3 NIGHTS IN BARCELONA

Can I just start by saying Barcelona is one of my favourite cities now if not my number one favourite? It really has it all!

I'd wanted to visit Barcelona for a long time so since this year I am making up for lost travelling time during Covid, it was the perfect time to book. I loved the trip so much that I am over-excited writing this and don't know what to tell you first but I will try to organise my thoughts clearly.

We went in September which is supposed to be their rainy season but luckily we had no rain, and it was a great temperature for walking around and sightseeing.

Travelling to Barcelona

We had an early start on the first day as our flight was at 9am from Gatwick and I like to be there super early (you never know how long the queues will be these days and I wanted breakfast and a glass of fizz).

The flight was only about 1 hour and 40 minutes on the way there and we had a pretty easy time going through both airports (we did NOT on the way back - more to come on this later).

Once we'd landed at terminal 1 in Barcelona, we got the airport bus which was the A1 (it's A1 for terminal 1 and A2 if you're at terminal 2) and it was only 4 stops into the centre of Barcelona. I think the bus took just over half an hour. They run every 5 minutes and are only 5.90 euros for a single journey so definitely worth doing if you are staying in the centre like we did.

Our hotel was then a 10-minute walk from that bus stop which we found using Citymapper. We stayed at the Ilunion Almirante which was a reasonable price and great location. Perfect for what we needed it for although we barely spent any time there.

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Day 1

Once we'd checked in we had a little siesta and then got ready for our first afternoon. By the time we went out, it was about 4pm and we didn't really plan anything except dinner on day 1 so we went to the aquarium. 

I did really enjoy it because I love animals and sealife but it wasn't really any different to any aquarium I'd been to before so go if you have time, but if you only have time to see Barcelona-exclusive sights then you won't miss too much

The aquarium was right next to the harbour which by the way, had so many mega yachts in it I can't even imagine who is rich enough to own them. When we left the aquarium and came back to the harbour, we heard music so we followed it to see what was happening.

It turns out there was a free jazz and food festival which was perfect! We had a few drinks there and listened to the live bands for a while before heading to dinner at a restaurant overlooking the harbour. I love dining al fresco - that's when you know you're on holiday.

It was a little disappointing though because I accidentally ended up eating Italian food when I wanted to try Spanish food but there was plenty of opportunity on the other days. 

As if our first day wasn't exciting enough, halfway through dinner there were fireworks in the distance - it was like something out of a rom-com I swear.

We later found out that it was a special holiday in Spain which is why they had a lot on. Our first day was a Monday so we were a bit like wow are the people of Barcelona this fun every Monday?

Day 2

The second day was reserved for sightseeing the main attractions so we got up and walked to La Sagrada Familia (with a pit stop for breakfast). The outside of La Sagrada Familia was so impressive, everywhere you look there is something different and there is just so much detail. Sadly we didn't get to go in as there weren't tickets available until the evening.

After that, we walked to Park Guell where all of the Gaudi houses are. I think it was 10 euros for entry but it was so worth it, the park was beautiful. There are lots of different ways you can go at the park and I feel like we probably missed some of it but you end up being quite high up after going up the stairs and you can see the whole of Barcelona from the top.

We could see the Sagrada Familia which looked so far away then we realised how much walking we'd actually done. I think by the end of day 2 we'd walked 6 and a half miles. Which is nothing compared to day 3 where we walked for 8 and a half.

After all the walking and sightseeing we went back to the hotel for another siesta, these were needed every day because of the amount of walking.

Then, we got ready for dinner and finally ate some Spanish food! We went to a tapas restaurant called Tosca which was round the corner from our hotel and I am telling you, this was one of the best meals of my life.

Joe and I ordered a lot of food, we are foodies and everything on the menu just sounded so nice that we had to try as much as we can.

We had a sharing platter of cheeses, meats and bread as the bulk of the meal. Then we ordered small plates of shell-on prawns, fried baby squid and a tiny plate of sirloin steak. Of course, this was accompanied by a jug (ok 3 jugs) of sangria.

This was my first proper tapas experience if you don't count the 3 for £10 small plates in Wetherspoons. 

Everything was top quality and not too expensive either. It wasn't majorly cheap but it was worth every penny.

Day 3

On the third day, we went to Camp Nou in the morning, the Barcelona football stadium. I know Joe wanted to go so I got us tickets for his birthday and he loved it. I enjoyed it too even though I'm not a massive football fan.

We got the metro there, and once we had spent the morning at Camp Nou, we got the metro back to the top of Las Ramblas, and walked to the bottom.

Las Ramblas is the main tourist street of Barcelona with lots of shops, food and tourist attractions on either side of the street. Just off Las Ramblas, there is a food market called Mercado de la Boqueria. Here, they had fresh ingredients to buy and cook with as well as food that was ready to eat. There were also tapas bars within the market but they were a little more expensive than the ones in less touristy areas.

Walking down Las Ramblas takes you to the beach which is something we hadn't done yet. We had been to the harbour but not the beach so we went there and had some sangria at a beach bar.

What I love most about Barcelona is that it's a city that has it all. A top-tier city break destination but it also has a beach so you have the best of both.

We went back to the hotel after that to get ready for the evening and we found a random restaurant down a side street not far from Las Ramblas with outdoor dining. Sadly, I can't remember what it's called but it was a lovely place to sit.

All across Barcelona they have al fresco dining and it's not difficult to find a restaurant that is going to have good food and good sangria.

We ended up walking 8 and a half miles on day three! I'd definitely say take some comfy walking shoes when visiting Barcelona. There is so much to see on foot.

Travelling home

Now it's disappointing that I have to write about this because we had the perfect trip apart from the travelling home.

Our flight back to Gatwick was at 10:50am so we got up nice and early to get to the airport for 8:30am so we had time for breakfast, and queues if there were any.

Once we'd gotten past security and passport control, we saw that our flight that was on the board previously, had been removed from the board.

I checked my Vueling app, as that's who we flew with and there was a notification saying "new flight time - 7pm." It was about 10am at this point so we were mortified when we realised we had to wait 9 hours, past passport control by the gates.

That flight was then delayed until 8pm and Joe and I couldn't sit together either because they'd squeezed us onto a flight that was full.

The reason for the delays was that air traffic control staff members were on strike so for this reason, Vueling refused to give us any compensation. I am still in the process of trying to get compensation so if anyone has any experience with this or knows their legal rights when flying, any advice would be great.

The flight over to Barcelona was fine, but if you are planning to fly with Vueling, take into account that there is a chance your flight may be cancelled with little to no warning at the last minute. It is an affordable airline but not necessarily the most reliable.

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Overall

Let's end on a positive note. I genuinely think Barcelona is my favourite place I have visited so far. There's genuinely nothing I would fault about it. If you have been considering going then book it!