Not sure how many days you’ll need to get enough of Barcelona? How many days should you book? Is one day in Barcelona enough? Maybe a weekend is ideal?
It’s natural that everyone has their own pace and we can’t provide you with a one-fits-all solution. Some prefer to run through the city hastily, see everything they need to see in a day and rush back home. Others prefer to take it in baby steps, or maybe skip the whole best-of hassle altogether and simply go hiking in an area for a week. Barcelona is quite vast, but you don’t need to see everything tourists usually see, so we have to look at your needs here. Before we get to a recommended plan, a few tips:
- If you’re in a hurry, we recommend using public transport, even though you are missing out on the charm of walking through Barcelona
- Make reservations in advance for the places you wish to see to avoid queues
- We also recommend planning the time and place for lunches so you don’t need to chaotically search for something and waste time this way
One day in Barcelona
Can you squeeze out enough in one day in Barcelona?
One day is really hard. I mean, if you wish to see the typical tourist route, you are really going to have to rush through it. In order to make a circle walk around the most important attractions of Barcelona, ergo:
- Sagrada Familia,
- Barri Gotic quarter,
- Palau de la Música Catalana,
- Cama Amattler,
- Casa Mila,
- Placa Catalunya,
- La Rambla,
- Casa Batlló,
- Mercat de la Boqueria,
…you need around two hours. If you add Park Güell, that’s another hour or so.
And no, we’re not talking about entering them here. This is just the actual walk between attractions, no entering, no stops, no breaks. And it would be preferable to actually visit some of these attractions as well, so you have to add additional duration for everything you visit, like the near must-see Sagrada Familia or delicious tapas in the Barri Gòtic quarter.
It’s tough and we would generally say if you have to rush this much to see what you want to see, perhaps it’s better to wait for a time with a bit more time on your hands. Still, you can physically do this route and ‘see’ most of these hallmarks if you really want to.
Two days in Barcelona
Are two days satisfying enough in Barcelona?
At the very least this one extra day in Barcelona is a great idea, as you can easily add more attractions that you can actually enter this way and not just pass by. And you’ll need it, as an ordinary visit to Sagrada Familia takes between 90 to 120 minutes; Park Güell is an extra two hours if you actually take the time there. You can also visit the beach in Barcelona, such as Barceloneta, to relax at the end of the day – there will also be plenty of parties in the nearby clubs if you’re staying over, as the nightlife in Barcelona is quite rich. If you’re into that sort of thing.
Three days in Barcelona
A full weekend in Barcelona
Okay, so how about a full weekend in Barcelona? This is a lot better. You can even take a moment to just have a walk to the nearby hills. We recommend walking or driving up the Montjuïc Hill – you can find the Montjuïc Castle up top and the Magic Fountain glowing in different colours in the evenings. Another interesting visit you can suddenly squeeze into your schedule is Mount Tibidabo, with its beautiful church on top – get there by metro and then by funicular. You can also visit the sports capital, Camp Nou, or Sitges, for a half-day trip.
One week in Barcelona
7 days in Barcelona
If you can squeeze out a whole week in Barcelona, then we can really get a fuller picture. Alongside all that we’ve listed, ergo the main cast of attractions, some time for beaches, hikes and what not, you can also find time to explore the inner neighbourhoods, such as Gracia, Gotic or Rambla. Instead, you can also opt for the nearby towns, such as Montserrat-Vila, Sitges, Rupit or Tossa de Mar. You can also go for some nicher things, like skiing in Barcelona.
How many days do you need in Barcelona?
What’s right for you?
We would say that the ideal number of days for an average visitor to see most or all of the typically desirable places in Barcelona is 2-3 days of sightseeing alone. To this, you would need to add additional days for beach dwelling or visiting the neighbouring towns.
Of course, we don’t mean that you could truly ‘complete’ Barcelona in this amount of time. This is the absolute minimum you would need to get the gist, but if you’re a fan of architecture and culture then two weeks may not be enough for you in Barcelona. As we’ve said, it’s a vast, vast place designed to pretty much have something for you no matter how many weekends you spend here.
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