Trip in a nutshell

Five October days exploring Barcelona with my partner Jules + her mom.

With autumn taking hold in Berlin, it was an ideal getaway to catch a little more sun + enjoy eating/drinking outside just a few more times before settling in for colder, shorter days at home.

My tips

Where we stayed

We stayed in Eixample, which was convenient + ideal for an older travel partner (wide streets, no hills etc).

I loved the vibe in Gracia + Poble Sec. If you’re keen on cool cafes + bars right on your doorstep, I’d recommend one of those neighborhoods.

What we did

Sagrada Familia. It’s really worth it. We went on a Friday morning, which was good — go on a weekday if you can to beat the worst crowds.
Cablecars. There are two of these — one that goes across the port, and another that goes up the Montjuic mountain. (Heads up, I thought they were connected / all one line, not so.)
Montjuic. A beautiful walk! Start at the top after taking the cablecar and work your way downhill, you need good shoes but it’s not too steep. Swing past:

Castell de Montjuic - big hilltop fort. Costs a few Euro to go in, we decided to skip that, you can get a good sense of it just by walking around the walls.
Olympic park - Barcelona hosted the Summer Olympics in the 90s, and built a lot of structures here. All worth checking out! Peeking inside the track and field stadium is fun, throwback to when sports advertising was really just billboards (no 3D VR LCD stuff).
Joan Miro Foundation - Very cool building, nice cafe to stop for a sandwich + beer or coffee even if you don’t look at the exhibits
Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya - Catch the sunset here! Great view from the steps.

Picasso Museum. Self explanatory. The layout of the art was a little weird and hard-to-follow, but the quality + volume more than made up for it.

What we ate/drank

Garage Bar: Natural wines, local beers, great tapas
Mediamanga: Fantastic upscale dinner spot - get the egg whites with scallops 🤯

Couple more tips from a friend who lives in BCN here: