Barcelona 3-day itinerary

Gaudí spent his last years obsessing over the Sagrada Família, this ornate, turreted cathedral with its iconic turrets like melting candles.

Although only the Birth Façade and crypt were completed before he died, and nearly all the plans were lost during the Spanish Civil War, the foundation that owns it has decided to carry on building it according to Gaudi’s surviving drawings.

Funded by ticket admissions, it’s already, even critics admit, the most spectacular church of the 21st century. But it’s quite a labour of love – it’s slated to be finished by 2026.

There are three Modernista masterpieces in a single block on the Passeig de Gracia, but Gaudi’s Casa Batllo (1906), a shimmering, colour-drenched townhouse designed as an allegory of a dragon, is the most astonishing.

Commissioned by textile industrialist Josep Batllo when Gaudi was at his artistic best, this dazzling widely acclaimed Modernista masterpiece is now a UNESCO-listed World Heritage Site.

The facade is especially beautiful, and though it’s expensive to tour the interior, it’s even more magical inside: brightly tiled, fluid-looking and full of art.

One highlight is the open-air rooftop, where you can admire the bold, surreal chimney stacks and snap photos of the city.

Garcia Llorca called it the ‘most beautiful street in the world’ and it’s hard to argue: curving sinuously for a mile down to the sea. It threads past the flower and bird market, news kiosks and cafés, endless ‘living statues’ and street performers, and some of the city’s most important monuments: the Baroque Palau de la Virreina, the Liceu Opera and La Boqueria market.

It is, however, a tourist trap, always crowded and bustling and plagued by pick pockets. It can be a bit overwhelming, but it’s worth a quick walk down on your way to the waterfront, market, or another of the landmarks nearby., to say you’ve done it.

Barcelona’s waterfront is two-mile sweep of sandy beaches, esplanades, boardwalks and marinas, seafood eateries, trendy clubs, and chilled-out cafés. Amongst locals, it’s a popular spot for a walk, cycling or rollerblading; start facing the sea at the Christopher Columbus statue on Las Ramblas, then head left.

Watch for world-renowned public sculpture along the way, including Roy Lichtenstein’s ‘Barcelona Head’ and Frank Gehry’s ‘Flying Fish’.

In 1902, Eusebi Guell bought two farms set on a natural balcony and commissioned Gaudi to create an exclusive walled housing estate. It flopped, but Park Guell has never failed to enchant as a city park.

Enjoy the fairytale guardian’s houses, mosaic lizard, sinuous stone viaducts, 86-columned Sala Hipostila – the base for an extraordinary, broken tile-clad serpentine bench by Gaudi’s collaborator, Jujol – and sweeping panoramic views across Barcelona.

Gaudi actually bought one of the three houses in the park and lived there from 1906 to 1925, before moving to a hut by the Sagrada Familia. It’s now a museum.

Although it may seem whimsical, Gaudi and Guell loaded the park with allegories and symbolism, some personal, some Rosicrucian, alchemical and mythological. It is much, much stranger than it looks.

Barcelona holds significance in Picasso’s life as it was where he spent his formative years and received his artistic education. Although he never returned to Spain after the Civil War, he wanted Barcelona to have works he had created there as a young man.

In 1963, this museum opened in a restored Gothic palace on Barcelona’s medieval millionaires’ row, which had degenerated into a slum, leading the way for a revival of the now hyper-trendy Born District. Donations over the decades have added to the collection, including Picasso’s 58 paintings inspired by Velazquez’s Las Meninas.

Barcelona’s Gothic jewel was built in the 14th century by the sea-faring community in only 50 years – hence its rare stylistic harmony. During the Spanish Civil War, its accumulated Baroque decorations burned, leaving behind the bare bones of its sublime interior.

Officially known as Casa Mila, but immediately dubbed La Pedrera, ‘the stone quarry’ by critics, this extraordinary apartment block was Gaudi’s last building before he devoted the rest of his life to the Sagrada Familia.

It’s hard to imagine a more spectacular swan song, with a façade inspired by a sea cliff, complete with fantastical forged iron balconies resembling seaweed. The famous stepped roof features twenty-eight colourful chimneys – known as espanta bruixes (witch-scarers).

It marked the culmination of his experimentation with natural forms, and it’s been called the precursor of Surrealism, Expressionism and Cubism.

One of the original apartments, with no right angles anywhere and where Gaudi designed every single detail down to the doorknobs, is part of the visit.

‘Més que un club‘ (more than a club) is the motto of local football team FC Barcelona, majestically headquartered in the legendary 99,354-seat Camp Nou stadium, built in 1957 with funds raised by supporters.

This high-tech, multimedia experience includes a look at the impressive pile of silverware Barca has gathered, plenty of film footage, visits to the changing room, players’ tunnel, press area and pitch, and – thanks to digital trickery – the chance to have your photo taken with some of the club’s most famous players.

One of Barcelona’s most popular museums, and an absolute must-visit for football fans.

Covering Catalan art over a thousand-year period, this museum features an especially rich collection of Romanesque art, including a unique series of tenth-and 11th-century frescoes detached from Pyrenean chapels. The Gothic and Modernista sections are nearly as rich, and there are plenty of Grand Masters in between.

One of the most influential artists of the 20th century, Barcelona native Joan Miro commissioned his good friend Josep Lluis Sert to design a museum for contemporary art bathed in natural light.

Inside (and out on the terraces, overlooking Barcelona) are Miro’s own playful, surreal, brilliantly colourful paintings, sculptures and textiles, as well as works by other major artists (notably Alexander Calder’s Mercury Fountain).

The Foundation also hosts some of the city’s top temporary exhibitions.

Montjuic is a broad hill on the confluence of the Mediterranean and the Llobregat River – it was also the birthplace of the city. Today you’ll find several attractions worth visiting all clustered there: the Miro Foundatin, the Magic Fountain, Spanish Village, Barcelona Ethnological Museum, and the National Art Museum of Catalonia.

You can also take an enjoyable cable car up to the summit and Montjuic Castle (built 1640). The cable car climbs 270 feet (84.5 meters) along a 2,460-foot (750-meter) cable route, and has eye-popping views. The castle, however, is fairly limited in its offerings for visitors. Then either ride backdown or, if you have time, walk around the hill top and wander back down past the Magic Fountain to the metro at Espanya.

Barcelona’s waterfront is two-mile sweep of sandy beaches, esplanades, boardwalks and marinas, seafood eateries, trendy clubs, and chilled-out cafés. Amongst locals, it’s a popular spot for a walk, cycling or rollerblading; start facing the sea at the Christopher Columbus statue on Las Ramblas, then head left.

Watch for world-renowned public sculpture along the way, including Roy Lichtenstein’s ‘Barcelona Head’ and Frank Gehry’s ‘Flying Fish’.