24 Tips I Wish I Knew Before Visiting Barcelona

24 Tips I Wish I Knew Before Visiting Barcelona

I move to a new country every single month and here are the top things that I wish I knew before spending a month in Barcelona first thing is I wouldn’t necessarily pick August as the good travel month even though that’s right in the heart of travel season for Barcelona

Locals they actually take the month of August off many of them do at least and go somewhere else which is great for them but that means if you go in August you’re not going to have all of the restaurants open but you will still have just as many tourists coming in so not

The best month unless you like really really warm days and not a ton of locals so be aware of that second thing is a lot of people and articles online talk about Barcelona being an unsafe City a place that you got to watch out for pickpocketing and there’s just a lot of

Like fear-based content out there I think on Barcelona and I’m not saying that you shouldn’t take precautions you absolutely should but in my experience I didn’t feel any less safe in Barcelona than anywhere else in Europe so I felt totally safe the entire time luckily never got pickpocketed fingers crossed

That doesn’t happen to you just be diligent and you should be just fine next thing is in terms of where you would most likely be getting pickpocketed from would probably be on Las ramblas which is that main tourist strip there’s a lot of shopping it’s a unique Street kind of historic so you

Probably are going to visit it but that is where I guess most picked pocketers hang out there and in a part of town called elel I’m so bad with Spanish pronunciation so please forgive me ahead of time but even if you do visit L rumbl just recognize that most things there

Are a tourist trap it’s not where you’re going to find the locals so if you are seeking that local culture get the heck off that street next thing is to just be mindful that there’s been a big influx of xats moving into Barcelona which has raised housing prices for locals so

There is a go home tourist movement so well that doesn’t mean that you won’t be welcomed or that you shouldn’t go you absolutely should go but just be mindful of the pain points that locals are dealing with make sure not to be loud and obnoxious late at night don’t take

Advantage of tourists and of course try to support actual local businesses rather than those tourist tourist traps on streets like L ran bless and the other touristy places in town next thing to know has to do with a couple of the specific neighborhoods that you will likely visit one is the gothic quarter

And one is elbourne both of these are beautiful places that you will absolutely go some main attractions are in those areas but do note this is the older more historic part of town you do have pretty tall buildings All Made of Stone which means cell reception isn’t great there wouldn’t hurt to download

Google Maps in that area before you go speaking of cell service I’ve been using a company called aolo which offers something called an eim and I’ve been using them for about a year now and they’ve been wonderful and what an eim does is it allows you before your trip

To just download an app there’s no physical SIM card you download an app you pay between $4 and $30 depending how much data you want and when you land in Barcelona you will have regular service for your phone you won’t be able to make calls and texts outside of iMessage but

All the navigation and just normal internet searches you’ll be able to do cuz you have sell data I’ll leave a link in the description so you can check it out and see if it makes sense for you on your trip now by the end of this video

I’ll kind of give you a breakdown on which part of town you should base yourself in depending on what you’re looking for in your trip and I’ll also give some specific recommendations on some of my favorite restaurants bars and things that I really enjoy that I think

Are worth checking out when you’re there but first I want to give you some practical tips on tourist destination things that you will likely already be doing I assume if you are going you’re going to try to go to El because it is gorgeous you’re going to try to go to

Some of the museums know a couple things book those as far out in advance as possible even for Park gu that does require tickets and the reservations do fill up pretty quick during the high season I actually walked all the way up there thinking I was going to be able to

Just walk right in turns out I walked like an hour and a half for absolutely nothing I got up there there were no more tickets I tried asking anybody could I just sneak in is there anything that I could do it’s only open for another hour unfortunately the answer

Was no so make sure that you book those in advance and for Museum if you’re looking to save some money note that the first Sunday of each month most museums in Barcelona are actually free so if you’re trying to save some cash maybe book your travel around the first Sunday

Of a month to save some money there and also note that on Sundays like most places in Europe a lot of things are closed down just because it’s a day of rest relaxation time to spend with family and friends so just don’t expect to have access to everything on a Sunday

And I want to tell you about all the neighborhoods but I want to give you those specific recommendations on food places first so if you’re looking for that really fancy night and you got some cash to spend and I mean Cash go to Aaliyah it is a place that has a

Michelin star it’s up in a hotel and it was one of the best meals I’ve ever had in my life all local Cuisine fantastic Chef couldn’t recommend them enough but again be ready to pay if you’re somebody who enjoys bar scenes and you want to experience what is currently ranked the

Number one bar in the entire world it’s a place called Paradiso and it’s in elbourne which is a great little area it’s kind of a Speak Easy feel the outside looks like a sandwich shop but make no mistake the actual bar is behind it there will be a long long long line

They open up typically around like three or 4 I think they actually put this like big sign with a QR system on it you can go and you scan that QR code and it puts you on a weit list There Are No Reservations so you are going to

Physically have to get down there scan that QR code and wait your turn but it is well worth it pretty cool place and why wouldn’t you go to the number one bar in the world if you were there right I’m not a very big drinker but hey when

In Rome or when in Barcelona now if the line for Paradiso is pretty long and you’re looking to kill some time I would highly recommend a place called I think it’s pronounced kaju it is directly across from Paradiso and it opened when we were there it’s this little gelato

Shop opened up by a guy named Pablo who moved over from Argentina and let me tell you this guy knows something about gelato it is fantastic some of the best gelato I’ve ever had in my entire life and he is just one of the nicest guys out there super kind and friendly he

