3 Days in Barcelona: A Perfectly Fun-Filled Barcelona Itinerary

Barcelona is truly one of our favourite cities in
Europe. It is filled with beautiful architecture, compelling history and fun
things to see and do. While we would have loved to stay longer, 3 days in
Barcelona is a really nice amount of time to enjoy the city. Our 3 day
Barcelona itinerary allowed us to explore the amazing architecture of Gaudi, experience
the local history as told by its churches and monuments, and, super important
if you’re looking for things to do in Barcelona with kids, have fun at Barceloneta
Beach.  

We started our incredible 2 week family holidays in Spain with 3 days in Barcelona before heading to Andalusia and then Madrid. Visiting the Catalan capital was a wonderful introduction to this incredible country. If you have longer than 3 days in Barcelona, definitely explore other parts of Catalonia such as Sant Carles de la Rapita. You can either do a daytrip from Barcelona or stay in the area for a few days.

Our Recommended 3 Days in Barcelona Itinerary

Day 1 of 3 Days in Barcelona ~ Arrival Day

Whether you have 3 days in Barcelona or more, on
arrival at Barcelona Airport, you’ll first be faced with getting to your hotel
and checking in. Once done, you can truly start your vacation and explore this
amazing city!

Transport from Barcelona Airport

If you’re staying near Plaça de Catalunya, Las Ramblas or the Gothic Quarter, we recommend taking the Aerobus from Barcelona Airport into the city. The Aerobus travels from the airport to Plaça de Catalunya and it was an incredibly easy experience after a long haul transatlantic flight. Our hotel was located right in Plaça de Catalunya so we simply had to cross the square.

Plaça de Catalunya is at the top of Las Ramblas so if your hotel is near this famous street or in the Gothic Quarter, it’s an easy and inexpensive way into the tourist district of Barcelona.

Where to Stay in Barcelona

As a family of five, we looked long and hard to find the perfect place to stay. There are so many great areas to stay in Barcelona. We couldn’t have been happier with our apartment in the hotel, H10 Catalunya Plaza. It was a perfect choice for our 3 days in Barcelona.

This amazing duplex apartment had plenty of room for five. Along with the master suite, it had a small extra room off the master with single bed and two single beds in the upper mezzanine/attic area. As for the rest of the apartment, there is a lovely sitting area with large bow window overlooking Plaça de Catalunya and a kitchen adorned with incredible hand painted tiles. Be sure to check out our upcoming Barcelona family accommodation post for more details! It was the perfect place to spend 3 days in Barcelona. 

Now that you’ve checked in, it’s time to start working
your way through our 3 day Barcelona itinerary and check out a few sights! We
arrived just at lunchtime due to a delay in departure from Toronto so we had a
good 6 hours to explore before we crashed for the evening. But there is a lot
you can experience in six hours! It’s the perfect amount of time to explore a
bit of Las Ramblas and the Gothic Quarter.

Las Ramblas

Las Ramblas is a long, bustling boulevard that runs
from Placa Catalunya to the Mirador de Colom (Columbus Monument) that sits near
Barceloneta beach. While there is single lane traffic on each side, the center
walkway is so wide that the street truly feels like it is a pedestrian passage.
It divides the centre of Barcelona with Barri Gòtic on one side and Raval on
the other.

We were amazed by all the flower stalls, souvenir stands and street performers, including living statues, that were disbursed along Las Ramblas. It was easy to spend time wandering Las Ramblas but the northern area closer to Plaça de Catalunya was more interesting than the southern part of the boulevard. Whether you’re looking for things to do in Barcelona with kids, or without, Las Ramblas has to make it on your list. In fact, whether you have 3 days in Barcelona or just one, I fully expect you’ll visit Las Ramblas more than once!

While wandering, make sure to stop at the Canaletes
fountain for a drink. Legend has it that having a drink from the fountain will
ensure your return to Barcelona!

Located on Las Ramblas is La Boqueria Market, our
first stop in Barcelona.

Note: There are many restaurants on Las Ramblas but it would be best if you choose a restaurant elsewhere due to the number of tourists and increased menu prices in this busy area.

