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Barcelona in October is the perfect vacation destination for people from the North. It is warm, charming, and less crowded by tourists in autumn. In the middle of October, the temperature was around +24C. It must be quite hot during the summer months. Here are some other tips that you need to know before visiting Barcelona.
Below you will find a list of things that I experienced in Barcelona. As this was a vacation, I spent my days in a relaxation mode. It took me two days to see all these things, but I’m sure that it is possible to go through them in a day.
On other days of my trip, I explored the surroundings of Barcelona. One day I took a trip to Tarragona, one more trip to Montserrat, and several hikes on the Costa Brava.
Sagrada Familia
One of the most popular destinations in Barcelona is the Sagrada Familia Roman Catholic church. It was designed by Antoni Gaudi and is still in the building process – for more than a hundred years. The church is very impressive and can be seen from many higher points around the city, where people enjoy the panorama views.
On the day when I visited the church at around noon, all the tickets for that day already had been sold out. So if you plan a visit to Sagrada Familia, I’d suggest buying tickets online a few days before the planned visit.
One of the ticket options is to go up to see one of the towers. This would offer a closer view of the marvelous architectural wonder that is Sagrada Familia.
The marvelous architecture that you can see in Barcelona is one of the reasons why people even visit this city.
Park Guell
Many of the fairytale houses from the pictures of Barcelona on the internet are located in Park Guell. It was designed by Antoni Gaudi. The park consists of a part that is available for the public and a part where you have to pay an entry fee if you want to get in. The colorful houses are inside the paid area.
I strolled through the free part, and it was amazing. All paths in the park lead upwards, where an amazing panorama view of Barcelona is revealed. There were several fairytale-like constructions in the park on the way up, which offered some shade and rest during the climb.
La Rambla
La Rambla is a famous pedestrian street, which is around 1 km long and leads to the Christopher Columbus Monument near the sea. The street is very popular among tourists, so there all of the usual tourist attractions can be found. There you can enjoy some delicious seafood, a coffee or some sangria, buy souvenirs, see the interesting architecture of the surrounding buildings and keep your things secure from the pickpocketers.
I visited La Rambla to tick it off my bucketlist, but in my opinion, this street was too touristy. It was loud, commercial, and reminded me of many other pedestrian shopping streets in other European cities.
Gothic Quarter
The oldest parts of Barcelona are encompassed in the Gothic Quarter. It is conveniently located just next to La Rambla, so after a stroll through the loud and active pedestrian street, you can get lost in the quiet maze of small streets. There are many architectural elements on the surrounding houses that are fascinating. And small streets often end in squares, where pubs are located.
One of the most impressive buildings in the quarter is Barcelona Cathedral. There are gargoyles on its roof, which adds some mystique to the massive building.
Palau Nacional
On the Montjuic hill, there are many famous attractions of Barcelona. It is possible to take a funicular cable car to the Castle of Montjuic and see a panorama view of the city. There are many smaller parks on the hill, so it is interesting to climb up the hill on foot too.
On the lower part of the hill, Palau Nacional is located. The National Art Museum of Catalonia is located in this building. From the staircase, a view of Barcelona can be photographed. There are usually many tourists there to enjoy the iconic landmark.
Magic Fountain
At the bottom of the Palau National staircase, there is a fountain. The Magic Fountain of Montjuic is magical, because of the light and music shows it performs. The shows are half an hour long and they happen during (extended) weekends. If you go to Barcelona in the low season, check the working days and times of the fountain, or you might miss the show.
Top tours in Barcelona
Check out these popular tours in Barcelona so that you wouldn’t have to plan everything on your own:
Your turn:
Do you enjoy traveling to foreign cities? Have you ever been to Barcelona? What would you suggest seeing there?
Love Barcelona! I actually took a bicycle tour around the city on my short visit and really enjoyed it. Was a fun way to see the main sites (which you listed) but also get to explore some of the side streets and burn off all of the tapas I was eating 🙂 Great post!
Thank you for the nice comment. Bicycle sounds like a good idea for Barcelona – there are quite many things to see that are far from each other in the city. I was quite exhausted from a lot of walking in the heat. I’d like to try exploring a foreign city on a bicycle someday.
Nice article, Una. Great things to see if you are short on time. Sagrada Familia is always booked up. And I have the same photo of that arch in the Gothic area! 🙂
When I visited Barcelona, I was surprised about not being able to buy the tickets to Sagrada Familia. I wanted to see the view of the city from its towers. Luckily, there was Park Guell with the panorama view of the city.
I only recently saw those fountains last december at christmas – truly MAGICAL!
A great itinerary – with gorgeous photos!
I went to Barcelona a couple of years ago, and visited the most touristic place, even if I missed a couple of them, such as the Sagrada Familia.
So I’m very excited as I will be back in two weeks and visit the Pedrera and the countryside ♥
Hopefully I will be able to visit some other zones I apparently haven’t visited yet 🙂
Barcelona is one of my favorite cities. Your list is great and in my opinio all these places are must-visit spots when being in BCN. I also love both Gaudi houses “Casa Mila and Casa Battlo”, Mercat de la Boqueria, Barceloneta Beach and Tipidobo. If oyu are interested check out my post about “One week in Barcelona”.
We have plans to do small road trips, so the car is necessary.