You may already be familiar with the beauty and uniqueness of Spanish cities; you may be completely clueless. Let me tell you: it doesn’t matter. Whenever you visit Barcelona, it will always leave you breathless, whether it’s your first visit or your hundredth.
How do I know? I was lucky enough to have had a chance to visit Barcelona (along with several other cities including Lloret de Mar, Tossa de Mar, Monte Carlo and Nice) back when I was only 17, and I fell in love with it despite the fact I only had two days to explore it.
Then I came back in winter of 2016/17 with my new husband and spent a full week immersing myself in Barcelona experience, having confirmed my love for it that I established over eight years ago!
Now, it’s not like Barcelona is a hidden destination and you need much convincing about it. But knowing you may be planning your upcoming trips, I want you to keep on reading so I can convince you to put Barcelona on your bucket list!
I love hearing your opinions – if you have any more suggestions, please share them with me in the comments below or tweet me. Enjoy!
The food is actually incredible
Spanish culture has a very unique and protective take on food – I read somewhere that in the rest of the world people eat to live, while in Spain, people live to eat!
So what does this mean for travelers? It means it’s next to impossible to visit Barcelona without truly experiencing its food. And when you are experiencing it, you surely won’t leave you indifferent.
It’s important to note that, in Spanish culture, all meals happen later than you may be used to. Breakfast is usually in the late morning, lunch happens around 3 pm and dinner may not happen until 9 or 10 o’clock in the evening! This may affect restaurant opening times – we found cross-checking between Yelp and Google working like a charm for these situations.
Don’t leave Barcelona until you’ve tried paella, ordered at least six different plates off a tapas menu, and had a waiter ask you ‘Do you want to try traditional Spanish tomato bread as a starter?’.
(Yes, yes I do, why was that even a question?)
You’ll never get stressed
I’ve always felt this way about Spain, but this trip has confirmed it. It could also be because my husband and I promised to each other that we wouldn’t run around trying to see a million things in a day; we ‘limited’ ourselves to two each day.
But it is definitely also because it’s part of Spanish culture. Public transport doesn’t seem like a mad rush. Restaurants, coffee shops and bars seem very easy going and chilled. The weather allows you to walk pretty much anywhere (mentioned in a point below), and everyone does it in a slow enough manner.
My point is – you can have a very calm and relaxing time when you visit Barcelona, even if you don’t spend a million days on the beach. I just love it!
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The views will take your breath away (and make your heart pound like crazy)
This is an easy one. Very simply said, I can’t remember being someplace with so many amazing spots for an incredible view over the entire city. I pledge here that there will be a post focusing solely on the views! Have a look at some of the photos we made from these locations.
I hope you’re not afraid of heights, though. (If you are, close your eyes and scroll a bit.)
The climate in December is (nearly) better than Irish summers
Now, I’ve heard that we were a bit lucky with this part, because it seems that it can be quite colder than the weather we had in December and January.
That point aside, we had a quite consistent 16-18°C temperature and lots of sunshine. This allowed us to comfortably walk a lot – especially as we were located practically in the city center – and pretty much never worry about the outfits for the day. We only needed our (very light and spring-appropriate) jackets once the sun was gone for the day, or when we were in an area with lots of shade.
You could pretty much never stop learning about the culture
Spanish culture is incredibly rich, and this comes to life so strongly in Barcelona. It is primarily influenced by Iberian, Celtic and the culture of Ancient Rome. This makes Spanish history, art and architecture the sources of an inexhaustible stream of stories you’ll always want to hear more of.
There are museums on pretty much anything you love, and you’ll find beautiful wonders all over the city. I found myself often having my mouth open in surprise and admiration. Doing that isn’t the nicest thing to see, but so worth it.
My biggest fascination, however, must be Barcelona’s architecture. Massively influenced by gothic, renaissance and baroque period and Antoni Gaudí’s work, Barcelona will constantly keep you looking upwards. Seriously, you may never get enough of it.
A separate point I want to make here is that one of my favorite places – Gaudí’s Sagrada Família – is more than a beautiful piece of architecture. It carries more stories than you could hear in a day. It represented his truly ahead-of-his-own-time thinking and he spent the majority of his life working on it.
He, however, hasn’t finished it, and it’s still under construction. It should be finalized in 2026. Guess when will I visit Barcelona again?
