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.

Las Patatas Bravas: star of all tapas

Anyone coming to Barcelona, whether for the first time or not, will tell you: the first thing to do when arriving in the great Catalan city, is find a bar and eat some tapas. This is not an exaggeration – this is a fact.

Las Patatas Bravas: star of all tapas

Among the must-have tapas, you’ll find:

- ‘El pimiento del padrón’, a pimento cultivated in Galicia

- ‘Chipirones’, which are delicious calamari

- ‘Jamon Serrano’, the famous ham for Iberia

- And the classic, yet unforgettable ‘pan con tomate’

Las Patatas Bravas: star of all tapas

The undisputed star of tapas is however the “Patatas Bravas”. No, these are not simply potatoes with hot sauce like you can find in the supermarket. The Catalan patatas bravas are simply… different. These boiled and fried cubes of potatoes are then covered in a spicy homemade salsa, and they make them in such a way that they are crispy on the outside, steamy in the inside… my mouth is watering.

Las Patatas Bravas: star of all tapas

Not all bars serve ‘good’ patatas bravas of course, but you can usually tell. The sauce is so delicious you can tell it has just been made (with love), and they are a special shade of golden that lets you know that no other potato has ever been so good.

There are many tapas bars in Barcelona, here is a selection of the best bars, according to us:

Las Patatas Bravas: star of all tapas

- El vaso de oro

Adress: Balboa, 6, 08003 Barcelona

Metro: Barceloneta

Bus: lines 17, 40, 45, N8, stop at Plaza Pau Vila

- Pubilla del TaulatLa pubilla del taulat

Adress: c/ Amistad, 12, Barcelona 08005

Metro: Poblenou

Bus: lines 40, 42, B20,B25, N8, N11, stop at Pere IV-Bilbao‎

- El porronEl Porron

Adress: C/ Doctor Trueta, 225, Barcelone

Metro: Llacuna and Poblenou (L4)

Bus: line 26, stop at Taulat-Rambla del Poblenou‎

Barcelona, Antoni Gaudi's City

This is a Catalan name. The first family name is Gaudí and the second is Cornet.

Born 25 June 1852

Reus, Catalonia, Spain

Died 10 June 1926 (aged 73)

Buildings Sagrada Família, Casa Milà,

Casa Batlló

Projects Park Güell, Church of Colònia Güell

Antoni Gaudí i Cornet was a Catalan architect of Spanish nationality born in Reus or Riudoms, in Catalonia, and figurehead of Catalan Modernism. Gaudí's works reflect his highly individual and distinctive style and are largely concentrated in the Catalan capital of Barcelona, notably his magnum opus, the Sagrada Família.

Much of Gaudí's work was marked by his big passions in life: architecture, nature, religion. Gaudí studied every detail of his creations, integrating into his architecture a series of crafts in which he was skilled: ceramics, stained glass, wrought ironwork forging and carpentry. He introduced new techniques in the treatment of materials, such as trencadís, made of waste ceramic pieces.

After a few years, under the influence of neo-Gothic art and Oriental techniques, Gaudí became part of the Modernista movement which was reaching its peak in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. His work transcended mainstream Modernisme, culminating in an organic style inspired by nature. Gaudí rarely drew detailed plans of his works, instead preferring to create them as three-dimensional scale models and molding the details as he was conceiving them.

Gaudí's work enjoys widespread international appeal and many studies are devoted to understanding his architecture. Today, his work finds admirers among architects and the general public alike. His masterpiece, the still-uncompleted Sagrada Família, is one of the most visited monuments in Catalonia. Between 1984 and 2005, seven of his works were declared World Heritage Sites by UNESCO. 

Gaudí's Roman Catholic faith intensified during his life and religious images permeate his work. This earned him the nickname "God's Architect" and led to calls for his beatification.