Barcelona, Spain || Your Go-To City Guide

Before traveling to Barcelona, we heard nothing but good things about it! We went in with pretty high expectations and, well… we loved it!

If you’d like to see a 60-minute overview of the city, check out this video:

Our time in the city was short, because it was simply a stop on a thirteen day cruise with Viking Ocean Cruises. So, we didn’t have hours to explore the city on our own, but rather a several hour long guided tour of the hottest spots.

Let this serve as an overview of what you can expect from Barcelona and a few things we think we’ll do different next time we visit this beautiful and culturally rich city. First, here are some photos to get you excited…

It seems obvious, but Barcelona is a city so there are a lot of people. A lot. Of. People. So if you’re not into lots of crowds, I’d suggest staying away from the city center, or just take it in small doses.

The perfect spot for photos of the La Sagrada Familia is from the park on the East side. It gives you such a stunning photo of the front and side angle. But make sure you walk ALL THE WAY AROUND the Basilica. Antoni Gaudí truly created a story with every single piece of this church. Take the time to research it and experience it the way it was meant to be experienced. Here’s a link for more information.

When you’re in the City Centre, be mindful of your surroundings. We felt very safe while in Barcelona, but it is a large city. While we were in the centre we noticed several people trying to sell things (DON’T BUY THEM!). One of them was a woman dressed as a clown handing balloon swords to children. She would then go to the parents for money, they’d refuse, and she’d take the balloon back. Granted, we found it very amusing, but it could be scary for some people. BE AWARE.

Barcelona’s currency is the Euro, but we found that most everywhere took debit/credit cards. We were able to use Mastercard, Visa, and American Express almost everywhere. American Express is less common.

We spent a lot of time on our bus and walking, but public transportation was readily available. Busses and trains were easily accessible. Taxis were a little harder to find, but they were there.

The people were so incredibly friendly! One of our favorite moments was when we were walking with our tour and waved at a woman standing on her balcony. She smiled and happily waved back. We cannot express how incredible that made us feel!

Bottom line… Barcelona was beautiful! We had an amazing time and can’t wait to go back!

Have you been to Barcelona? Tell us about your experience in the comments!