Experience 48 hours of cuisine, culture and history with trips to La Sagrada Familia and Park Guell in Barcelona
IT’S not every day I wash down a breakfast bacon sarnie with pink cava.
But this is Barcelona and Can Paixano, a humble but well-loved cava bar. Serving fizz and food from 9am, it is a city institution.
While Barcelona is fixated on redefining the future, the atmosphere here, like the decor and the menu, is profoundly traditional.
Barcelona’s Gothic Quarter has long been the city’s beating heart.
La Catedral has soared over the city since its completion in 1460, preceded by the Basílica de Santa Maria del Mar since 1383.
The cathedrals sit amid winding backstreets, sun-kissed squares and bustling markets.
But it is the work of modernist architect Antoni Gaudi that attracts a huge number of the Catalan capital’s 32million visitors each year.
His work ripples across the city and I book a spot on a free walking tour for a whirlwind history lesson courtesy of Runner Bean Tours’ local guides.
The three-hour circuit starts with Gaudi’s first professional piece, a lamp post in the Plaça Reial.
From there we embark on a journey through mesmerising masterpieces including Casa Batlló, La Pedrera and his most famous work, the cathedral La Sagrada Familia.
Later, I hop on the city’s wide-reaching Metro — where ten single tickets cost £8.77 — and make my way up to another of Gaudi’s best-loved creations, the Park Güell.
The public hilltop gardens blend the artificial with the natural, with the architect crafting a winding mosaic bench, bonkers gatehouses more at home in a Dr Seuss book and a forest of 86 Doric columns.
Like many things here, what was once free is now ticketed.
But luckily I was given the lowdown by my guide Raquel, who told me to head to the park in the evening, when it is free.
I just happen to be right on time to watch the sunset.
As the sun sinks, the city wakes up — and starts to earn its reputation as a party town.
First, I refuel on tapas at another authentic eatery, La Cova Fumada, nestled in a quiet square back in La Barceloneta, where ageing locals still flock to play boules.
With a belly full of squid and prawns, I waddle off into the night.
If one place captures Barcelona’s enduring cool, it is El Born.
This tangle of streets surrounding the Basílica de Santa Maria del Mar is where the locals go for a night out. I head to the brilliant gin and cocktail bar Dux.
Three nightcaps down, and with a plan of action for the rest of my two-day stay scribbled on a napkin, I stroll back to my wonderfully comfortable aparthotel Casa Bella Gracia, a stone’s throw from the Passeig de Gracia in L’Eixample.
Next morning, I visit the Mercat de la Boqueria to grab the makings of a mighty picnic, before heading to the must-see Museu Nacional d’Art de Catalunya.
Adult tickets cost £11 but entrance is free after 3pm on Saturdays and some Sundays. There are works here by Salvador Dali and Pablo Picasso and the sheer breadth of the collection is astonishing.
Go: Barcelona
GETTING THERE: Jet2 flies direct from Glasgow, Leeds Bradford and Manchester, from £25 one way.
STAYING THERE: The Casa Bella Gracia is from £67.50pppn based on two sharing. Call +349 3667 7841.
For a closer look at Picasso’s brilliance, I make the short trip to his very own museum.
The Museu Picasso (£10 for adults but free on Sundays) is a world-class gallery bursting with fascinating early pieces by the artist as he developed his Cubist style that would change the art world. For 21st Century art gurus, there is no better treat than the street art of Poblenou, a former industrial district that is now a vibrant centre of spray-paint, creativity and free-thinking.
As the sun sinks, the city wakes
Dean Wilkins
It is continually changing and the quality, quantity and sheer size of the images make it worth a visit.
Usually banished to dark corners of subways, back alleys and bus seats, graffiti has found its place in Barcelona. It is not a normal sight on every tourist’s hit list but Barcelona doesn’t do things by the book.
And fondly remembering my breakfast of bacon butties and pink fizz, nor did I.
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