ÀÏ°ÄÃÅÁùºÏ²Ê¿ª½±¼Ç¼

Must-see attractions in Catalonia

  • Buildings surrounding Plaça del Rei

    Plaça del Rei

    La Rambla & Barri Gòtic

    The courtyard of the Gothic former Palau Reial Major, this picturesque, almost entirely walled-in square is where the Reyes Católicos (Catholic Monarchs)…

  • Barcelona, Spain - March 10, 2022 - Palau del Baró de Quadras is a 1906 modernist palace by architect Josep Puig, featuring ornate Gothic Arabesque-inspired details.

    Palau Baró de Quadras

    L'Eixample

    Puig i Cadafalch redesigned this 1882 residential building in exuberant Gothic-inspired style, with two distinct facades, between 1902 and 1906. The main…

  • Monastery, romanesque style, Monestir Sant Pere de Galligants, Girona, Catalonia, Spain.

    Monestir de Sant Pere de Galligants

    Girona

    This beautiful 11th- and 12th-century Romanesque Benedectine monastery has a sublime bell tower and a splendid cloister featuring otherworldly animals and…

  •  Mosaïc de Miró on La Rambla

    Mosaïc de Miró

    La Rambla & Barri Gòtic

    At Plaça de la Boqueria, where four side streets meet just north of Liceu metro station, you can walk all over a colourful 1976 pavement mosaic, with one…

  • Roman amphitheatre in Tarragona, Catalonia, Spain.

    Amfiteatre Romà

    Tarragona

    Near the beach is Tarragona's well-preserved amphitheatre, dating from the 2nd century CE, where gladiators hacked away at each other or wild animals. In…

  • View of Via Sepulcral Romana from above

    Via Sepulcral Romana

    La Rambla & Barri Gòtic

    A block east of the top end of La Rambla is a sunken garden where a series of Roman tombs from the 1st to 3rd century AD were uncovered in the 1940s,…

  • Casa de les Punxes

    Casa de les Punxes

    L'Eixample

    Puig i Cadafalch’s 1905 Casa Terrades is known as the Casa de les Punxes (House of Spikes) because of its pointed tile-adorned turrets. Resembling a…

  • Portrait of Mirador de Colom

    Mirador de Colom

    Barcelona

    High above the swirl of traffic navigating the roundabout at the southern end of La Rambla, Christopher Columbus keeps permanent watch, pointing vaguely…

  • Plaça de Sant Jaume with the Palau de la Generalitat in the background

    Plaça de Sant Jaume

    La Rambla & Barri Gòtic

    In the 2000 or so years since the Romans settled here, the area around this often-remodelled square, which started life as the forum, has been the focus…

  • Close up of beginning of Rambla de Mar

    Moll d'Espanya

    Barcelona

    The heart of the redeveloped harbour is Moll d'Espanya, a former wharf linked to Moll de la Fusta by a wave-shaped footbridge, Rambla de Mar, which…

  • People visit the local market hall Mercat de Sant Antoni in Barcelona, Spain. @Tupungato/iStock

    Mercat de Sant Antoni

    Barcelona

    Just beyond the western edge of El Raval, this glorious iron-and-brick market was originally completed in 1882, but reopened in 2018 with 250 stalls…

  • Font de Canaletes on La Rambla

    Font de Canaletes

    La Rambla & Barri Gòtic

    The section of La Rambla immediately south of Plaça de Catalunya is named after this inconspicuous turn-of-the-20th-century drinking fountain and lamppost…

  • View over Parc d’Atraccions

    Parc d’Atraccions Tibidabo

    Barcelona

    The reason most barcelonins travel up to Tibidabo's summit is for some thrills at this old-school funfair. Here you'll find whirling high-speed rides and…

  • Plaça Reial, Barri Gòtic, Gothic Quarter, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain.

    Plaça Reial

    La Rambla & Barri Gòtic

    One of the most photogenic squares in Barcelona, and certainly its liveliest. Numerous restaurants, bars and nightspots lie beneath the arcades of 19th…

  • View of Eduardo Chillada's sculpture in Parc de la Creueta del Coll

    Parc de la Creueta del Coll

    Barcelona

    A favourite with families, this refreshing palm-studded park centres on a meandering summer lake-pool for splashing in, and has swings, showers and a…

  • Inside El Call

    El Call

    La Rambla & Barri Gòtic

    Once a 14th-century house of the Jewish weaver Jucef Bonhiac, this small visitor centre is dedicated to the history of Barcelona’s Jewish quarter, El Call…

  • Església de la Mercè and square

    Basilica de la Mercè

    La Rambla & Barri Gòtic

    Raised in the 1760s on the site of its Gothic predecessor, following designs by architect José Mas Dordal, this baroque church is home to Barcelona’s most…

  • Inside Parc del Centre del Poblenou

    Parc del Centre del Poblenou

    Barcelona

    Barcelona is sprinkled with parks whose principal element is concrete, and this 5-hectare creation by French architect Jean Nouvel, with its statuary and…

  • Outisde of Pavellons Güell from far

    Pavellons Güell

    Barcelona

    Created by Gaudí for the Finca Güell, as the Güell estate attached to today's Palau de Pedralbes was then called, these stables and porter’s lodge were…

  • Facade of Museu del Modernisme Barcelona

    Museu del Modernisme Barcelona

    L'Eixample

    Housed in a stuccoed, red-washed 1902 Modernista building by Enric Sagnier, this museum seems like a big Modernista-furniture showroom. Several pieces by…

  • Palau Moja facade.

