Barcelona Things to Do

Paella. Tortilla. Tapas. Once of the joys of a trip to Spain is the food and wine. The climate helps in making this an abundant land for farming (despite huge areas of desert in the center) and the heaped fruits and vegetables in every city market deliciously show this. A visit to the Boqueria Market on Las Ramblas will make you want to cook and eat and taking a cooking class is a great way to take the tastes of Spain home with you.

Las Ramblas is 3/4 mile (1.2 km) of pure strolling joy. It’s the heart of Barcelona, a wide, tree-lined boulevard where tourists and locals alike go to promenade, to see and be seen. Sometimes people call it La Rambla but this is not quite correct as it’s a whole collection of connected short streets thus making up the plural name Las Ramblas. It leads from the square Placa de Catalunya to the port area, Port Vell.

The Spanish know how to live. They take such joy in life and one of the reasons, I think, is the food. Is it cause or effect? I don’t know. But when you head into a marketplace in Spain you understand why they take such joy in eating – because they have such wonderful and abundant foods with which to prepare meals.

Gracia is a barrio (district) of Barcelona that you must not miss. It has a fantastic community spirit and seems to have endless street festivities throughout the year. March 3rd is one of the most fun especially for kids, because it’s all about candy.

Maybe you’re heading to Spain to escape the grey skies and northern winter – but that doesn’t mean you have to miss out on the fun of ice skating. There is a temporary rink at the Plaça Catalunya in Barcelona until 8th January, at 40×30 square metres it’s the biggest outdoor ice rink in Europe, topped with a semi-transparent dome and a special section for kids. Strap on your skates and get swirling on the ice at Plaça Catalunya.

Eating and drinking aren’t just enjoyable things to do when you travel – food and wine reveal so much about a culture and its people. Well, that’s our excuse for doing so much of both on Grantourismo, a contemporary grand tour we did. (Read more about Grantourismo here.)

It’s not just the airport in Barcelona that is connected. Taking a radical approach to cultural enterprise, the interlinked venues of creative entrepreneur Emilio Álvarez offer a glimpse into the artistic side of Barcelona. Angels, a contemporary art gallery, Carmelitas, a restaurant featuring locally sourced food, and Room Service, an avant-garde furniture design shop, all feature something unique.

With the change in seasons comes more fun things to do in Barcelona. Here are some places to try this fall.

From hilltop Montjuic to the beaches of Barceloneta, you’ll never go thirsty in this Spanish city of tapas and champagne bars. Your favourite bar might be just around the corner from your hotel, or tucked away in a Gothic Quarter laneway. We found our Top 5 watering holes as we made our way around the Catalan capital, but we have the feeling this is just the beginning of a much longer list…

No trip to Spain is complete without savoring some tapas and a glass of wine. Tapas are bite-sized appetizers, tiny delicious hot and cold snacks served in bars all over Spain. Eating them standing up, in-between work and dinner is a favourite Spanish pastime. The relaxed ambiance and easy socializing of the bar culture is enhanced with these tasty snacks ranging from simple olives, patatas bravas and cheese to delicacies like octopus, anchovies and prawns. Legend has it that the original tapas were bread, ham or chorizo used as covers to keep the sherry in Andalusian taverns safe from flies dropping into the glass. They are usually salty – to encourage drinking – and flavoured with spices, garlic, paprika, chili and olive oil.