Thanks for reading and let me know your thoughts!
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Marijana 
I love Barcelona for a lot of reasons but the main one would have to be the food. AND don’t forget the amazing sangria. There is so much to do there too I could never run out of things.
Definitely! Oh I think I could go there so many more times and never get bored 🙂
I still haven’t been there and I need to go there! I lived so close when I lived in Denmark but I always end of visiting countries and cities outside Europe. Thanks for sharing some inspiration!
I hope you get a chance to visit Barcelona soon! 🙂 still though, it seems like you’ve seen so many other places, which is amazing! 🙂
Barcelona is definitely on my list of places to visit and your article convinced me even more! Love your suggestions – saving for later.
Yeees, that’s great news! 🙂 I hope you’ll enjoy it!
Having a stress free cultural holiday sounds ideal! I found the locals so relaxed too – a beautiful place.
I needed such holiday SO much! Thanks so much for your comment 🙂
I agree that Barcelona is the most amazing city! I also fell in love with the food and architecture when I was there. I would be happy to go back any day!
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Absolutely agreed! I hope I’ll surely visit again in the next couple of years. It’s a city of a never ending inspiration! 🙂
I love Barcelona, the food food and food is amazing. …… and the architectural design i can stroll around all day photographing the place.
I agree, it’s such a good place for photography! I really enjoyed it 🙂
Barcelona is a great city. I have been twice and am returning in june. The food is amazing and I am excited to revisit and see how much further they are on with the sagrada familia, it was still a building site last time I was there!!
Oh wow, I hope you’ll have a great time there again! Yes, it will be under construction for a good while still, but nevertheless it’s amazing to visit and listen about it.
Awesome culture..awesome food.. good weather and great views. I am in for Barcelona. You gave me reason enough to move it high on my bucket list.
Fingers crossed you visit soon! 🙂
Seems like a lot of thing to expect when going there. Excited reading your post. 🙂 Great weather, good food, beautiful building and most of all, good mood! Relax and no stress, it must brea great trip. 🙂
It was! Thanks so much for your comment 🙂
Great post! I´m off to Barcelona with my girlfriends in the summer – looking forward to all the tasty food 😉
Oh that’s amazing – I wish you a great trip! 🙂
I love Barcelona and went there for my 30th birthday. Parc Guell is one of my happy places (even though I got my camera stolen there!) Hmm might need a return visit 🙂
Oh that’s not good! I loved Park Guell each time, but I found it very overcrowded on this recent trip. I think the next time I’ll be in Barca I’ll plan to go to Park Guell in early morning hours to avoid this! 🙂
All very good reasons! I’ve been trying to decide where I should head next for a European weekend trip and you may have just clinched a Barcelona return trip for me! Thanks 🙂
A weekend in Barcelona will suit you perfectly, I’m sure! 🙂 I hope you go soon and have great fun!
I reckon I’d really love Barcelona if I was to visit 🙂 My friend has been and she adores this city. The architecture just grabs my attention when I see photos and I’m a fan of any culture that is relaxed and easygoing haha. Maybe I’ll schedule a visit soon 🙂
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Exactly what I love about it! I hope you get to visit soon 🙂
I haven’t been to Barcelona but I have so many friends who insist that I must go there soon! I can now see more why they’re true from what you’ve written. The warm weather alone is enough to attract me haha 😀
Oh the weather is just so nice and cozy and comfortable! Your friends are right to try to persuade you! 🙂
Perfect timing! I’m going to Barcelona for just one day in about two weeks. I love the view from Búnquers del Carmel – how long does it take to climb it? I am so nervous I won’t be able to see too many things.. a reason to go back again 🙂
Have a good one!
Ioanna (A Woman Afoot)
Amazing! 🙂 So we took the metro to the stop Alfonso X and from there it was about 25 minutes of walking uphill… So it really depends on where you’re arriving from – we were taking the metro from Barceloneta and it took us about 15 minutes I think. Try and limit yourself to a few good things you want to see rather than trying to see too much, otherwise you won’t enjoy it! And you can always come back! 🙂 I wish you a fabulous trip!
I really love Barcelona and would love to go back and try out your tips 🙂
I’ve always wanted to visit Barcelona. I just love how the locals take things slow. How many days would you recommend staying for? And how much would I be spending everyday? Thank you!
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