Barcelona Itinerary

Day 1: the Gaudí day

This is the day with fixed times, so it is the day to plan first. Sagrada Família and Park Güell are not next to each other — Park Güell is on the hill above Gràcia — so leave travel time between the two slots.

1. Morning: Sagrada Família at the earliest slot you can get. The east-facing façade and the stained glass are at their best in the morning light.
2. Late morning: walk or take the metro to Passeig de Gràcia for Casa Batlló, then La Pedrera five minutes further up the same street. Pick one to go inside; see the other from the pavement.
3. Lunch: in the Eixample, from about 2pm. The grid streets off Passeig de Gràcia are full of weekday lunch menus.
4. Afternoon: Park Güell. The paid Monumental Zone is the mosaic part; the free area around it is large and has the view.
5. Evening: down to Gràcia for dinner, a former village of small squares that fills up after 9pm.

If you can only get one Gaudí interior, make it Sagrada Família. The others can be appreciated from the street; its interior is the point.

Day 2: the old city and the waterfront

This is the day that needs no bookings, so it can move if the Gaudí slots force a change. The Gothic Quarter, El Born and the waterfront sit next to each other between Plaça de Catalunya and the sea.

1. Start at Barcelona Cathedral — the Gothic one in the Barri Gòtic, not the Sagrada Família — and wander the lanes around it.
2. Walk east into El Born to Santa Maria del Mar, a plainer and better-proportioned church.
3. The Picasso Museum is two minutes away and holds his early work; the famous later paintings are elsewhere.
4. Buy lunch ingredients or eat at Mercat de Santa Caterina, the market locals use.
5. Afternoon: walk down to the harbour and along to Barceloneta and the beach.
6. Evening: back to El Born, which has the best concentration of small restaurants in the old city.

La Rambla runs through the middle of all this. Walk it once, briefly, and turn off early: it is the most pickpocketed street in the city, and the food on it is priced for people who will not come back.

Day 3: Montjuïc

The hill south of the centre is the half-day most itineraries cut, and it holds the Joan Miró Foundation, the Montjuïc castle and the best free view of the city.

1. Morning: up by the funicular from Paral·lel metro station, or by the cable car from the harbour.
2. Late morning: the Joan Miró Foundation, the most rewarding single museum on the hill.
3. Lunch: back down in Poble-sec, the neighbourhood at the foot of the hill.
4. Afternoon: the castle and the viewpoints over the port and the city.
5. Evening: a last dinner in the neighbourhood you liked most on days one and two.

Day 4: Montserrat, or another day trip

A fourth day is for leaving the city. Four trips sit within about an hour by train, and Montserrat is the one to choose if you only do one.

Leave for Montserrat in the morning and plan to be back for dinner. The train, the rack railway or cable car, and the monastery take the whole day.

One day in Barcelona

One day is a stopover, not a visit, but it can hold the two things Barcelona is known for if one of them is booked in advance.

1. Morning: Sagrada Família at an early slot.
2. Late morning: Passeig de Gràcia, to see Casa Batlló and La Pedrera from the street.
3. Lunch: in the Eixample from about 2pm.
4. Afternoon: the Gothic Quarter and El Born on foot, ending at Santa Maria del Mar.
5. Evening: dinner in El Born after 9pm.

Park Güell and Montjuïc are what a one-day trip gives up. Both need half a day, and both are a metro ride from everything else.

How the season changes the itinerary

The same itinerary needs different hours in different months. These are the 1981-2010 climate normals for Barcelona Aeropuerto from AEMET, the Spanish state meteorological agency.

1. July and August average highs of 28.0°C and 28.5°C: book the Gaudí slots for the morning and keep the early afternoon for indoor museums.
2. August has 3.5 thunderstorm days on average, the joint highest of the year, and they tend to arrive in the afternoon.
3. September and October are the two wettest months, at 81 mm and 91 mm — keep the Picasso and Miró museums as the rainy-day switch.
4. June is the month the itinerary above works at full length: a 24.9°C high and only 30 mm of rain.
5. In winter the days are short, so move Montjuïc’s viewpoints to the early afternoon to catch the light.

Getting between the parts of the itinerary

Barcelona is walkable in the centre and metro-linked at the edges. Knowing which legs to walk saves more time than any shortcut.

1. Walk: the Gothic Quarter, El Born and the waterfront are one continuous walk.
2. Walk: Casa Batlló to La Pedrera, five minutes up Passeig de Gràcia.
3. Metro: Sagrada Família to Passeig de Gràcia, and anything to Park Güell, which is on a hill.
4. Funicular or cable car: up Montjuïc, from Paral·lel or from the harbour.
5. Train: every day trip in the table above leaves by rail.