Things to do in Barcelona in the rain

You’ll be pretty unlucky if you find yourself in Barcelona on a rainy day – it’s a rarity but it does happen from time to time. No need to be down about it though as there are plenty of things to keep you entertained!

To kick-start the day

Go for breakfast at the beautifully unique We Pudding on Calle Pau Claris, 90. It is like stepping into the world of Alice in Wonderland where you can sip your coffee and nibble on a croissant under a red and white circus-style roof surrounded by mushrooms.

Things to do in Barcelona in the rain

Bus tour out of the rain

The rain shouldn’t stop you from exploring Barcelona and a good way to do this is by taking a hop-on hop-off city sightseeing bus tour. The double-deckers are covered so you can still enjoy the views from the top deck without getting wet. There are two routes to choose from, and either one will allow you to explore Barcelona’s must do’s without traipsing through the rain.

On the East Route you can stop off at one of our favourite Gaudí-designed buildings, Casa Batlló, the legendary Sagrada Família and if you fancy brushing up on your Catalan history, take a trip to the informative and entertaining Museu d’Història de Catalunya (Museum of Catalan History). On the West Route you have MNAC (Museu Nacional d’Art de Catalunya), the Caixa Forum which often has exciting exhibitions on display, and the FC Barcelona Experience at Camp Nou which takes you around the stadium and behind the scenes into the team’s changing rooms.

Things to do in Barcelona in the rain

In fact, any one of Barcelona’s famous museums or tourist attractions can be done on a rainy day. The upside when it’s raining is you’ll feel less guilty spending an extra five minutes staring at that Picasso painting at the Picasso Museum when you know there’s no tempting sunshine outside. For a more unusual museum experience, how about the Chocolate Museum, (Museu de la Xocolata) where you can learn about the history of your favourite guilty pleasure.

A spot of shopping?

If museums aren’t your thing, then perhaps shopping sounds more appealing. Barcelona’s shopping options are endless, and heading to one of the city’s large malls would be an ideal way to get your retail fix and stay dry at the same time.

Las Arenas is the city’s most interesting shopping centre, converted in 2011 from a bullring. It can be found at Plaça Espanya and has a great range of shops and restaurants, as well as a large cinema complex on the upper floor. The Rock Museum is also housed up here. With an impressive memorabilia collection, the museum walks you through the history of rock music from its origins to the present day.

You could even take a shopping trip a little further out of the city, to the outlet village La Roca, which you can get to by taking La Roca Shopping Bus provided by Sagalés which departs hourly, Monday to Saturday from C/CASP, 34.

Things to do in Barcelona in the rain

Aquarium adventure

Another great place to visit, especially if you have kids, is L’Aquàrium de Barcelona. The aquarium in Barcelona is one of the most important marine centres in the world when it comes to the Mediterranean, with 35 tanks, 11,000 animals and 450 different species to discover.

Get out of Barcelona

If you want to try getting some better weather completely out of Barcelona, a good day trip to take is to Sitges. Even if it is grotty in Barcelona, chances are that here, just 35 minutes’ train ride down the coast, you’ll find beautiful sunshine. Sitges is a former fishing village with a whopping total of 17 golden sandy beaches and some great architecture to see. It’s a happening place with lots of bars and restaurants to discover and there is often something going on in the way of festivals too.

Things to do in Barcelona in the rain

Cook like a Spaniard

If you have a culinary streak, you might want to spend your rainy day taking part in a cookery class. These tend to be great fun and you get to learn how to cook all sorts of Spanish specialties, from paella to tapas. You can combine your lesson with a trip to the famous Boqueria Market in Las Ramblas where you will learn how to choose the best ingredients. In any case, you simply can’t leave Barcelona without visiting this market where you can spend hours wandering around, soaking up the atmosphere.

We hope this has given you inspiration to embrace your rainy day with open arms! And you never know, you may even be thankful for the rain if you are visiting some of the more popular attractions – the queue will probably be somewhat shorter!

The Sagrada Família – Gaudí’s last work

When planning your trip to Barcelona, it’s impossible to ignore Gaudí’s masterpiece – the Basilica of the Sagrada Familia (‘Holy Family’). Once you are in Barcelona, the Sagrada Família can be seen everywhere, from postcards and guide books to snow globes in souvenir shops, and it’s a monument that all Catalans are proud of. This Basilica is no hidden secret, but rather an imperative for anyone visiting the city.

