In this post I told you about several delicious food spots I discovered. Today I want to share my favorite sightseeing and insider tips about Barcelona with you. Let’s go!

1. Sightseeing

Parc de la Ciutadela
The Parc de la Ciutadella is an idyllic and green oasis in the middle of Barcelona. There are several attractions: the zoo, the Catalan Parliament, the „Cascada de Gaudi“ – a large fountain with stone dragons – a lake with small turtles and fish and various museums. There is even the possibility to rent a rowboat and ride on the small lake. The park was designed by Josep Fontserè. The young and then unknown architect Antoni Gaudí supported him in the design of the waterfall „Cascada“. But my favorite place in the park is probably the Umbracle, a tropical greenhouse with a variety of out of ordinary plants.

Arc de Triomf
The Arc de Triomf was created in 1888 for the World Fair. It was then the main entrance to the exhibition grounds. The beautiful arch now heads into the Passeig de Lluís Companys, a wide promenade which is leading to the Ciutadella Park.

Tibidabo
Tibidabo is a mountain of 512 meters, overlooking all of Barcelona and offers a breathtaking view over the city, the mountains and the Mediterranean Sea. On the hill there is a church, the „Temple de Sagrat Cor“, with a statue on top, reminiscent of the Christ statue in Rio de Janeiro. Apart from that, on the Tibidabo you will find an old amusement park with 30 attractions and restaurants. Most of the park’s rides are still the originals that were built at the turn of the twentieth century.

The harbour
When in Barcelona you should definitely go for a walk right up to the expensive W Hotel (where one can have amazing drinks). It is a bit of a walk, but so nice. The crow of the birds, the street musicians playing their trumpets and obtrusive men who want to sell you their fake Nikes or Ray Ban sunglasses. This is the pure vacation feeling.

La Sagrada Familia
The Sagrada Familia is one of Barcelona’s most famous landmarks, and one of the city’s most impressive sights. In addition to 6 other Gaudi buildings in Barcelona, ​​the Sagrada Familia has been declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. The church is already huge and will be 172 meters high on completion. Construction began in 1882 and completion is expected in 2026. It is the life work of the Catalan architect Antoni Gaudi, who influenced the building significantly with his extraordinary architectural and engineering style and Gothic combined with curved Art Nouveau forms.

All the art by Gaudí
Gaudi is one of the most amazing artists in the world. His buildings and sculptures are so in depth and incarnate his passion for creating unique artwork. I recommend taking the Hop on Hop off Bus, because it makes it so much easier to cross the big city and get to see all of his creations.

Mercado de la Boqueria
Odor explosion. Fish. Crabs that are still moving. Smoothies in all imaginable colours. Candy. Freshly baked bread. Tomato vines that couldn’t look any more delish. Chocolate and so much more. I loved it there!

4. Insider tips

Bunkers – El Carmel
This observation deck is very hard to find, I can tell you! But once you are up there you have an amazing view over the whole city. You can see the beach, the 142m high Torre Agbar which looks almost like the 30 St Mary Axe in London, la Sagrada Familia and several other beautiful buildings.

La Basicila Galería.
Crazy. Crazy. Crazy. Even VOGUE wrote an article about this odd shop. When you get in you feel like you are entering a different world. You find everything from expensive golden jewellery over tiny Alice in Wonderland rings up to necklaces with rubber broccoli.
Halfway through the store you can go left into another room where you have hundreds of beautifully decorated perfume flacon and the most impressive is that you have upside down wine glasses with the smell of the particular. An experience of the senses.

and some leftovers that are too pretty not to show you:

Love,