    Palau Moja

    La Rambla & Barri Gòtic

    After extensive renovation, Palau Moja – a neoclassical building dating from the second half of the 18th century, which previously housed the Generalitat…

  • Facade of Instit d'Estudis Catalans

    Institut d’Estudis Catalans

    El Raval

    The Institute for Catalan Studies sits in the 17th-century Casa de Convalescència, once part of the Antic Hospital de la Santa Creu. The building,…

  • Inside the Museu del Perfum

    Museu del Perfum

    L'Eixample

    At the back of the Barcelona-founded Regia perfume shop, this museum tells the story of the scent world through the ages, with 5000 bottles of infinite…

  • Barceloneta Beach with Frank Gehry's Peix d'Or (Whale Sculpture) on the beach of Barceloneta in Barcelona, Spain.

    Port Olímpic

    Barcelona

    A busy marina built for the Olympic sailing events, the Port Olímpic is surrounded by bars and restaurants. An eye-catcher on the approach from…

  • Full view of Museu Blau

    Museu Blau

    Barcelona

    Set inside the futuristic Edifici Fòrum, whose angular facades look like sheer cliff faces (with grand strips of mirror creating fragmented reflections of…

  • Facade of Palau Montaner

    Palau Montaner

    L'Eixample

    Though fascinating on the outside and made all the more enticing by its leafy gardens, this 1893 creation by Domènech i Montaner is especially spectacular…

  • Facade of the Museu Diocesà/Gaudí Exhibition Center

    Gaudí Exhibition Center/Museu Diocesà

    La Rambla & Barri Gòtic

    Next to La Catedral, the Diocesan Museum hosts insightful exhibits on Gaudí including fascinating documentaries on his life and philosophy and the…

  • Torre de Collserola.

    Torre de Collserola

    Barcelona

    Sir Norman Foster designed the 288m-high, 1992-completed Torre de Collserola telecommunications tower on the slopes of Tibidabo. An external glass lift…

  • Exterior of the Sala Fundación MAPFRE

    Sala Fundación MAPFRE

    L'Eixample

    Originally built for a rich banking family by Enric Sagnier in 1902–05, the stunning, carefully restored Modernista Casa Garriga i Nogués has been taken…

  • Rambla de Raval

    Rambla del Raval

    El Raval

    This broad boulevard was laid out in 2000 as part of the city's plan to open up this formerly sleazy neighbourhood, with some success. Now lined with palm…

  • Casa Golferichs Cultural Centre.

    Casa Golferichs

    L'Eixample

    Designed by Joan Rubió i Bellver for businessman Macari Golferichs, this quirky 1901 Modernista villa is an oddity of another era on one of the city’s…

  • Casa-Museu Gaudí through the trees

    Casa-Museu Gaudí

    Barcelona

    On the eastern side of the Park Güell, this spired dusty-pink house is where Gaudí lived from 1906 until his death in 1926. Furniture and ironwork he…

  • Fabra observatory overlooking city, Barcelona, Spain

    Observatori Fabra

    Barcelona

    Inaugurated in 1904, this Modernista observatory 415m above sea level on Tibidabo is still a functioning scientific foundation. On certain evenings…

  • View of Parc de Joan Miró

    Parc de Joan Miró

    Barcelona

    This palm-filled park is worth a look for its massive phallic 1980s Miró sculpture, Dona i Ocell (Woman and Bird), whose red, yellow, blue and green tiles…

  • Exterior of Església de Sant Joan

    Església de Sant Joan

    Barcelona

    Construction on this striking church began in 1878 and was completed in 1884. It was designed by Francesc Berenguer i Mestres, Gaudí's protégé, but it's…

  • Casa Serra (Building with spires) in centre of Barcelona, Catalunia, Spain.

    Casa Serra

    L'Eixample

    Puig i Cadafalch let his imagination loose on the Casa Serra (1903–08), a neo-Gothic whimsy today home to government offices. With its central tower…

  • Outisde the gates of Ceminitir del Poblenou

    Cementiri del Poblenou

    Barcelona

    Just inland from Platja de Bogatell, Poblenou's cemetery dates from 1773. It was positioned outside the then city limits for health reasons; its central…