La Boqueria Market

La Boqueria Market is huge! It’s no surprise it’s one of Europe’s largest food markets. It has been around since 1836 and hosts over 200 sellers every day! Even if you only have 24 hours in Barcelona, you should stop by for a quick visit.

We had never experienced a market such as this before so the kids were in awe and wanted to buy a sample of everything. We had plans to explore all afternoon so we scoped out the stalls and returned later to purchase a few items for dinner back at the apartment and breakfast the following morning.

We thoroughly enjoyed the iberico ham, Spanish cheeses and fresh fruit but the experience itself was worth its weight in gold. You have to stop in here, if only to explore.

Explore the tiny streets and squares en route to the Barcelona Cathedral

Make sure to wander the small streets and shops between Las Ramblas and Barcelona Cathedral. We enjoyed wandering Carrer de la Portaferrissa and Carrer de Petritxol towards Placa del Pi and Placa de Sant Josep Oriol. We were lucky to find art and craft markets taking place at each of the squares in the summer. If you’re in the mood for a sweet, stop at one of the nougat or chocolate shops along the way.

As you wander the Gothic Quarter, look for the relief of St. George slaying the dragon.

St. George is the patron saint of Barcelona. It is said that he saved the princess by slaying the dragon while riding a white horse. Where the dragon’s blood flowed, red roses sprung up. St. George then plucked a beautiful red rose and presented it to the princess. The city celebrates its patron saint on April 23rd with a day devoted to roses and books.

Barcelona Cathedral

The Barcelona Cathedral is located in Barcelona’s
Gothic Quarter. It is stunningly beautiful both inside and out. As you arrive,
have a look for the Barcelona sign. It is truly unique and different from the
many more modern city signs around the world.

Enter the cathedral via its main portal on Placa de la
Seu and take your time to explore. The cathedral, in one form or another, has
been on this spot for over 2000 years. The Roman Temple of Jupiter was once
here.

Make sure to explore the outside cloister filled with orange, palm and magnolia trees.

If you’re visiting with kids, they’ll love the fish pond and watching the geese who call the cloister home.

These resident geese have been here for over 500 years. There are always 13 geese which are in memory of St. Eulalia, the patron saint of Barcelona. She was martyred with 13 tortures at the age of 13 by the romans for her faith.

Sardana, traditional national dance of Catalunya.

Franco was dictator of Spain for over 30 years, until
1975. During this time, his dislike of Catalans was evident and he tried his
best to quash their culture. Franco banned the use of the Catalan language and
all Catalan traditions, including the Sardana.

The Sardana has come to represent Catalan national
unity. There is still a large population of Catalans that feel Catalunya should
separate from the rest of Spain.

This incredible dance is circular. Each person holds
hands and performs meticulous steps. When one circle becomes too large, another
forms. It’s very spontaneous with Catalans of all ages joining in.  We watched for almost an hour. Our children
were fascinated by the movements and music.

Day 2 of 3 Days in Barcelona

On your first full day in Barcelona we highly
recommend that you check out some of Gaudi’s incredible creations. While you
may expect that architecture isn’t something that kids will enjoy, exploring
the architecture of Gaudi is absolutely high on our list of the best things to
do in Barcelona with kids. His works are whimsical, colourful and simply
incredible. Gaudi’s architecture is unique to Barcelona and you absolutely can’t
leave without experiencing his work.

With only 3 days in Barcelona, we decided to spend our first full day in Barcelona with Robb from Robbcn Tours. He is truly one of the best guides we’ve ever had. He was fantastic with the kids and has a great understanding of Barcelona’s history and architecture. There are many great reasons to hire a private guide but you can always explore on your own if you’d prefer.

Sagrada Familia

For us, the one ‘must-see’ Gaudi building is the
unforgettable Sagrada Familia. We’ve visited many, many churches and cathedrals
in Europe but the Basilica of Sagrada Familia is, by far, our favourite and makes Barcelona one of the best places to visit in Spain. It is incredible unique and truly nothing we’ve ever experienced before. Gaudi’s incredible vision filled with incredible carvings of nature is a one of a kind experience.

