Barcelona requires at least four days to even just hit the highlights, so if you only have one day in port, you will have to prioritize your time. Here are five suggestions on how to spend your day in Barcelona.
Stroll Along La Rambla
Although Barcelona has inexpensive taxis and an easy-to-use subway system, walking is my choice for viewing the architectural wonders of the city. La Rambla is the most famous boulevard in Barcelona, and visitors can spend hours strolling its one mile length. The avenue includes vendors selling birds and flowers, entertainers eating fire and volunteering to tell your fortune, and sidewalk cafes for watching the world go by.
Be sure to stop by the Boqueria market, which sells food to the top restaurants in Barcelona. It has wonderful colors and fascinating smells!
Ride the Bus Turistic
This sightseeing bus is one of the best bargains around. The buses run two routes, one on the north of the city (red line) and one on the south (blue line). The two routes connect at the Placa de Catalunya at the end of La Rambla furthest from the harbor. One ticket allows you to ride on both routes all day long, exiting the bus whenever you like to explore. The one- and two-day tickets also include good discount coupons for other transportation around the city and to some tourist attractions. Tickets are sold by the bus driver, and run about every 20 minutes. It takes half a day to ride the entire routes.
Enjoy the Works of Gaudi
No trip to Barcelona is complete without a look at some of Gaudi's works, especially La Sagrada Familia (the cathedral), Casa Mila (the block of apartments), and Parc Guell (the outdoor park).
Spend A Rainy Day Indoors
Picasso moved to Barcelona when he was 14, and his work is appropriately displayed in the magnificent Palau Berenguer d'Aguilar. Picasso had his first exhibit in Barcelona, and much of his Blue Period art was done in the city.
Explore Montjuic
This hill overlooking Barcelona was at the center of the 1992 Olympics. If you take the Metro line 1 or 3, you will exit and walk up the hill through the Venetian pillars lining the Avinguda de la Reina Maria Cristina. At the top of the avenue is the Magic Fountain, designed in 1929 for the Barcelona International Exposition. It's beautiful at night! Visitors can follow the rising hill to the Teleferic funicular cable car station. The cable cars ride over the Montjuic amusement park and end at the castle on top the hill.
These five ways to spend time in Barcelona only scratch the surface of things to do and see. Most people could easily spend a week in the city without getting bored.
One word of caution - like many large cities, Barcelona has its share of pickpockets. I've heard horror stories from tourists whose cruise vacations were spoiled by pickpockets in hotels and on crowded streets. Watch your valuables wherever you travel! Even with this potential threat, I'll still opt to visit Barcelona again and again. It's a wonderful city on the Mediterranean.