We would like to give you an idea of its history and architecture, as well as offering you some practical advice for visiting the church. At the bottom of the article, you will find some important information such as opening times, and the official website. 

History

Although the Sagrada Familia is recognised as Antonio Gaudi’s masterpiece, he wasn’t the person responsible for placing the first stone, on 19 March 1882. This responsibility fell to the architect Francisco de Paula del Villar y Lozano, who was planning a smaller church than the one that was eventually constructed. Once sufficient funding for its construction was collected, work began in 1882 under Villar’s supervision. Very shortly, a disagreement arose with donators, and responsibility for construction was passed over to Antoni Gaudí, who at that time was 31 years old.

The original idea was that the church, dedicated to the Holy Family, would be entirely financed by donations. When Gaudí received a large donation from an anonymous source, he decided to transform the old neo-Gothic project into something more monumental and innovative as far as its shape and structure.

In 1914 Gaudí decided to dedicate himself exclusively to the Sagrada Familia project, even installing small living-quarters within the building, so that he was always on hand. Tragically, on 7 June 1926, on his way to the building, he was run over by a tram, eventually dying three days later. All of the city dressed in mourning and the Pope agreed for Gaudí to be interred in the unfinished crypt of the Sagrada Familia.

Gaudí had planned for a construction period of 200 years for the church. However, he did not leave a complete construction blueprint, as he wanted to count on the opinion of future generations.

After his death, several different architects continued work on the monument. Since that time, construction work has never been suspended, even during the difficult times of the Civil War when plaster models to scale, drawings and plans of the building were lost and destroyed.

Design

The Sagrada Familia comprises five main naves and three transverses, forming a Latinate cross. The five main naves have a total length of 90 meters and the transverses of 60 metres. When construction finishes, there will be 18 towers with a height of between 90 and 170 metres – the latter being the highest tower on a church in the world. These towers are dedicated to the apostles, the evangelists, Mary and Jesus Christ.

The three entrances symbolise the three virtues: Faith, Hope and Love, and are symbolic of the lifetime of Christ. The Nativity Façade is dedicated to his birth, the Glory façade is dedicated to his glory period and the Passion façade is symbolic of his suffering.

During the later years of his life, Gaudí planned many areas of the building so that they could be built by other people in the future. He did so by combining geometrical forms, chosen for their formal, structural, luminous, acoustic and constructive qualities: hyperboloids, paraboloids, helicoids, conoids and ellipsoids – surfaces which are ruled, making construction easier.

Visits

Of course, you don’t need to wait until 2025 to visit this impressive building. I would recommend that you visit it as early in the morning as possible. The best bet is at 9 o’clock, when doors open, as queues tend to form very early.

The first thing you will see in the interior of the church is the huge scaffolding. This makes it difficult to take in the building full dimensions. You can also use an audio-guide, which, for €4 extra, will allow you to see many other details.

Upon looking upwards, you feel very small. The enormous pillars rise up like trees up to the rafters. These impressions are doubtlessly caused by the trunk like structures branching upwards towards the ceiling. This lends a very pleasant feeling of being enveloped in warm light when the sun shines through the stained-glass windows.

You can also visit the tower for a small extra cost of €4.50, which is definitely worth it. A lift will take you to the top as going up by foot is prohibited but you are however allowed to go down by taking the stairs.

Tips

We would strongly recommend buying your ticket in advance, unless you happen to enjoy spending hours queueing! You can do this at the ticket office there or even better, book online.

If you haven’t booked in advance, make sure you arrive as early as you can, as early as 9am would be advisable on weekends to beat the crowds.

Invest in an audio guide to get the most out of your visit and hear lots of little details. They are available in Catalan, Spanish, English, French, Italian, German, Portuguese, Russian, and Chinese.

Visit the museum before you leave, located in the basement on the Passion façade. There’s a whole host of exhibitions – including photos from all stages of its construction, original designs and sketches, models of the church and information regarding the architects and craftsmen, past and present.

