Insight Guides Explore Barcelona (Travel Guide eBook)

By Insight Guides

Insight Guides Explore Barcelona

Travel made easy. Ask local experts.
Focused travel guide featuring the very best routes and itineraries.

Discover the best of Barcelona with this unique travel guide, packed full of insider information and stunning images. From making sure you don't miss out on must-see, top attractions like la Rambla, La Ribera and Sagrada Familia, to discovering cultural gems, including the unmissable Museo Picasso, the beautiful Parc de la Ciutadella and wonderful music museum, the Museu de la Musica, the easy-to-follow, ready-made walking routes will save you time, and help you plan and enhance your visit to Barcelona.

Features of this travel guide to Barcelona:
- 19 walks and tours: detailed itineraries feature all the best places to visit, including where to eat and drink along the way
- Local highlights: discover the area's top attractions and unique sights, and be inspired by stunning imagery
- Historical and cultural insights: immerse yourself in Barcelona's rich history and culture, and learn all about its people, art and traditions
- Insider recommendations: discover the best hotels, restaurants and nightlife using our comprehensive listings
- Practical full-colour map: with every major sight and listing highlighted, the full-colour maps make on-the-ground navigation easy
- Key tips and essential information: packed full of important travel information, from transport and tipping to etiquette and hours of operation
- Covers: La Rambla; Royal Barri Gotic ; Official Barri Gotic; Sant Pere; La Ribera and El Born; El Raval; The waterfront; Ciutadella; Along the beach; The Eixample; Sagrada Familia and Park Guell; Montjuic; Barca; Pedralbes; Gracia; Tibidabo; Sitges; Wine tour; Dali tour

Looking for a comprehensive guide to Spain? Check out Insight Guides Spain for a detailed and entertaining look at all the country has to offer.

About Insight Guides: Insight Guides is a pioneer of full-colour guide books, with almost 50 years' experience of publishing high-quality, visual travel guides with user-friendly, modern design. We produce around 400 full-colour print guide books and maps as well as phrase books, picture-packed eBooks and apps to meet different travellers' needs. Insight Guides' unique combination of beautiful travel photography and focus on history and culture create a unique visual reference and planning tool to inspire your next adventure.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Insight Guides
• Release date: Nov 1, 2019
• ISBN: 9781839051968

Insight Guides

Pictorial travel guide to Arizona & the Grand Canyon with a free eBook provides all you need for every step of your journey. With in-depth features on culture and history, stunning colour photography and handy maps, it’s perfect for inspiration and finding out when to go to Arizona & the Grand Canyon and what to see in Arizona & the Grand Canyon. 

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Recommended Routes For...

Architecture

From pure Catalan Gothic around the Royal Palace (route 2) to the Modernista showcases of the ­Eixample (route 10), including Barcelona’s greatest work-in-progress, the Sagrada Família (route 11).

Corrie Wingate/Apa Publications

Art buffs

Artistic highlights include the Museu Picasso (route 5) and Montjuïc’s Fundacío Miró and Palau Nacional, home to the world’s best collection of Romanesque art (route 12). Dalí fans must make a trip to Figueres (route 19).

Corrie Wingate/Apa Publications

Families with kids

Kids will enjoy the Wax Museum (route 1), the boating lake in Parc de la Ciutadella (route 8), the beach (route 9), Barça football club (route 13) and CosmoCaixa science museum and Tibidabo funfair (route 16).

Corrie Wingate/Apa Publications

Flora and fauna

For a spot of greenery, to look for parakeets, or to check out the zoo, visit the Parc de la Ciutadella (route 8). Horticultural lovers should head for the various gardens on hilly Montjuïc (route 12).

Corrie Wingate/Apa Publications

Food and drink

Sample the excellent tapas on and around the Passeig de Gràcia (route 10) or slip up to Gràcia (route 15) for a drink in one of the authentic local bars. Excursions include a tour of Catalonia’s wine region (route 18).

Corrie Wingate/Apa Publications

Music lovers

El Liceu opera house (route 1) and the gorgeous Modernista Palau de la Música Catalana (route 4) should be top of your list. Also recommended is the wonderful music museum, the Museu de la Música (route 8).

