do sustainable sailing with animal watching.
13. Order a kebab before (or after) going out partying
Eat a kebab battle in the Rambla del Raval to start or end the night or enjoy some of the good kebabs that by now abound in the city. And if not, go to the Barcelona branch of the best kebab in Berlin (city of origin of durum) and try it too.
14. Tibidabo and its attractions
Get on the plane of Tibidabo Park, a centenary attraction that has already flown several times around the world, and enjoy from your seats, or from any other attraction, of the beautiful views over the city.
15. The fascinating tradition of l’ou com balla
Delicacy, wit and absurdity: these three factors -or, as the case may be, adjectives- could be used to define one of Barcelona’s most traditional religious traditions. We are talking about l’ou com balla, a very curious tradition that is a must-see.
16. Know the history of the Plaça Sant Felip Neri
Visit the Plaça de Sant Felip Neri, one of the most beautiful squares in the city, being aware of its history and letting the school children who have in that square their playground play quietly.
17. Take a bookstore tour
Take this route of bookstores in Barcelona. You can also visit these second-hand bookstores.
18. Walk the 13.1 kilometers of the Gran Via de les Corts Catalanes
Walk the entire Gran Via de les Corts Catalanes from Hospitalet to Badalona and vice versa to boast of having walked the longest street in Barcelona.
19. Buy an Easter mona
Buy the mona for your godchild in one of these places or ask them to buy it for you if you are still lucky enough.
20. Go rowing at the Ciutadella Park
Ride in the rowing boats at the Ciutadella Park and, although the lake is tiny, imagine that you are in the Retiro. And by the way, take the opportunity to see, when it is finished, the renovated Greenhouse. And if not, the Mammoth.
21. Visit the Botanical Gardens of Mossèn Costa i Llobera
Visit the gardens of Mossèn Costa i Llobera, considered one of the ten best gardens in the world.
22. Take the cable car up to Montjuïc
Go up the mountain of Montjuïc in the cable car (well, if we are purists, in the cable car) and then walk down to discover all the corners of the mountain.
23. Razz and Apolo: the mandatory party once in a lifetime
Go to Razzmatazz and Apolo to break the night. Or discover one of the other great discos that open in the moonlight. Not necessarily on the same night (if you do it on the same night you get the Charly Sheen medal).
24. Be a hipster at MACBA
Enjoy the Olympic sporting spectacle that is the MACBA square. And while you’re at it, learn to skateboard (or at least try). And if not, have a can while sitting and looking at the view.
25. Ride a bike through the Ciutadella
Skate or bike around the Ciutadella (and, consequently, expose yourself to the risk of fractures and different types of injuries) and ride around the park, which is not that big either.
Then, take a picture of yourself next to the mammoth of the Ciutadella. Take a picture next to the Ciutadella mammoth, an icon of Barcelona.
26. Visit the Güell for free (and without tourists).
Visit the Park Güell but in the afternoon, when the tourists start to leave and the entrance is free.
27. Experience the correfocs
Go to some of the many correfocs that, throughout the year, are celebrated in Barcelona. The curious Catalan connection with devils and fireworks is something worthy of study.
28. Visit its air-raid shelters
Remembering Barcelona’s mournful past and visiting one of its air-raid shelters (there were about 4000 in the city during the Civil War), or visiting online and in 3D some of the ones that do not have the door open.
The last one that has opened to the public is the one in La Sagrera, which has been found during the construction works of the station. It was hidden behind a wall since 1937 and today, finally, it can be visited.
29. Eat chestnuts in October
Eat chestnuts during All Saints’ Day and keep alive a tradition that fills the streets of the city with an incredible smell.
30. Feed a myth
Cover the Tió de Nadal with a blanket, feed it and see if you are lucky. If not, you will have participated in one of the most Catalan traditions of all.
31. Visit the biggest pastiche of the city and if that, go out to party.
Take a walk around Poble Espanyol, the cathedral of kitsch in Barcelona, and wonder how it is possible that this place exists (and then get into one of the nightclubs that are housed here).
32. Visit a classic market
Visit (and shop) at any of these great markets in the city.
33. Have a vermouth
Have a vermouth in Parlament street (or wherever, but take it).
34. Have a meal in a Michelin star restaurant.
Treat yourself to a tribute at some of the great Michelin-starred restaurants in the city. And if you want to aim for the top, go to Disfrutar, the third best restaurant in the world. Of course, book in advance.
35. Find real treasures in the second-hand stores.
Take a stroll through some of the second-hand second-hand flea markets in the city to look for your to look for your most colorful clothes.
36. Go to Primavera Sound once in a lifetime (and Sónar).
Go to Primavera Sound, walk kilometers through the esplanades, wait hours in line for a beer and end up assuring that you would do it again to see great bands again.
Obviously you also have to go to Sonar, and become an electronic music expert for a weekend.
37. Play takatà
Play takatà, the only sport in the world created in Barcelona.
38. Go to the Grec Festival
See a play at the Grec Festival and be amazed at all the forms the performing arts can take in a single festival.
39. Visit the Palau de la Música
Go to a concert at the Palau de la Música, one of the most beautiful concert halls in the world.
40. Walk around the city in search of Roman remains.
Come across by mistake or by chance with the Roman columns of the Temple of Augustus and freak out. It is already known that Barcelona hides even Roman human remains very close to our feet.
41. Visiting the cemeteries of the city
Go to the cemetery of Montjuïc… and feel envious of the views enjoyed by the deceased in one of the most aesthetics (and tenebrous) things you can do in the city.
42. Stroll through the Eixample admiring its modernist facades.
One of the best things to do in Barcelona, as free as it is simple, is to walk around the Eixample with your neck 180 degrees from the ground to enjoy the facades that make up the neighborhood and set out to discover some of the most beautiful and unknown buildings in the area.
43. Learn to dance the sardana, “la millor de les danses que es fan i es desfan”.
Watching someone dance a sardana and join in… or at least try to.
44. Finding out why the statue of Columbus doesn’t point to America.
Revealing to a friend that the statue of Columbus does not point to America.
45. To have one of the tapas born in the city.
Have a bomba in Barceloneta and not just anywhere, but in the Cova Fumada, its true place of origin.
46. Become a nocturnal cat in Raval
Caress Botero’s Cat (which is on the Rambla del Raval), boast that you know its history and consider yourself an authentic night cat of the Raval.
47. Find the most beautiful square in Barcelona
Plaça de Sant Gaietà, also known by many as El Rinconet, is for many the most beautiful square in Barcelona. And, well, precisely because of the boldness of the statement is best left to the discretion of the visitor.
48. Take a curious urban walk around the city
Stepping on the clock on the floor of the Via Laietana (you’ve surely stepped on it at some point) and be aware of its jinxed condition. Or look for the mythical thermometer of Portal de l’Àngel, which has been giving the temperature of the city for half a century. Or if not, the owl of Passeig Sant Joan, and thus end a walk through icons of urban planning in the city.
49. Selfie in front of the most beautiful facade of the city (and it is not La Pedrera, nor the Sagrada Familia or any building of Gaudí).
Take a picture in front of the most famous and beloved non-modernist facade of Barcelona: we are talking about the facade of carrer d’Allada Vermell. And if not go nearby, to kiss the most photographed wall in Barcelona.
50. Make the ultimate gastronomic route visiting the 50 bars and restaurants you have to try before you die.
Visit (and eat at) the 50 bars and restaurants in Barcelona that you have to try before you die.