            The History

The Sagrada Familia is the most important work of
Antoni Gaudi’s life. Although Gaudi worked on the building for 40 years,
(starting in 1883) it was not complete at the time of his accidental death. In
fact, it still is not finished today but workers use a scale model created by
Gaudi to complete his vision. It is expected that the Basilica will be finally
completed in 2026.

In 1984, almost 60 years after his death, several of
his architectural works were named UNESCO world heritage sights. In 2005, Casa Batlló
and the Nativity Façade of the Sagrada Familia were also named to the list. In
2010, despite still being unfinished, Pope Benedict XVI consecrated the Sagrada
Familia and gave it status of a Minor Basilica.

            The Experience

Both adults and children alike will love the Sagrada
Familia. As mentioned, we’ve visited many cathedrals during our travels but our
kids have always remembered this architectural wonder.

As you arrive at the Sagrada Familia you’ll be in awe
of the incredible size and intricacy of its exterior. From the Passion Façade (depicting
the death of Christ) to the Nativity Façade (depicting Christ’s birth), each
corner and peak of the exterior is breathtaking.

From the time you arrive, you’ll see nature at its best. Turtles and animals abound in the carvings both outside and inside the Basilica.

As you enter the interior, you’ll notice how bright and beautiful it is with colours streaming through the amazing stained glass windows. The interior is truly reminiscent of an incredible forest.

If you have time, be sure to climb the tower. It gives a great opportunity to see the wonderful details of the other towers.

Note: Make sure to look for the magical cryptogram which can be found both inside and outside the Sagrada Familia. This is a 4×4 square of numbers which, in any direction, adds up to the age of Christ at the time of his crucifixion, age 33.

            Admission Details

If you aren’t visiting with a guide, you can purchase
a ticket that includes a self-guided audio tour or an official guided tour at
the basilica. As we were with a guide, we simply purchased the basic admission
ticket. To see all the options available, check out the official
website for the Sagrada Familia.

We absolutely recommend purchasing your tickets in
advance. Tickets can be purchased up to 60 days in advance and they’re sold in
specified time slots. The wait to purchase tickets can be incredibly long,
especially in the summer months. While there will still be crowds, if you
already have your tickets it will allow you to skip-the-line and simply enter
the church on arrival (at your scheduled time).

Park Guell

After exploring the Sagrada Familia, it’s great to
stretch your legs a bit. Hop in a bus or taxi to Park Guell, another of Gaudi’s
amazing creations. You could also walk in just 30 minutes if you’re up for it
but the park is quite large so save some energy for exploring.

Note: If you have more than 3 days in
Barcelona, it would be a great idea to start one of your additional days with a
visit to Park Guell. The park can get very busy as the day goes on so if you’re
looking for fantastic photos without many people, you can’t beat an early
morning visit.

When Park Guell was built by Gaudi in the early 1900s,
it was to be a residential area. Sixty homes were built but they weren’t
purchased. As a result, after a few years, it was turned into a public park.

Park Guell is divided into two parts but most visitors
will want to visit the Monumental Zone. This is where visitors will find
Gaudi’s artwork and buildings. The fee for the Monumental Zone ranges from 7 to
10 euros and is absolutely worth it. The remaining area of park Guell is free
to enter.

We had great fun exploring the park. The colours are
beautiful and the structures are so whimsical … true Gaudi!! I can’t imagine
why people didn’t want to purchase a home here! Wouldn’t it be a wonderful
place to live!?!

The Houses of Gaudi: Casa Mila & Casa Batlló

We recommend finishing day 2 of 3 days in Barcelona
with the incredible houses of Gaudi located on Passeig de Gràcia to visit Casa
Milà and Casa Batlló.  These are not your
ordinary houses!

Note: If you’re hungry, consider stopping
for lunch before visiting these amazing houses. We really enjoyed Cachitos,
near Casa Batlló. Our wonderful guide recommended that we stop here for lunch
and it was fantastic. Such a wonderful introduction to the world of tapas! (more
details below)

Casa Mila

Casa Milà, also known as La Pedrera, is located at Passeig
de Gràcia, 92 and is only a two-minute walk from Diagonal Metro station.

