Barcelona hotels, restaurants, bars, attractions, and other useful stuff
There are actually two botanic gardens on Montjuïc, but the old gardens, the Jardí Botànic Històric, just behind the Museu Nacional d’Art de Catalunya, are a personal favourite. Established in a pair of old quarries, the gardens provide a pleasantly cool respite on a hot day, and are generally uncrowded too – so stay away!
I feel a bit sorry for the residents of el Born. Where most Barcelona residents enjoy the benefits of a neighbourhood market, the discovery of ruins of the medieval city were uncovered during a renovation (one that was apparently going to use the space for a library), and the fabulous steel structure, designed by Antoni Rovira I Trias, is now used as the El Born Cultural and Memorial Centre with the ruins on display. It’s free to enter and actually quite interesting – there’s even a decent bookstore and a café.
El Museu Marítim de Barcelona isn’t exactly one of main tourist attractions in town – the fact that the official website is only in Catalan or Spanish attests to that. We’re not terrifically excited by scale model boats, but the place has its charms.
The building itself is magnificent, having served as a shipyard from the 13thto 18thcenturies, and the full-size reproduction of a galley from the 16th Century is also impressive.
The courtyard – there’s a café too – is a lovely cool spot on a hot day, and occasionally serves as a location for a weekend market.
The Mercat de Sant Josep de la Boqueria, to give La Boqueria its proper name, is one of Barcelona’s busiest attractions. If you love food, you’ll see why – not only are the raw ingredients available, but also there are numerous stalls selling cooked (and pre-prepared) food. There are actually 11 bars in the market – along with dozens of others around the periphery.
The Boqueria is a working market, however, so please behave accordingly – ask before taking photos, and give people enough space to get their shopping done. If you are buying supplies, La Boqueria is surprisingly good value. Just go early, before the crowds. Closed Sundays.
Okay, if you get contemporary art – and call me a philistine, but for the most part it’s lost on me – MACBA is your type of place. Superb building though, and a great gift shop.
Buy the Barcelona Museum Pass or Art Passport and gain priority entry to Fundació Joan Miró, the Museu Nacional d’Art de Catalunya (MNAC), the Centre de Cultura Contemporània de Barcelona (CCCB),the Museu Picasso, Fundació Antoni Tàpies, and Museu d’Art Contemporani de Barcelona (MACBA), and avoid the queues.
Housed in an elaborate Italianate structure built for the 1929 International Exposition, MNAC’s collection ranges from what is regarded as the world’s largest exhibition of Romanesque art, through to Gothic, baroque, Renaissance and modern. With its heavy focus on the first two categories, expect biblical scenes, though the mood lightens in the other halls.
A spectacular space on Montjuïc with views over the city below, and an excellent collection make this one of the highlight museums in Barcelona.
Buy the Barcelona Museum Pass or Art Passport and gain priority entry to Fundació Joan Miró, the Museu Nacional d’Art de Catalunya (MNAC), the Centre de Cultura Contemporània de Barcelona (CCCB),the Museu Picasso, Fundació Antoni Tàpies, and Museu d’Art Contemporani de Barcelona (MACBA), and avoid the queues.
The Mies van der Rohe pavilion was designed in 1929 as the German pavilion for the International Exposition, and is an icon of modernist architecture. To top it all off van der Rohe also designed the iconic Barcelona chair to showcase here. The €5 entry price is a bit steep however, because the pavilion is much smaller than today’s standard wedding-cake brick veneer McMansion. Unless you’re an architecture tragic, it’s not a destination in and of itself; visit in conjunction with the MNAC or the Caixa Forum across the road.
On the surface at least, Casa Batlló is Gaudí at his most imaginative, despite it being a renovation of what was an existing building. Buy tickets in advance – after La Sagrada Familia this is about the most popular tourist attraction in town and there are always queues.
Don’t forget to check out Casa Amatller and Casa Lleó Morera adjacent – part of the “mansana de la discòrdia” or block of discord of Barcelona, named because of the sharply contrasting architectural styles.
Casa Milà, more commonly known as La Pedrera (the quarry), is Gaudí’slast civil work and reflects the influence of nature in his work.