This tag reunites all our blog posts for those who don’t want to stay with the crowds. If going off the beaten path sounds like fun to you, then plunge into our blog posts to find out ideas that will get you beyond what the average tourist gets to see, and to get closer to the “real” Barcelona. Like San Francisco, Barcelona has districts with their unique personality that only Barcelonans understand, but with our help you’ll get to break their secret and discover their hidden gems. We also have great recommendations for those wishing to go beyond the borders of the city to explore the region of Catalonia without sticking to the top day trips destinations.
The Catalonia castles you need to see Barcelona is the capital of the region of Catalonia. Our history dates back from the Roman times 2000 year ago and older. But it started defining its identity specially during the middle ages. In those times, Christians fought to push back the attacks of the moors, of Muslim …
Medieval Towns in Catalonia worth visiting In the early 1000”s, the unification of several Franc counties gave place to Catalonia. And before that, the early Medieval times had already been a period of splendor for our land. A good prove are the many Catalonia medieval villages that you can visit in a short drive from …
WHAT TO SEE IN THE SANTS DISTRICT Sants in Barcelona is a great example of what locals call “the real Barcelona”. No big monuments or museums to visit there: just buildings where people live, streets and plazas with businesses, offices and schools where daily life happens. The origin of the neighborhood is tied to the Industrial …
THERE ARE OUTDOOR MARKETS IN BARCELONA FOR EVERYONE – DISCOVER THE ONE FOR YOU! When people think about Barcelona, they usually think about soccer, museums, public art, theaters, historic monuments and its nightlife. Yet, what many tourists ignore is the importance of outdoor markets as part of the culture of Barcelona. Everyone who lives in …
BARCELONA OUTDOOR MARKETS, UNDERRATED TREASURES OF THE CITY Read More »
ANTONI GAUDI WORKS BEYOND BARCELONA Everyone comes to Barcelona to see the architecture of Antoni Gaudi. But what many ignore is that he also worked outside of the city, leaving some unique projects around Barcelona that remain hidden gems for most travelers. From unfinished churches, to mountain gardens, from industrial facilities to private homes for the …
WHERE DOES A PRIVATE TOUR GUIDE WANT TO GO VISITING? HAPPY NEW YEAR! The new year is starting and we all have our new year’s resolution lists. And as a private tour guide one of my passions is getting to know my territory deeper and more intimately. Sometimes to broaden our tour offer, but most of the …
WHAT SHOULD YOU SEE IN THE HORTA DISTRICT OF BARCELONA? With the construction of the Eixample district after 1854, Barcelona expanded its limits beyond the city walls, eventually reaching those villages in the subburbs, that finally lost their independence and were annexed. One of the last to become part of Barcelona was Horta, in 1904. This …
WHAT TO SEE IN SANT ANDREU DISTRICT Getting to Sant Andreu de Palomar is easy: just hop on the L1 (red) subway line and get off on Sant Andreu station, right in the heart of this off the beaten path district with its own personality: Plaça Orfila, presided by the eclectic building of the Sant Andreu …
STROLLING AROUND THE PLAZAS OF THE GRACIA NEIGHBORHOOD Gracia plazas are distinct landmarks of the Gràcia district. Originally an independent village connected with Barcelona through a road that was going to become the nowadays fancy Passeig de Gracia, that part of the countryside north of the old Barcelona was often developed by private real state owners …
EXPLORING THE UPTOWN BARCELONA SARRIA NEIGHBORHOOD I was born in the district of Sarria Sant Gervasi, one of the areas of Barcelona that still preserves a village-like feel. It actually used to be an independent village that was finally eaten by Barcelona and lost its independence in the early 1900s. If you like going off the …
SARRIA DISTRICT: GOING OFF THE BEATEN PATH IN BARCELONA Read More »
RUTA DE L’ATZAR, GREAT VIDEO WITH HAPPY SONG My baby steals my phone to keep watching this Catalonia video over and over again. And we don’t encourage her to have much “screen time” at all: we prefer her to play. But in this case, I can’t blame her: this video is the cutest thing ever. I …
MY 2YO STEALS MY PHONE TO SEE THIS VIDEO ABOUT CATALONIA OVER AND OVER AGAIN Read More »
RESTAURANTS IN GRACIA FOR EVERY TASTE AND NEED At the top of the tourist-packed Passeig de Gràcia, right after crossing the classy Diagonal Avenue, starts a hot district that mixes the spirit of the traditional neighborhoods with the energy of the newly arrived young designers, cooks and creators. Less trendy than the Born, but not as …
THE NON-TOURISTY POBLENOU DISTRICT The Poblenou District was once called the Mediterranean Manchester. Here were located the many factories, most of them textile, that made Barcelona the first Spanish city to join the Industrial Revolution in the 1800’s. The neighborhood, once an independent village – hence its name “New Village”, welcomed immigrants and locals that …
DISTRICTS IN BARCELONA FOR AN AUTHENTIC EXPERIENCE London, Paris, San Francisco, New York City… many people plans their sightseeing according to the districts they want to visit in each place, as each district has its own unique personality. But when it comes to Barcelona it almost seems like there is only the Eixample, the Old …
BARCELONA GRAVEYARDS WORTH VISITING Visiting cemeteries has become a trend among those travelers who want to go a bit off the beaten path besides visiting the main tourists sites. Famous graveyards such as Père Lachaise in Paris, Novodevichy in Moscow, Woodlawn in NYC… are just a few examples. There you can follow the track of famous …
ALTERNATIVE THINGS TO DO IN BARCELONA BEYOND THE GAUDI BUILDINGS In Barcelona, October is about architecture. The first Monday of October is celebrated the World Architecture Day, and this is why the month was chosen to celebrate here the 48 Open House Festival, an event that takes place for a whole weekend when architecturally unique private …
TOP PUIG I CADAFALCH WORKS IN BARCELONA Besides Gaudi, Josep Puig i Cadafalch was one of the leaders of the Modernism (Catalan Art Nouveau) architecture movement, but as Domènech i Muntaner, his work was eclipsed by the ingeniousness of Gaudi. The youngest of the three rival architects possessed a really wide cultural background: he was not …
A SELECTION OF AUTHENTIC RESTAURANTS IN SARRIA (BARCELONA) Sarrià is an off-the-beaten path district in the uptown Barcelona (not to be confused with Sarria, Galicia). It still keeps a relaxed atmosphere that reminds you of the times when it was an independent village before being eaten by the big city. Its classy shops in a …
5 MASTERPIECES OF THE MNAC MUSEUM YOU SHOULDN’T MISS The Museu Nacional d’Art de Catalunya is the largest museum in Barcelona, heart of the Barcelona art scene and a must for any art lover. It is divided in two floors, featuring collections that cover almost 1000 years of Catalan art: from the Romanesque paintings all the way to …
TOP WORKS OF THE MUSEU NACIONAL D’ART DE CATALUNYA (MNAC) Read More »
A POST FOR OLD STONES LOVERS: TOP ANCIENT RUINS NEAR BARCELONA Catalonia has a long history that starts many centuries ago even before the Romans, with the Iberian tribes. If you love archaeology, you’ll be excited to hear that there are lots of great ruins near Barcelona that you can visit in your next trip. Prehistorian, …
