How I Saw Barcelona in Less Than Two Days
I had no expectations of Barcelona, maybe due to the fact it was not a place I was dying to go to and had done little research. This, I think, is why Barcelona was one of my favourite places I have been to. Besides booking the Sagrada Familia and Park Guell, everything else was spontaneous and created the excitement of not knowing what was to come next. Although I saw so much in less than two days, Barcelona is so big that there was so much I missed and would love to go back and experience with someone else.
How I Saw Barcelona in Less Than Two Days
Day one consisted of arriving at midday and heading to the Cuitadella park to walk around, followed by walking an hour to check into my hotel, where I then headed back into the main centre to check out Picasso’s museum. Dinner was eaten at the Vegan Junk Food Bar for a burger, and on the way back to the hotel, I walked past the Arc d’Triomf and down the vibrant streets filled with life.
The next morning, the first stop was Carmel’s lookout and then breakfast at Faire’s, which was amazing. Followed by the Sagrada Familia and the spontaneous trip into the Sant Pau Art Nouveau, one of my favourite places in Barcelona, and then in the late afternoon walked around Park Guell.
Barcelona is HUGE!
Although briefly researching the city before arriving, I did not realise how big it truly was and I have never walked so much in my life. My first day I was walking around Barcelona for six hours and I walked 26,683 steps, and the following day 27,641 steps and that did not even cover the whole city. I managed to see a considerable amount of the city in under two days, but there is so much more to it. Public transport, such as the underground, enables everyone to get around quickly and be able to see more of what Barcelona has to offer, but I do not regret walking and despite being very hot, it was well worth it.
Pick Pocketers
So many people warned me of the high volumes of pick pocketers in Barcelona and how to keep myself safe, and although this scared me, I think this fear was a positive one. Although I never felt unsafe, I kept my bag to my front holding on to it, especially in big crowds as well as keeping my phone in my bag as much as possible to reduce the threat of someone plucking it out of my hand. A tiktok hack that has been a lifesaver was to put in earphones and have the directions playing through your ear, so that you neither have your phone out and are constantly looking down, but you also do not look like a tourist. Nothing screams tourist more than staring at your phone and walking around looking confused, which results in being a prime target. In my experience I did not feel unsafe and at risk as others had emphasised, but I would still recommend being very cautious out and about on the streets of Barcelona.
Parc de la Cuitadella
I visited the Parc de la Cuitadella the first day I arrived, as it was closest to the bus station, and headed off for a few hours before walking the hour to my hotel. The parc was overseen and designed by an unknown artist at the time, Josep Fontsere, who created the perfect green paradise for Barcelona. The monumental waterfall designed by Gaudi and ten other artists, loosely inspired by the Trevi Fountain, sits proudly amongst the trees with carvings of dragons, lizards and clams. The Quadriga de L’Aurora, the iron statue of horses that sits at the top of the waterfall, originally gold, was created by Rossend Nobas which signifies freedom and progress.
On one of the levels of the waterfall, a dance class was taking place where couples were learning and enjoying themselves. In which the music could be heard all around the area.
Not far is a little lake where little rowing boats could be rented, perfect for a romantic or friendly date. Throughout the park, monuments were scattered around from statues to art pieces, such as the Monument of Tribute.
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As with the rest of Barcelona, the Government building (Parliament of Catalonia) was architecturally beautiful with a garden in front adorned with a water fountain.
Within the parc sits ‘The Three Dragons’, one of the sets for the famous tv show Game of Thrones, specifically the castle for Dorne. Now a café, however when I visited, I was unable to enter due to construction and fences.
Museu Picasso
Book all museums in advance, whether that is an hour or more, but they often fill up quickly and refuse entry to those who do not have tickets. The beginning of the exhibition is by an artist called Carmen Calvo, a visual modern artist who uses different mediums, such as rope, dolls, and experiments with different types of photography. Although this is not my type of art, but I can appreciate artistic interpretation and some of her ideas.
I preferred Picasso’s more traditional paintings, such as of scenes and landscapes to his more modern and famous pieces, such as his painting of the Parc de la Cuitadella.
Los Bunkers del Carmel
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I did not make it to the top due to time constraints and the heat, but I did walk up to a significant height. What did make this a cool hike, there were dark rain clouds over the city below. From the lower level of the lookout, the city was sprawled out with the Sagrada Familia standing out tall amongst the buildings.
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Arc d’Triomf
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Designed to be the entry way to the exhibition held in the Parc de la Cuitadella in 1888, and later the gateway to a modern Barcelona. On the evening that I walked past the Arc d’Triomf, at the foot of the structure where a stage sits, a dog competition was taking place. This uniquely random event really captures the beauty of the culture of Barcelona, the randomness and wholesome nature.
The Sagrada Familia
The streets are packed surrounding the Sagrada Familia, with those queuing up to get into the basilica, taking photos, or entering the packed shops and cafes encasing the block. I have never seen anything like this in my life, the architecture was absolutely incredible. The carvings on the outside cover the entire building, all 170 metres. The main architect and designer, Antonio Gaudi, believed no human-made structure should be taller than any of God’s structures, referring to the hill residing close by. It is also the tallest religious building in all of Europe!
I had not done any research before visiting the Sagrada Familia as I wanted to go in with no expectations. The beauty of the architecture from the outside to inside is indescribable. Gaudi designed this building so there are no straight lines, linking to nature, and this is shown throughout the building where the walls wave in and out, and where the angled pillars reach up to the arched ceilings. From the outside, the windows look like regular church windows, but the magnificent colours shining through were hypnotising. The sun filters through the multicoloured glass in a rainbow effect, filling the space up with vibrant oranges, blues, and reds.