Address

Temple Expiatori de la Sagrada Familia (Expiatory Church of the Holy Family)

C. Mallorca, 401

08013 Barcelona

(The entrance is on the Passion Façade – Sardenya Street.)

Website: http://www.sagradafamilia.cat (in Spanish and English)

How to get here

Metro: L2 or L5 Sagrada Familia

Opening times:

From October to March: from 09.00 to 18.00

From April to September: from 09.00 to 20.00

25th and 26th December, 1st and 6th December: from 09.00 to14.00

Park Güell – Gaudí’s playground

Park Güell is synonymous with Barcelona and it’s no surprise it’s one of the top five tourist attractions in the city. Not only does it offer stunning panoramic views, fantastical architecture and beautiful gardens, but you can also discover the house of the great man himself in the grounds of the park.

Park Güell – Gaudí’s playground

The dream-like exuberance of Gaudí’s imagination remains breathtaking to this day and as you stroll around you can’t help but admire how skilfully he integrated his work into the landscape. His usual imposing style can be seen throughout the park – bright colours, unusual architectural forms, influences from nature that include natural shapes and curves.

The grounds of the park are pretty big and it can be bit overwhelming on arrival. To make life a little easier, check out our guide on what to see and do during a visit.

Park Güell – Gaudí’s playground

The history of Park Güell

Built from 1900 to 1914, the Gaudí Park is situated on the hill of El Carmel in the Gràcia district of Barcelona. Park Güell is part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site called ‘Works of Antoni Gaudí’ along with his other masterpieces such as the Sagrada Família and La Pedrera.

The park was originally commissioned by the Catalan entrepreneur Eusebi Guëll, who wanted around 60 houses built in the style of English garden cities for the wealthy of Barcelona to enjoy. (The English influence can also be seen in the anglicised spelling of ‘park’.)

Park Güell – Gaudí’s playground

Work on Park Güell was interrupted by the outbreak of war in 1914 but the idea of a housing estate never really took off due the park’s distance from the city centre. So in 1922 the unfinished estate became the property of the city of Barcelona and is still open to the public today as a municipal park.

Things to see in Park Güell

The two gatehouses – these Hansel and Gretel-like gingerbread houses are what greet visitors who have made the climb to the Gaudí Park. They flank the park entrance and are famous for their fantastical roofs and mushroom-shaped domes with colourful tiling work. Originally there were two, life-size mechanical gazelles at the entrance of Park Güell, but they were unfortunately destroyed during the Civil War.

The staircase - for some, the stairs themselves will not be an attraction but it’s the beautiful fountains on the way up that you should take a look at. The infamous salamander or drac is one of them and like a lot of the Park, it’s decorated in broken ceramics and glass in a mosaic style known as trencadís. It’s one of the most popular photo spots in the whole park and you often have to queue for a quick snap.

Park Güell – Gaudí’s playground

Room of 100 Columns’ – 100 Doric columns hold up the square above and provide a shady pavilion from the summer heat. If you look to the ceiling you’ll find numerous coves, elaborated with religious, mythological and astrological symbols.

The serpentine bench – this beautiful tiled bench surrounds the viewing terrace or main square and is supposedly the longest bench in the world. It’s a great place to sit back, relax and admire the spectacular view of the city and the Mediterranean Sea in the distance. The benches themselves are covered in an array of unique mosaics, delicately created by Gaudí’s assistant Josep Maria Jujol.

Gaudí museum – the Museum, otherwise known as Casa Museu Gaudí, can also be found in the grounds of Park Güell. It was his home between 1906 and 1926 and today it’s open to the public for a small fee. Among the artefacts inside are furniture and mirrors from the other Gaudí buildings such as Casa Batlló, the Pedrera and Palau Güell, as well as the artist’s wardrobe, bed and personal possessions.

Park Güell – Gaudí’s playground

The peak – the stone cross at the top of Park Güell marks its highest point and it’s here that you’ll find extraordinary panoramic views of the city. On a sunny day you can spot the majority of Barcelona’s most famous landmarks – Sagrada Familia, Agbar Tower, Camp Nou and of course the Mediterranean Sea. It is an unforgettable sight and the perfect way to start or finish a trip to Park Güell.