Will talk your ear off and you should share your stories with him he’s got a wonderful life story and even better ice cream or gelato Pablo if you’re watching this thank you for your services your gelato is top tier speaking of sweet treats if you’re more of a cheesecake

Kind of person there’s a place called I think Dawn cake and it’s not too far by from there not too far by it’s not too far from there and they have some of the best cheesecake some of the most popular cheesecake in Barcelona now recognize that this is another place that fills up

You’ll often times see a line that’s 15 20 minutes long and they do sell out of their cheesecake cuz it is the most popular item typically by around 2 or 300 p.m. is when I noticed that they were gone so make sure to go and try

That and get there early and if that isn’t enough sweets for you I’d highly recommend trying with I think it’s called a Crea catalana it’s basically a crem brulee but with a Spanish twist it’s excellent I don’t have a specific place to go and try that just get that

Anywhere it’s on the menu it’s bound to be great I’m going to need to look at my computer screen for the pronunciation of this one it’s called cesia Vasa De Oro I don’t know it’s a topest bar it’s in barceloneta I’ll link it down in the description along with all of these and

It is just one of the nicest little toest bars that I’ve ever been to I hung out there a ton everything on the menu spectacular if you’ve got a taste for ramen or sushi there’s a place not too far from that topest bar called katsu it is spectacular again I know I’m saying

All these places are spectacular but I’m only sharing the best I eat out like three meals a day and that’s actually owned by another person from Argentina wonderful little place highly recommend down there in Barcelona if you’re a health nut and you’re looking for a really clean meal there’s actually a

Yoga studio called Frant that mostly does food I don’t know when they have yoga classes I know they do at some point but I would just go there for food some really quality stuff there and if you’re saying nah I don’t need healthy I just want baked goods I feel you there’s

A place called origo which uh some of the best pastries I had had in Barcelona pretty good coffee too so those are all the restaurants that I recommend again Link in the description for all of those now let’s talk about where you should actually base yourself in a trip for

Barcelona two really important things to note just so you have some context first note that the public transportation is really really strong in Barcelona they have a metro system and like most Metro systems there’s multiple types of tickets that you can buy look into that depending on how long your trip is but

For me the Casual te ticket made the most sense and also note that bar Ona has a big late night culture so note that certain areas are going to be more lively and a little crazy compared to others so let’s jump into the actual neighborhoods themselves I stayed in a

Place called barceloneta which is kind of down near the beach now I had picked that because I was like oh this is the best of all worlds I’m close to the water I should have easy access to everything else this looks great right yes and no Barcelona is great for some

People if you’re looking for the party scene and you want to spend a lot of time on the beach you’re going to love it it’s going to be great for you I didn’t absolutely love it for a couple of reasons one I’m not your big party

Guy I’m just over that phase so it was a pretty loud neighborhood and while yes it was great being close to the beach that beach in particular has just a lot of tourists and a lot of the top clubs and bars are all along that beach so it

Wasn’t quite the beach vibe that I was looking for one of the other things that Barcelona does not have is it does not have a ton of restaurants and the few that they do have are catered towards the tourist so it is a bit more challenging finding a good restaurant

There now the other area of town that you will likely be in is the gothic quarter or you know El Ral albourne those are all right next to each other it’s kind of like where the old stuff is and it’s beautiful it’s stunning just note that in those there are really

Tight Alleyways it’s easy to get lost while yes there are a lot of great tourist attractions it’s probably not going to be the best in terms of accommodation but you will want to have easy access to those so we’ll come back to those the next few places are elada

Up near Al Familia right you’re definitely going to want to go into that in my experience I I wouldn’t recommend staying up there while you’ll definitely make a trip up it’s just too far from the rest of Barcelona to really enjoy especially as a tourist so I wouldn’t do

That and that really leaves you with two main places that make sense for most tourists and it’s actually where I will probably wanting to base myself in my next Barcelona trip and those are the is shampa neighborhood and the Gracia what’s great about those is they are

Further north so you don’t get as much tourist traffic don’t get me wrong there will still be some but some of the better restaurants are up there you’re going to get a better feel for local culture up there and you’re also still a really easy walk down to elbourne uh you

Know the the old part of town where some of those top museums are and in my experience it’s going to be what a lot of us Travelers are looking for so s probably too far from the things that you’re going to want to have access to to actually base yourselves up there

Elal just a little bit too sketchy probably not the place you want to be at least for your first time in Barcelona barceloneta great if you want access to the beach and parties but expect parties expect loud and expect some grit it’s fun but might not be the place for

Everybody the gothic quarter and elbourne wonderful if you want to be in the heart of things but older type homes tighter streets not going to be as accessible and that’s why shampa and Gracia is going to be where I stay next time and where I would recommend for

Most tourists but if you have any questions always leave those in the comment section down below as well and a fun bonus tip is my wife actually says that the best yoga studio she’s ever found anywhere in the world is in Barcelona I’ve got no idea what it’s

Called but I’ll put a link in the description so you can check that out if that’s important to you but if you want to see what I loved about Barcelona and five things that I hated about Barcelona you can check out this video right here thanks for watching and we’ll catch you

Guys next time

These 24 tips to know before visiting Barcelona are what I wish I knew before my trip to Barcelona, Spain.

Hopefully these travel tips will help you from making some of my mistakes when traveling through Barcelona

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