This is a sample itinerary for our 2 Days in Barcelona.
Final itinerary and timings might vary due to many factors (tickets availability, your location and pace, your main interests…)
DAY 1 - OLD TOWN
ATTENTION: CHAUFFEURED VARIATION
Should walking issues force you to get a driver both days, you'll be driving from La Rambla to the Gothic Quarter and instead of the Born District and the Picasso Museum you’ll spend the last part of your tour driving around the Hill of Montjuic, with photo stops to enjoy the city views and the the areas where the 1992 Olympics and the 1992 World Fair took place.
9AM
- TOUR STARTS WALKING
RAMBLA & BOQUERIA MARKET
A lovely stroll
9AM
- Walk
Your day will start in La Rambla, strolling down this lively boulevard of the Old Town and passing, amongst other interesting sites, a pretty flower market.
In the heart of La Rambla we’ll find the Boqueria Food Market, where you’ll discover the secrets of one of the best food markets in the whole world. You’ll love their gorgeous stands, and enjoy looking at the exotic produce as well as the local food.
- Continue Walking
GOTHIC QUARTER
The origins of Barcelona
10AM
- Walk
Your tour will take you next to the oldest part of the city, the Gothic Quarter, walking along medieval alleys and plazas, crossing Roman ruins on the way, entering Gothic patios… The Royal Palace, the City Council and the Generalitat Government building will also be included in this part of the itinerary.
Its most impressive building is the Cathedral, where if you choose to enter you’ll visit the choir, see fine side chapels, descend to the crypt where St. Eulàlia is buried, and go to the cloister famous for its gees. Alternatively, we can take you the medieval Jewish Section: the Call. After the attacks in 1391 it was mostly destroyed, but the oldest synagogue in Europe has been recovered and it’s open to the public.
CATHEDRAL OF ST. EULALIA
Gothic Architecture
The highlight of the Gothic Quarter is the Cathedral, an outstanding Gothic basilica where you can visit its choir, remarkable side chapels, the crypt of St. Eulàlia and an old cloister with geese living in it. Depending on your preferences, you can choose to just see it from inside, just do a quick in&out to check it out, or go inside with your guide and receive full explanations.
CALL
Medieval Jewish Section
Alternatively, your guide can take you to the Call, the medieval Jewish Section, where the medieval atmosphere is still in the air despite the attacks suffered in 1391. If you are interested, you can also visit there the oldest synagogue in Europe.
- Continue Walking
BORN DISTRICT & PICASSO MUSEUM
History & Art
11.30AM
- Walk
Your tour continues in the Born District. This is the trendy area of the Old Town, considered the local “SOHO”. The most important sites here are the gorgeous church of Sta. Maria del Mar and the Picasso Museum, that you’ll enter skipping lines with your tour guide.
Inside you’ll discover how a young Picasso arrived to Barcelona at a young age, hear about his training period and how he joined the local bohemian artists to finally move to Paris. You’ll see as well his first works in the city of lights, with a special mention to the Blue Period and the beginning of the cubism. The last rooms of the museum are dedicated to a series about Las Meninas, that were a personal donation of Picasso to the museum.
1PM
- TOUR ENDS
When the tour is over, your guide can put you on a taxi or give you directions to take the subway or walk back to your hotel, or help you find somewhere for lunch in the area that is packed with great tapas bars.
DAY 2 - GAUDI SITES
9AM
- TOUR STARTS
Either you are meeting your guide directly in the city center or at your own location, your tour will start with an introduction about Gaudi’s timeframe, linking it to the Industrial Revolution, the arrival of Modernism (Art Nouveau) and the creation of the Eixample District.
CASA MILA / LA PEDRERA
The Stone Quarry
9.15AM
- Walk
Your Gaudi architecture tour takes you first to Passeig de Gràcia, the main street of Barcelona and the heart of the Eixample District, where Modernism was developed. You’ll be taken inside Casa Milà / Pedrera, a controversial apartment building, that the Barcelona society wasn’t ready to understand in Gaudi’s time. He was heavily criticized then, but now this building is considered one of his masterpieces. It was also the last private project Gaudi accepted before devoting himself exclusively to the Sagrada Família Church, 1906-1910.
10.30AM
- Ride
PARK GÜELL
Fairy-tale Land
10.45AM
- Walk
Next, a taxi ride will take you to Park Güell: an unfinished project commissioned by Gaudi’s best friend and patron Eusebi Güell.
Although it never became the planned community that it was meant to be, but it’s now the most fairy-taleish park in Barcelona. You’ll be fascinated by the colors of its mosaic tiles, and you’ll also enjoy great views over Barcelona.
11.30AM
- Ride
SAGRADA FAMILIA CHURCH
Unbelievable
11.45AM
- Walk
Finally, another taxi ride from it is located the breathtaking Sagrada Família Church, his absolute masterpiece to which he dedicated the last years of his life until his death (he could already tell then that the project would take several generations to be completed).
Following his wishes and the plaster models he left (reconstructed after the damages caused by a fire during the Spanish Civil war in 1936), the construction has continued and now it’s scheduled to be finished by 2026-30. Pope Benedict dedicated the inside in November 7, 2010 during a solemn multitudinous mass.
1PM
- TOUR ENDS
At the end of the tour, if you booked a taxi tour, your guide can put you on a taxi or give you directions back to your hotel or somewhere for lunch. Or you might decide to stay inside the Sagrada Familia (or last site visited) and continue enjoying it on your own.
If you booked a chauffeured tour, you’ll be dropped off back to your hotel or apartment, or at some local restaurant for lunch on your own.
SEE SITES ON MAP
