I have dreamed of visiting this vibrant city since my high school Spanish class days.  What struck me most was the sheer number of restaurants on every corner, and the Tapas(small plates) way of eating allowed me and my friends to go to more than one restaurant a meal! Not to mention the colorful architecture, museums, and the local vibe I got despite it being a large city.

Some tips:

🌴Visit during the winter-time. We went right before Christmas and the city was not crowded and flights were cheap.

🌴I highly recommend visiting with a group of friends or family so that you can share more tapas and try a wide variety of dishes per meal.

🌴If you enjoy walking, stay in a central area and you will barely have to use public transit. We stayed near the Universitat train station and almost every attraction was less than a one hour walk. 

Here are how me and my friends spent 5 days in Barcelona, maybe it will help you plan your own trip!

Day 1

How we got to the city center: As soon as we got off of the plane, we were greeted with sunshine and palm trees! We took the bus from the airport to our Airbnb located in the El Raval area. If you choose to take the airport bus A1 or A2 I recommend that you carry more or less the exact amount in cash and decide if you want a one way or two way ticket. One way ticket is €5.90 and two way is €10.20 running about every 10 mins from 5:30am to 1am. For more info: http://www.aerobusbcn.com/en

Affordable meal options: After we got to our airbnb we were starving! Luckily, it is so easy to find affordable food in Barcelona. We went to a restaurant nearby with a combination menu where you can get bread, drink, and main dish. This is common in many restaurants and are often advertised outside during lunch. It can be a really affordable way to enjoy a complete meal including wine and dessert. We had about two of these meals during our stay and it can be anywhere from 6-12 euros for one full course meal.

Day 2

Passeig de Grácia 

Catalonian Architect, Antoni Gaudí, has many unique modernist buildings in Barcelona. It is an iconic part of a visit to this city. We were eager to walk along Passeig de Gracia where both Casa Battló and Casa Milá can be seen on the same route. Be sure to check out the interesting building beside Casa Battló called Casa Amatller by a different architect. Entrance fees were quite pricey so we decided to enjoy from the outside and save it for our next trip to Barcelona!

Grácia

After Passeig de Grácia, we kept walking up to the orange tree lined neighborhood of Grácia. This neighborhood is full of little restaurants, cafes, boutiques, and bookstores!

Restaurants and Cafes:

🍽 Sol Soler

Plaça del Sol, 21, 08012 Barcelona, Spain

Our absolute favorite Tapas bar during our whole trip. Great food and reasonable prices! Be sure to order the cava, Catalonian Spanish wine! We basically ate the entire tapas menu by the end of our stay. Everything was delicious but my favorites were the padrón peppers and the sausages cooked in wine.

🍽 Xurreria Trebol 

Carrer de Còrsega, 341, 08037 Barcelona, Spain

This small, hole in the wall place was a nice way to get our churros fix. Churros are pieces of fried dough and delicious when dipped in hot chocolate. If going as a group, I recommend only ordering one hot chocolate to use for dipping and order a large amount churros! We ordered two hot chocolates and ended up being too much. They also had some delicious Spanish croquetas, fried bread-crumbed potato rolls with different fillings.

☕Onna Cafe

Carrer de Santa Teresa, 1, 08012 Barcelona, Spain

A fantastic high quality coffee shop with a nice atmosphere. It was a perfect place to rest our legs with free wifi and a place to charge our phones as well.

Bookstores 

There were a great selection of bookstores in this neighborhood. Here are some places where I spent more money than I had planned! 

📚Hibernian Books

Carrer del Montseny, 17, 08012 Barcelona, Spain

This second-hand English language bookstore has some of the best prices on some almost new books. They also had a section of second-hand translated Latin American and Spanish books.

📚Tuuulilibreria

Carrer del Planeta, 17, 08012 Barcelona, Spain

Second hand bookstore only in Spanish. However, what is unique is that you can pay however much you would like for a book. The interior was also interesting to look at since the books are stacked horizontally!

Parc de la Ciutadella

After Grácia we walked down Passeig de Sant Joan to stop by Parc de la Ciutadella. Founded in the 19th century, this was an interesting park with a unique fountain and home to the city’s zoo. There were some wild parrots in the trees which was a nice surprise!

Rambla de Mar 

Following the park, we decided to head towards the harbor as the sun was heading down. I highly recommend walking along the wooden walkway called Rambla de Mar. Even in the middle of December it was pleasant to walk outside! 

Dinner Spots

🍽Xampaneyria

A cheap no-frills standing only tapas bar near the harbor where we had some insanely cheap and delicious cava. Fantastic tapas including manchego cheese and some of the best chorizo I have ever tasted.

🍽Ramen Shop

Carrer d’en Gignàs, 3, 08002 Barcelona, Spain

I was pleasantly surprised at this spot. I’ve been put off by ramen outside of Japan for its ridiculous prices and lack of authenticity. This ramen shop nails it by charging a reasonable 7.5 euros for a bowl. Best way to end the day 😌! 

To be continued… Stay tuned for the second part of the trip!