How to get to Park Güell

You wouldn’t get the spectacular vistas you do in Park Güell without its hill-top location, but it’s this hill-top location that makes getting to it a little tricky at times, especially on a hot day! The main Park Güell metro stop is Lesseps however it involves a 20-minute uphill walk to the entrance of the Gaudí Park. A top tip is to go one stop further on the metro to Vallcarca, catch the escalators up to the cross at the park’s highest point and then head down into the park. You will essentially see the Park in reverse and end up leaving through the entrance but it does mean you walk down the hills instead of up!

Park Güell – Gaudí’s playground

Another option which is great if you are sightseeing with children or the elderly is to take the bus. Bus No. 24 drops you directly outside Park Güell’s entrance and goes from Plaça Catalunya and Poble Sec, while bus No. 92 does the same but goes from Glòries & Port Olympic. Other buses that will drop you nearby are 31, 32, H6 and 112.

Park Güell opening hours

January to March – 10:00 to 18:00

April – 10:00 to 20:00

May to September – 10:00 to 21:00

October – 10:00 to 20:00

November – 10:00 to 19:00

December – 10:00 to 18:00

Park Güell – Gaudí’s playground

Park Güell prices

From october 2013, Park Güell entrance has a cost. 

Barcelona with children

Family holidays can often make for the best memories, but a lot depends on keeping the kids happy! Barcelona makes this an easy task as it’s a city that offers something for everyone, from beaches and parks to football stadiums and museums. To make your family holiday a stress-free experience, take a look at our guide to entertaining  children of all ages in the Catalan capital.

Barcelona with children 

Activities for young children

Barcelona’s Aquarium is an ideal way to spend the afternoon with younger kids. It’s an underwater kingdom housing almost 400 marine species including Nemo and Flounder look-a-likes which children will love spotting. Watch their little faces light up as they walk through the 360º glass tunnel called the Oceaneri – they might even spot a few sharks.

Barcelona with children 

As well as lions, tigers, elephants and gorillas, Barcelona zoo also has a great adventure playground where the children can run wild. We highly recommend the dolphin shows, which are great fun, especially when the dolphins launch balls for the audience to catch. Together with guided tours and workshops, the zoo houses a farm area with goats and rabbits for the younger kids to pet. The zoo is based in the Parc de la Ciutadella which is a nice spot for a family picnic. The park is beautiful, especially on sunny days when children can run around, feed the ducks and take a rowing boat out onto the middle of the lake.

Barcelona with children 

Hit the beach! Many people are surprised when they come to Barcelona for the first time and discover its vast stretches of beautiful beaches. Temperatures are warm enough for you to enjoy the beaches from March to October, so take the kids, let them take a dip and enjoy an ice cream. The closest beach to the city centre is Barceloneta and it can get quite overcrowded, so we’d recommend you heading a little further north to Bogatell Beach or Mar Bella for a bit more space.

Barcelona with children 

Activities for teenagers

CosmoCaixa is a great family day out, especially if you’re searching for something adults will also enjoy. Far from your average natural science museum, it’s an educational yet entertaining and interactive experience. The Amazon rainforest, complete with tropical downpours and alligators, is a particular highlight. You can conduct your own experiments, create sandstorms, and see animal species from all over the world.

Tibidabo is where you will find Cosmo Caixa and is great for slightly older children. It offers unrivalled panoramic views of the Catalan hinterland, the city and the Mediterranean Sea, while its funfair and amusement park are guaranteed to keep kids entertained for hours. Dare them to go on a few of the rides or simply buy some candyfloss and enjoy the view – either way, they will have an adrenaline- fuelled day out!

Barcelona with children 

FC Barcelona Museum and Camp Nou Tour is an absolute must if you have teenagers who are interested in sport and would appreciate seeing the home of one of the greatest teams in the world. This legendary tour takes you behind the scenes; you get a glimpse of the president’s box, the changing rooms and can even walk through the players’ tunnel. The tour also includes entrance to the interactive museum which has over 100 years of memorabilia on show. If you’re lucky enough to be here when FC Barcelona are playing at home, then why not take the family to see a game?