La Pedrera was the last architectural project that
Gaudi took on prior to working on the Sagrada Familia. Like the Sagrada
Familia, it was inspired by Gaudi’s love of nature. It is whimsical, colourful
and simply astounding. Even your kids will absolutely love exploring this Gaudi
masterpiece so we’ve added it to our list of the best things to do in Barcelona
with kids.

Built from scratch for the Milà family, the six years
of construction was not without controversy. Gaudi seems to have had a problem
with following the building rules of the day making the roof too high and the
building impeding onto Passeig de Gràcia. He over ran on costs and was even
taken to court by the Milà family. The family lost their case and had to
mortgage Casa Milà to pay Gaudi’s fees, which he ultimately donated to charity.

As you explore Casa Milà, make sure to notice the Whale Attic, created as if inside the rib cage of a great whale, and to explore the Warrior Rooftop, incredible chimneys created like the heads of knights. Our kids just loved getting up close and personal with these ‘warriors’. But before heading to the rooftop, make sure to spend some time in the incredible interior throughout this architectural wonder.

Casa Milà opens most days at 9am but closing time
depends on the time of year. There is also a two-hour night tour available most
evenings. Along with the night tour, there are several other ticket options
available (including the Premium slip the line non-timed entry) so be sure to
check the official website
of Casa Milà for details.

I purchased an amazing book on Gaudi in the gift shop so
if you’re looking for a Gaudi related souvenir, be sure to drop in.

Casa Batlló

Casa Batlló is located at Passeig de Gràcia, 43, next
to Passeig de Gràcia Metro station. It is only a five-minute flat walk from Casa
Milà so it’s easy to visit both houses, one after the other. We ran out of time
and didn’t get to visit the interior but hopefully that won’t happen to you!

Note: We didn’t go inside but the kids
were fascinated by the exterior of Casa Batllo. So much so that we didn’t
realized Sydney stayed behind to take more photos until we were several blocks
away without her!! Yes, we lost our then 10 year old in Barcelona! After much
panic, we discovered that she did indeed follow our earlier instructions to never
wander and always stay where you are if separated. Phew!

Casa Batlló was owned by the Batlló family until the
1950s. In the early 1900s, Gaudi was given full artistic freedom to demolish
the pre-existing building and recreate Casa Batlló. He decided to not demolish
the original and instead, spent the next three years reinventing it. In doing
so, he completely changed the façade and reconstructed the interior in his own
magical way. If you look closely, you can see the marine inspiration which
includes the incredible roof, layered with scales, representing the back of an
animal, said by some to be a dragon.  The
incredible building is privately owned but has been restored and opened to the
public by the family.

Casa Batlló is open 365 days a year from 9am to 9pm.
It is recommended to purchase tickets online to minimize wait times and to
guarantee entry. It’s also less expensive!

Day 3 of 3 days in Barcelona

With only 3 days in Barcelona, our third day was a mixture of incredible historic sights and relaxation. If you have a longer time in Barcelona, you may want to intersperse these sights in among your other days but we quite enjoyed having one day with a little taste of everything that makes vacations so enjoyable.

Souvenirs of Barcelona

My favourite souvenir from Barcelona is the book about Gaudi that I purchased at Casa Mila. If you are seeking traditional souvenirs, we recommend wandering the Barri Gòtic and Las Ramblas early in the morning before the areas become too busy. We headed to the Gothic Quarter in search of souvenirs unique to Barcelona, including a Catalonian flag for each of the kids. They collect a flag from each country we visit and we couldn’t head home without the Catalan flag.

The next time we visit, Catalonia may well be its own country!

Roman Ruins

As we explored the Gothic quarter once again, we came across the Roman walls and the Temple of Augustus.

One of these days I’m going to do a post just about the Roman ruins we’ve explored throughout Europe. Having seen them in Budapest, Spain and Portugal as well as Italy, it never ceases to amaze me how far the Romans traveled and the influence they had throughout Europe.

Parc de la Ciutadella

If you have time and are looking for a great place to
relax, head to Parc de la Ciutadella (Citadel Park) and visit the Font de la
Cascada. The park is huge!

Mirador de Colom

In the afternoon, we recommend heading towards the bottom
of Las Ramblas where you’ll find the Mirador de Colom. Our kids were fascinated
by stories of Christopher Columbus we read prior to leaving home and his link
to Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand so they really enjoyed exploring the
monument.

The mirador de Colum was built for the 1888 Expo and
has the famous explorer pointing to the new world. You’ll find a small elevator
inside that will bring you to a wonderful lookout, just below Columbus’ feet!
The monument is open daily and the price to enter is minimal so we highly
recommend a visit while in Barcelona. The views are absolutely stunning!

Barcelona Bubble Park

The Barcelona Bubbleparc was so much fun! Located
at the port, the kids had a great time bungy jumping on trampolines and
floating on bubble pods. If travelling as a family, this is definitely a great
thing to do in Barcelona with kids that you really need to check out.

Barceloneta Beach

If you are travelling to Barcelona with kids, we highly recommend visiting Barceloneta beach.

It was our first experience setting foot in the Mediterranean Sea and the experience wasn’t lost on any of us. It was an incredible way to relax and experience Barcelona as the locals do in summer.

The beach was much larger than we expected and it was quite easy to find a place to set up and watch the kids frolic in the sea. This definitely makes it on our list of the top things to do with kids in Barcelona but it’s also a great experience if you’re travelling solo or without kids.

In Conclusion ….

Our stay in Barcelona was short but we had an amazing time. The city is one of our favourites and we definitely plan to return. Next time we’ll be sure to check out some of the more unusual activities that Barcelona has to offer! We said goodbye to Barcelona in the early morning on day 4 of our visit to Spain as we took a Vueling flight to continue our vacation in Andalucia. Our 3 day visit to Seville was waiting!! And then 2 days in Granada, 3 days along the Costa del Sol, and 4 days in Madrid!

Our Favourite Restaurants during our 3 days in Barcelona Itinerary

4Gats, Carrer de Montsio, 3

An old haunt of Picasso, this wonderful little café is located just five minutes from Plaça de Catalunya and the top of Las Ramblas. It has a wonderful selection of breakfast and lunch items. We all shared ham croquettes and a cheese platter which was delicious.

Granja M. Viader, Carrer Xucla 4

This wonderful café is famous for a reason! It truly
has the best churros and chocolate that we had in all of Spain. We paired them with
ham and cheese sandwiches, café con leche and wonderful Basque pastries for a
sweet and delicious breakfast that we all loved.

Cachitos Rambla de Catalunya, 33

Our guide in Barcelona brought us to this wonderful little outdoor restaurant near Casa Batlló for lunch. It was our first introduction to tapas and while we had no idea what we were ordering at the time, the food was absolutely delicious. We enjoyed iberico ham, beef with gravy, patatas bravas, octopus and bread with tomato rubbing.

Note: We finally got a hang of ordering tapas in Seville where we took a tapas tour!

7 Portes, Passeig Isabel II

We booked 7 Portes when still at home and, at the time,
I didn’t realize that paella is truly an Andalusian dish. While I did enjoy the
paella in Costa del Sol more, we thoroughly enjoyed it at 7 Portes as well. If
you’re in Barcelona and looking for paella, this is definitely the place to go!
And don’t forget to try the crème Catalana. So good!!

Cafe de l’Academia, Placa St. Just, Lledo 1.

This was a wonderful little restaurant for our last
night in Barcelona. Tucked away in a small square in the Gothic Quarter, Café de
l’Academia provided delicious food. Between the five of us we tried the lamb,
steak, hamburgers with cheese and duck pate, stuffed salmon and squid. We all
loved our meals and incredibly, the final bill was only 140 euros!!

Want to keep track of our 3 Days in Barcelona Itinerary post for future travels? Pin It!!