Corrie Wingate/Apa Publications

Night owls

You will find places that open late across the city, but good starting points include El Born (route 5) and La Rambla (route 1), which is busy day and night. Or chill out by the waterfront at Port Olímpic (route 9).

Greg Gladman/Apa Publications

Sporty types

Visit the buildings erected for the 1992 Olympics with the new Open Camp ‘sportainment’ centre and check out the Museu Olímpic i de l’Esport at Montjuïc (route 12) or pay homage to Barça football club at Camp Nou (route 13).

Corrie Wingate/Apa Publications

Explore Barcelona

A vibrant, dynamic city, always on the move but passionately guarding its heritage, Barcelona offers everything from Gothic treasures and traditional dances to trendy bars, innovative architecture and gorgeous food.

When anyone asks what are the best things to see in Barcelona, the answer should always be: just walk the streets. Few cities in the world are so agreeable for simply wandering, thanks to Barcelona’s rich architectural heritage, from giant Roman stones and sunless medieval lanes to the brilliant architecture of Gaudí and the Modernistas, and the shimmering, sharp-edged 21st-century blocks that are placed with such panache alongside the historical gems.

The view from Park Güell

Corrie Wingate/Apa Publications

Strolling down La Rambla

Corrie Wingate/Apa Publications

Development

Lying on the Mediterranean coast in northeast Spain, some 260km (160 miles) from France and a distance of 625km (390 miles) from Madrid, Spain’s second-largest city was founded by the Romans. The oppidum of Barcino was entrenched behind walls encircling the area around what is now the cathedral and the government buildings of Plaça de Sant Jaume. During medieval times – Catalonia’s Golden Age – the Counts of Barcelona pushed the walls south beyond the famous La Rambla avenue, to encompass El Raval and create what is now the whole of the old town, or Ciutat Vella. Beyond this lay the hillside Jewish burial grounds of Montjuïc.

The 19th century

Towards the end of the 19th century a vast new extension (Eixample) was laid out in an impeccable grid system inland, while an industrial area spread north alongside the shore. The Ciutat Vella, the Eixample (where Antoni Gaudí’s Sagrada Família and many of the Modernista showcase buildings are located) and the former industrial area that has been transformed into a beach front (Barceloneta and the port) are the three key areas that most visitors come to explore.

Navigating the city

Centred on the Plaça de Catalunya that separates the old part of town from the new, Barcelona is an easy city to navigate. The grid system of the Eixample is simple to follow, and though the lanes of the Ciutat Vella are more maze like, that is half the fun. A good way to get to know your way around is to take a ride on the tourist bus, which passes all the main sights, where you can hop on and off. Taking a trip around the port in a Golondrina pleasure boat is another way to get a sense of the city, while cable cars and funiculars whisk you up to its high spots for bird’s-eye views.

If you head up to the castle at the top of Montjuïc, you can see the city stretching far to the south, beyond the commercial port, down to the Llobregat River. In the other direction, heading north, if you walk the whole length of the beach you will eventually arrive at the new Forum and the River Bésos, marking the city’s northern edge. The Serra Collserola, with Tibidabo’s Sagrat Cor church pricking the skyline, stops the city from expanding far inland.

Festivals and partying

The Barcelonans like to party, and barely a month goes by without some excuse for a celebration. Each district’s festa major (main festival) involves large family meals, dishes and pastries created specially for the occasion, plus crates of cava and lots of music. The city’s principal festival is the week-long La Mercè in September, with spectacular parades of ‘giants’, ‘dragons’ and ‘devils’ with music and dance and fireworks. In addition to this the festive calendar is marked with celebrations at Carnival, just before Lent, and the eve of the Feast of St John, on 23 June. Two peculiarly Catalan contributions to the party scene are the traditional sardana dance (for more information, click here) and castells, human ‘towers’ that reach five people high. More tranquil is the celebration of St George, patron of Catalonia, when red roses and books are given as gifts.

Popular Barceloneta Beach

Corrie Wingate/Apa Publications

Correfoc festival in full swing

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Public transport

The transport system, including a highly efficient metro network, is straightforward to navigate. Metro, rail and bus services are all paid for using the same tickets, which are comparatively inexpensive, especially if you buy them in blocks of 10. For more information on this, consult the Directory chapter (for more information, click