Visit Barcelona Spain
Hospital Sant Pau, Dia Sant Jordi, Dia Sant Joan, Fiesta de la Merce
Sep 25, 2009
Visit Barcelona to see the work of famous architect Antonio Gaudi, but don't miss its less well-known attractions. Insider tips on where to go and what to see.
Most tourists visit Barcelona in summer, when the city is least appealing, and focus on seeing Gaudi’s famous Sagrada Familia and Parc Guell. But the city has many other attractions, and its real charms lie in quiet moments away from the heat and crowds.
Weather in Barcelona
- August is the month when the majority of the locals head for the mountains or the coast to escape the heat. It’s hot and sticky and the major tourist sites are packed, while some of the city’s most charming areas are almost devoid of life, with many shops and restaurants closed. July can be almost as bad, and just about any month outside the main summer holiday period is better.
- Barcelona has a similar annual rainfall to London, but almost all of it falls during a few days in April and September. These downpours tend to be short and heavy, with rain turning streets into rivers in a matter of hours and causing metro stations to close. But between showers it can be beautiful. Do as the locals do. Wear boots and carry a proper umbrella (not a three euro tourist souvenir one). It’s too warm to wear a coat, so duck into a bar if it starts to rain. It will be over soon.
- The best months are May and October – it’s not too crowded and it’s usually bright and warm without being too hot.
- Christmas in Barcelona can be nice too – with the main celebrations taking place on January 6th Christmas day itself is a relaxed affair with families eating out at restaurants. It’s often plenty warm enough to sit outside, and visiting at this time provides an insight into some curious Catalan traditions.
Hospital Sant Pau, Fiestas Sant Jordi, Sant Joan & Merce
- Fiestas and traditional celebrations. Every district has its own ‘festa major’ and there is always something happening. Look out for flags and bunting and temporary bars and stages being set up in the streets, or follow the sound of the drums to find the celebrations. Major citywide events worth coinciding with are the ‘festa de la Merce’ in September, Dia de Sant Joan (Saint John) on June 24th, and Dia de Sant Jordi (Saint George) on April 23rd.
- Hospital Sant Pau. Gaudi’s Sagrada Familia is on everyone’s ‘must see’ list, but don’t miss the nearby and much less visited Hospital Sant Pau by Gaudi’s fellow modernista architect, Domenech i Montaner, a fantastically whimsical modernista building of pavilions and ceramic tiled turrets. It’s still a working hospital, but visitors can wander through the grounds and occasionally meet a patient trailing a drip stand. Surreal and beautiful, and a coffee on the pedestrianized Avinguda Gaudi, with both the Sagrada Familia and Hospital Sant Pau in view completes the experience.
- Parc Guell is a big tourist attraction and Gaudi’s toy-town houses are worth seeing, but the park itself tends to be hot and crowded. To chill out on a shady bench and enjoy a picnic among trees, flowering shrubs and great drifts of lavender, rosemary and sage, head for the nearby Jardins Turo de Putget. It’s used by local residents to walk their dogs and play with their children, but tourists are rarely seen there and on weekdays in summer it’s possible to while away an hour or two without seeing a single soul.
- There are some good restaurants and bars along Barcelona’s seafront promenade and around the marina, but the beach is a crowded and dirty strip of gritty sand and the water is far from clean. Trains along the coast to the north are regular, quick and cheap. You’ll find a big, relatively clean and far less crowded beach at El Masnou (25 mins from Placa Cataluna) and a charming village with a smaller, somewhat rocky but clean beach at Vilassar de Mar (35mins).
Getting Around Barcelona
- Don’t hire a car! Barcelona is a densely populated but quite small city and the public transport is cheap and efficient. Parking is difficult and expensive.
- Buy a T10 ticket for the metro. This covers ten journeys to be taken at any time and can be used by two or more people on the same journey, so long as each of them passes it through the turnstile.
- For trips out of town check out the FGC and Rodalies trains – they connect with the metro and the T10 ticket can be used for shorter journeys within zone 1.
- Don’t discount walking – Barcelona is a pleasant city to wander and get lost in, and you will see a lot more, including architectural gems not mentioned in any tourist guide.
- Buy a good map - the Insight one is laminated for long life and includes a map of the metro and local train services.
Don't forget that all important pre-trip research! Check out the local government site to see what's on. It's in Catalan, but the key information is easy to find!
The copyright of the article Visit Barcelona Spain in Spain Travel is owned by Ruth Arundell. Permission to republish Visit Barcelona Spain in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
 |