Everyday at noon, the ladies pray, which can be heard throughout the basilica.
Just before leaving the main area of the church, to the right there is a corridor that is a small museum of some of Gaudi’s work and religious artifacts, such as artistic pews.
Despite being overrun with tourists, and being one of the biggest tourist attractions, with roughly five million visitors a year, it is well worth the visit. It is a religious building and so holds much sentimental value and belief, but personally the architecture is the biggest and one of the most beautiful pieces of art I have ever seen. There is not one bad angle inside and out.
Park Güell
There is no right or wrong direction to walk in Park Güell, but I definitely went the wrong way. However, this is just another amazing thing about solo travel, you mess up and the only person it effects is yourself, I’d even argue I didn’t mess up, just took the longer route to get those steps in to ensure I saw everything.
I booked to go in the afternoon as it was closer to my hotel and was so hot, I could walk around the middle and southern part of the city during the day, come back to my hotel to freshen up before heading to Park Güell.
Park Güell was not what I expected, some areas were slightly disappointing compared to others which were stunning. The nature throughout the park was beautiful, carved stone and trees fill the area, in which Gaudi’s house and a few other buildings were dotted around within. If you wish to go inside of Gaudi’s house, an extra ticket needs to be bought in advance. The biggest attraction is the large Greek Theatre, the Dragon Stairway and the Serpentine Bench. These were beautiful and another example of Gaudi’s and Barcelona’s amazing architecture.
One of my favourite parts was at the top of one of the viewpoints, Les Tres Creus, in the rain an elderly man sat playing the guitar with eight or more parrots singing along with him. Park Güell and all these amazingly beautiful architectural tourist sights are memorable, but it shows how these small little unexpected quirks along the way are more memorable and wholesome, there is more joy in the little things in life.
Sant Pau Art Nouveau
This was one of the most spontaneous things I did, and one of my favourites! As with the rest of Barcelona, the architecture was supposed to be the main focal point of the exhibition, but for me, the history of the main hospital of Barcelona, Santa Creu, was the best part. Learning how where I was stood, the first successful heart transplant (1984) took place, and the first bone marrow transplant (1976) took place was incredible.
An early 1970s X-Ray machine:
The History of the Sant Creu Hospital
The Santa Creu hospital was founded in 1401 for men as they wanted to create one singular large public hospital, in which on the 5th September a papal bull was issued by Pope Benedict XIII and the building was completed in 1450. For more than five centuries it was the main hospital for Barcelona. This hospital was the first place to help women, on the 30th June 1916, the hospital took in six sick women. In the late 18th and early 19th century, the Sant Pau became the centre of science and medical care/education of Europe.
The Spanish Civil war effected the hospital as it was confiscated, renamed, and the focus was on helping patients. But in 1968, the hospital was brought back to its glory and continued its educational setting, restoring it to a teaching hospital once again with constant improvements.
When rebuilding the hospital, there were divisions regarding the focus on what was necessary. Half wanted to focus on buildings for the patients, what would benefit them, whereas the other half focused on the luxurious side, the architectural beauty.
I cannot deny how stunning the buildings are, all twenty-seven of them although the plan was to build forty-eight. This new rebuild began in 1902, and by 1912 ten new pavilions had been built.
The Sant Pau Art Nouveau should be on everyone’s list of activities to do in Barcelona!
Booking in Advance
Definitely book in advance for the main tourist spots, such as the Sagrada Familia and Park Guell. The queues are so long and standing in the heat, especially in summer, is not good and as said above, the city is so big you do not want to be wasting your time queuing when there is so much to see. Also, these attractions do fill up quickly and will stop people entering if you have not booked in advance, such as Park Guell. When I turned up at 5pm, it had sold out and many were being turned away.
Vegan Food in Barcelona
Vegan food is so easy to find in Barcelona, so many regular restaurants have vegan options and advertise it, but there are also lots of vegan and vegetarian restaurants.
Vegan Junk Food Bar
The Vegan Junk Food Bar is, as in its title, a vegan only restaurant that has so many different types of burgers and fries. It was great to eat a source of protein, after surviving on tomato pasta for nearly a whole week. The restaurant was very quiet when I arrived, but I did go out early and during my meal the place began to fill up, inside and out. There were so many options, I struggled to choose but decided on the regular cheeseburger with a side of fries, despite wanting to upgrade to some sort of dirty fries but knew I would not be able to finish it. It was amazing to struggle to decide from such a large menu, as it is rare I have been to any restaurant with so many good vegan options, even vegan only places.
Faire’s Brunch and Drinks
I cannot recommend this place enough, Faire’s had so many good vegan options for breakfast and lunch! Tip: Do not follow apple maps, as it takes you to the wrong place, a few roads in the wrong directions. The servers were so kind and helpful, as well as the place being beautiful inside. I had not had an iced latte in so long, I cannot explain the joy of having an iced oat latte! Not only that, but they also had vegan pancakes! I am a sucker for a sweet breakfast, and they did not disappoint. The fluffy pancakes were topped with a few rows of fruit, from strawberries to peaches, to banana, and my favourite, mango. Faire’s also have cocktails, which would be so cute in the evening or late afternoon with friends. This was the perfect breakfast to fill up on for a long day of sightseeing and walking.
Barcelona is filled with life, from those in the park participating in dance classes to the man singing with parrots. Every corner turned there was culture and art, a place I would describe as being the home to architecture. Barcelona is a city I would return to and hope to do so in the future.