Barcelona with children 

Gaudí’s Sagrada Familia is the most visited attraction in Spain so it’s no wonder many families take their children to see it while on holiday in Barcelona. The Basilica, which isn’t set to be completed for another 20 years, is vast and dream-like. The inside is breathtaking and is full of models, photographs and plans from its humble beginnings in 1882 through the decades.

Barcelona with children 

Shopping! Trawling the shops with kids in tow can be hard work, but it’s something most teenagers enjoy (especially if the spree is on mum and dad!). Barcelona is fantastic for a bit of retail therapy so why not spend an afternoon strolling up and down Passeig de Gràcia or Avinguda Portal de l’Àngel. Or if you fancy something a little different, wander down the side streets of the Born and Gothic Quarter and discover a huge range of independent boutiques.

Barcelona, Palau Sant Jordi

Palau Sant Jordi (English: St. George's Palace) is an indoor sporting arena and multi-purpose installation that is part of the Olympic Ring complex located in Barcelona.

It was opened in 1990 and designed by Japanese architect Arata Isozaki and the maximum seating capacity of the arena is 17,000 for basketball, and 24,000 for musical events.

Barcelona, Palau Sant Jordi

The Palau Sant Jordi was one of the main venues of the 1992 Summer Olympics hosting the artistic gymnastics, handball final, and volleyball final. Nowadays, it is used for all kinds of indoor sport events as well as for concerts and other cultural activities, due to its great flexibility.

The arena was the venue of the 1995 IAAF World Indoor Championships in Athletics.

The arena was the venue of three Euroleague final four in 1998, 2003 and 2011. It also hosted the EuroBasket 1997 from the quarter-finals and the 2012 Spanish Basketball Cup.

Barcelona, Palau Sant Jordi

The final of 2000 Davis Cup was the 89th edition of the most important tournament between nations in men's tennis. Spain defeated Australia at Palau Sant Jordi on 8–10 December, giving Spain their first title. The arena also received the final of 2009 Davis Cup between Spain and Czech Republic with the victory for the Spaniards 5-0.

Barcelona, Palau Sant Jordi

The arena was the main venue of the 2003 FINA World Championships. A temporary, regulation swimming pool was installed for the occasion. It played the same role for the 2013 FINA World Championships, since the city of Barcelona hosted the Championships again after 10 years.

Barcelona, Palau Sant Jordi

The arena was one of six sites that hosted the 2013 World Men's Handball Championship including the Final. It also will be one of six sites to host the 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup in Spain.

Barcelona, Eixample district

The Eixample (Catalan for 'extension') is a district of Barcelona between the old city (Ciutat Vella) and what were once surrounding small towns (Sants, Gràcia, Sant Andreu etc.), constructed in the 19th and early 20th centuries.

The Eixample is characterized by long straight streets, a strict grid pattern crossed by wide avenues, and square blocks with chamfered corners (named illes in Catalan, manzanas in Spanish). This was a visionary, pioneering design by Ildefons Cerdà, who considered traffic and transport along with sunlight and ventilation in coming up with his characteristic octagonal blocks, where the streets broaden at every intersection making for greater visibility, better ventilation and (today) some short-stay parking space. 

Barcelona, Eixample district

The grid pattern remains as a hallmark of Barcelona, but many of his other provisions were unfortunately ignored: the four sides of the blocks and the inner space were built instead of the planned two or three sides around a garden; the streets were narrower; only one of the two diagonal avenues was carried out; the inhabitants were of a higher class than the mixed composition dreamed of by Cerdà. The important needs of the inhabitants were incorporated into his plan, which called for markets, schools, hospitals every so many blocks. Today, most of the markets remain open in the spots they have been from the beginning.

Some parts of the Eixample were influenced by Modernista architects, chief among whom was Antoni Gaudí. His work in the Eixample includes the Casa Milà (nicknamed La Pedrera) and the Casa Batlló, both of which are on the wide Passeig de Gràcia, as well as the Sagrada Família. Other architects who made highly significant, and certainly more numerous, contributions to giving the Eixample its characteristic appearance include Josep Puig i Cadafalch, Josep Domènech i Estapà, Josep Vilaseca i Casanovas and perhaps above all Enric Sagnier i Villavecchia, responsible for a total of over 500 buildings in the city (not all of them in the Eixample).

Barcelona, Eixample district

The Casa Terrades, better known as Casa de les Punxes, is a spectacular building replete with Mediaeval allusions that stands at the junction of Av. Diagonal with Carrer Rosselló. It was built in 1903-5 by the Modernista architect Josep Puig i Cadafalch, who used Nordic Gothic and Spanish Plateresque resources side by side, along with traditional Catalan motifs.

The Casa Batlló is part of a block called the Illa de la Discòrdia, along with two other notable Modernista works, Lluís Domènech i Montaner's Casa Lleó Morera and Josep Puig i Cadafalch's Casa Amatller. The block is so named due to the visual clash between the buildings; its Spanish name, Manzana de la Discordia, is also a pun on Eris's Apple of Discord - manzana means both "apple" and "city block".

Barcelona, Eixample district

The district is often divided for practical purposes in two: Esquerra de l'Eixample and Dreta de l'Eixample (left and right sides of Eixample, respectively). Traditionally and officially it is divided into five neighbourhoods. These are, in addition to the areas already mentioned, Sant Antoni, Sagrada Família and Fort Pienc, also known as Fort Pius. The latter has recently become notable for the number of Asian, chiefly Chinese residents and the proliferation of Asian shops.

Some parts of Eixample are rather well-to-do neighbourhoods, especially around the central areas such as Passeig de Gràcia, Rambla de Catalunya and the Avinguda Gaudi/Sagrada Familia vicinity, but it also contains many decaying buildings inhabited by lonely aged tenants on the verge of poverty, especially in the fringe areas. It also has a large proportion of immigrant population.

Barcelona, Eixample district

Passeig de Gràcia connects the central Plaça Catalunya to the old town of Gràcia, while Avinguda Diagonal cuts across the grid diagonally and Gran Via de les Corts Catalanes runs across the entire city from southwest to northeast.

Other wide avenues in the area include Carrer d'Aragó, Carrer de Balmes and Passeig de Sant Joan.

There are five administrative neighborhoods:

L'Antiga Esquerra de l'Eixample (in the past, part of Esquerra de l'Eixample)

La Nova Esquerra de l'Eixample (in the past, part of Esquerra de l'Eixample)

Dreta de l'Eixample

Fort Pienc

Sagrada Família

Sant Antoni

Passeig de Gràcia Barcelona

Passeig de Gràcia is part of the 5 KM shopping line and is an important road in Barcelona. The wide boulevards on either side of Passeig de Gràcia add to the feeling of opulence that this road gives you. Passeig de Gràcia is also home to two of Gaudí's most important creations here - La Pedrera and Casa Batlló.

Passeig de Gràcia Barcelona

Formerly known as Camí de Jesús ("Jesus Road"), it used to be little more than a quasi-rural lane surrounded by gardens joining Barcelona and Gràcia (then still a separate town), until the first urbanisation project in 1821 devised by the liberal city council, and led by Ramon Plana, who had to suddenly cancel his work due to the epidemics that were raging in Barcelona at the time. 

Passeig de Gràcia Barcelona

After the demise of the liberal government with the return of Absolutism in 1824, the project was taken up again by general José Bernaldo de Quirós, marquis of Campo Sagrado. The new avenue was 42 metres wide in 1827 and became a favourite place for aristocrats to display their horse riding skills and expensive horse-drawn carriages all through the 19th century.

Passeig de Gràcia Barcelona

In 1906 the architect Pere Falqués i Urpí designed the avenue's now famous ornate benches and street-lights. By that time it had become Barcelona's most fashionable street, with buildings designed by modernista/Art Nouveau architects of fame such as Antoni Gaudí, Pere Falqués, Jose Puig i Cadafalch, Lluís Domènech i Montaner, Enric Sagnier and Josep Vilaseca.

Passeig de Gràcia Barcelona

The government of the Basque Country (Eusko Jaurlaritza) was based in Passeig de Gràcia, 60 during the Spanish Civil War. The Catalan poet Salvador Espriu resided in Casa Fuster (Passeig de Gràcia, 132).

Passeig de Gràcia Barcelona

How To Get There

Metro Passeig de Gràcia -(Green Line, L3) and (Yellow Line, L4) (southern most end) Diagonal (Green Line, L3) and (Blue Line, L5) Northern most end