The Perfect Weekend in Barcelona - A Guide

I am coming home for Christmas!

I hope everyone is enjoying the Holiday Spirit as much as I do. These are my last three days in Barcelona, in celebration of coming home, I thought it would be a great idea to make a post to give you tips for the perfect Weekend in Barcelona. 

If you are staying for more than a weekend, don’t hesitate to ask me for more tips. 

Friday

The Arrival

Whether or not you arrive on Friday in the morning, afternoon or evening, there is still lots to do for you! Let's start off with you arriving at the airport. Depending on your budget, the Taxi ride costs approx. 30€ to get into the center of Barcelona. You can choose to book your Taxi via the App “MyTaxi” or use the App “Cabify” which operates like Uber. If you are not familiar with any of these apps, there are great ways to get a Taxi outside the Airport, just make sure it is an official one.

If you do travel cheap and would like to travel like a local, I suggest you to buy a T10 Zone ticket for Barcelona. You can easily get into the center by taking the Bus line 46, or the Metro. It will approx. take you 50 minutes to get to Barcelona, but you don't have to pay ridiculous fees at the “Official Airport Bus T1 and T2” which drives the same amount of time but costs you 10€ for a round ticket.

The Food

Once you settled into your Hotel without any issues, you are probably going to be hungry and tired or hungry and excited to party - let's start with your Spanish food experience.

Whether or not you want a hearty Dinner or just some Tapas with good Spanish Wine selection - Barcelona has it all.

If you want to try traditional spanish Pinchos (basically Tapas on a stick) you will be in heaven once you enter the Career de Blai in the Poble-sec district of Barcelona.

The streets of Poble-sec are known for its pinchos. Just stroll around the street, go from one restaurant to another and try a variety of Pinchos. The pinchos usually costs 1,50 € per stick, and it's a great way to try out different restaurants.

The Nightlife

If you decide to go all in, take advantage of promoters to get into the clubs for free. You can just google certain guest lists and join Barcelona whatsapp groups as for example Erasmus Barcelona, without being a student. You can find a popular guestlist here.

You can put yourself and your friends on the guest lists without any costs involved and enjoy a night out in the clubs. If you´d rather join a night of latin dancing, the Gracia district offers several different bars , as for example Gracia Latina, that can teach you the latin way of dancing.

And if you do not feel like going out, the Magic Fountains at the Placa Espanya will be an amazing activity to end the day.

Just buy a good bottle of wine, some snacks and plastic cups and enjoy the fountain show.

Saturday

The Brunch

Barcelona has so many brunch places, I cannot even tell you about them all.

My go-to brunch place is Cup&Cake. The food they offer is not only aesthetically amazing, but it's also delicious!

Enjoy your brunch at one of their places before you're heading out to explore the city like a real tourist!

The Sightseeing

Since a weekend isn't enough to see it all (I mean I still discover new places after 6 months!), map out the “Must see” places you would like to discover before visiting Barcelona. If you are unsure, join one of those Hop On/Hop Off busses or if you do it on a budget, join the free walking tours that Barcelona has to offer.

This is a great way for you to explore the whole city in a few hours, and you get to learn a lot more about Barcelona and its history!

The Lunch

There are literally so many cheap eat places in Barcelona, giving you the option to get a whole three course menu for less than 10€. But if you're feeling like Asian Cuisine, get lost in Barcelona´s Chinatown. The restaurant Chen Ji has become my favorite restaurant in Barcelona. The prices are insanely cheap - and the amounts of food you receive are insanely big. Be aware that this restaurant is popular within the locals - you might have to stand in line!

The Shopping

Some of you might want to explore the amazing shopping opportunities in Barcelona - so I will give you my first tip: do not shop around the Las Ramblas/ Plaza Catalunya Area.

If you are really interested in shopping your way through Barcelona - visit one of the local malls. With La Maquinista Shopping Mall being a bit outside the usual center of Barcelona, there are several other Malls that can help you to enjoy a normal shopping experience.

Diagonal Del Mar, Glories or Maramagnum are great places to shop. Though, since it’s only a weekend in Barcelona, I would recommend you to use your time wisely and stroll around the little cute shops in the El Gotic, El Raval and El Born area.

The Vermuth

Looking for a break from all the sightseeing? Saturday’s are known for its Pica Pica and Vermuth.  Vermuth can be so overpriced in the touristic areas, that’s why I have a great tip for you. Right around the Harbour Area of Port Vell, there is a hidden Bar called Tasca El Corral - which serves Vermuth for just 1,10€ per glass! A bottle of Vermuth costs around 7-8 €, and the rustical style of the bar gives you the typical Barcelona flair.

Enjoy your glass of Vermuth and some Pica Pica for this bargain price!

The Evening

At this point you are probably tired and hungry from all the walking, and probably very hungry. Why not having an “All You Can Eat “- Steak Buffet? The restaurant El Rodzio not only offers more than 30 different options of food, a waiter is coming by each table to let you have a piece of freshly roasted meat. There are more than 12 options of meat, which you can try and let me tell you, after the 5th option I had to give up.

The concept was amazing and we basically could roll out the restaurant. The prices ranges from 18-22 € depending on the time and the day.

You can end the evening as you wish - by watching an amazing concert in Palau de la Musica, by partying more or stroll around the streets of Barcelona by night.

Or - watch the sunset at the Top of Tibidabo or the Bunkers del Carmel. You will not regret this view!

Sunday

Your last day - so make the best of it!

Eat some brunch at the famous brunch place Alsur Cafe or El Arbol. Really guys, who doesn’t to eat Eggs benedict or Oreo Pancakes?

Depending on the weather - put on your swim pants  and enjoy a few hours at the beach!

The further you are away from Barceloneta, the better. My favorite beach part is Bogatell, the water is not only cleaner, it is also less crowded.

Last beach tip - do not, I repeat, do not EVER, buy anything from the people at the beach.

The cold drinks they try to sell you are hidden in Trash Cans and the canalisation to keep them cold. They made several test on these and found E.Coli bacteria on them.

In general, everything you get offered at the beach is very unhygienic (yes, also the massages!), so do yourself a favour and decline their offer.

Do not get yourself lured by some promoters to pay 50€ to get into the clubs, you can get into every club free of charge.

Depending on when you’re heading back home, don't forget to indulge a few more tapas. One of my favorite tapas places has been Sol Soler Barcelona, make sure to eat a big portion of Patatas Bravas and Pimientos de Padrón.

Once it is time for you to leave Barcelona, you can get easily back to the Airport. Depending on where your Hotel is located, it’s always easy to get to Placa Espanya and take the Bus 46 again towards the Airport. This bus stops at the T1 and T2 Airport Halls, so you are completely set!

I hope you guys enjoyed these kind of posts, I wanted to give a good insight of what to do as a somewhat local here.

Best,

Karoline