Stopping by for a day in Barcelona? On a cruise and only docking at the port of Barcelona for a few hours? Having a layover in Barcelona? Or maybe you are visiting on business and only have an additional weekend day to spend in Barcelona after a week packed with meetings?
There are many reasons why you may only have one day in Barcelona, but despite it seeming to be a short time, 24h is enough to fit a lot of things to see in Barcelona in. So let this local (aka me) be your guide and show you how to make the most of your one day in Barcelona.
I grew up in a small town near Barcelona called Sitges and I studied and lived in the city. Although I currently live in Singapore, I go back home several times a year and always try to explore anything that is new. My mother also keeps me updated on all the new developments in the city and I love to discover them when I go.
I even got some of my expert friends in the music world to chime in with their recommendations for the best bars and clubs to recommend for this review. So I hope that you will find this one day itinerary of Barcelona useful and relevant.
Let’s get started shall we?
How to get around Barcelona if you only have one day
Time is of the essence if you want to fit all that is mentioned in this one day itinerary of Barcelona in so I would suggest taking taxis, regular ones from the street, Uber and other hailing apps are banned in Spain.
A lot of the things to see in one day in Barcelona can also be explored on foot and maybe you can use a taxi just for the trip to Sagrada Familia which is slightly off the rest of the route, but taxis will be most efficient.
Another fun way to explore Barcelona, or any country in fact, is to catch the Hop On/Off Bus where you have 2 routes to choose from that stop at all the most famous monuments and areas. It always has live commentary in 15 different languages so you can learn a bit more about the areas you are traveling in. You can book your ticket before your trip online by clicking here.
There’s also a highly rated bicycle tour of the city if you want to get some exercise in while exploring. Choosing a bicycle tour will also allow you to visit some of the hidden alleys. You can book your bicycle tour of Barcelona here. Alternatively, hop on a segway and take a tour on the ground without much of the effort. Book your segway tour here.
One day in Barcelona
Barcelona receives millions of tourists every year and is a city where you could easily spend several days, especially if you are keen on exploring Catalunya beyond Barcelona.
You can go on day trips from the city to discover the wineries, the monasteries, the UNESCO cities, the Medieval cities, the museums, the beaches and the national parks. Ideally, you have four days in Barcelona.
But if you only have one day in Barcelona this is a selection of the best things you can do in a day in a chronological order as recommended by a local. If you’ve got a car explore the rest of the continent with this epic Road Trip around Europe.
I have a lot of friends visiting and asking for recommendations so these are the must-see things in Barcelona in 24h.
Breakfast at a nice bakery
Bread in Spain is holy.
If there was no bread there would be a revolution as we all start the day with a sandwich or a pastry. Bakeries are the heart of any city or there are many here.
So do as locals do and start your day in Barcelona with a cortado and a pastry or a bocadillo (sandwich) made with baguette type of bread.
No matter what bakery you pick, you will most likely find decent bread and pastries, but my advice is to avoid chain bakeries where the bread is frozen, and go for the most local looking place you can find.
Some bakeries I love and always return to are in Carrer Comtal (you will see several of them along this pedestrian street).
Beyond Carrer Comptal, an interesting place for breakfast is the bakery and chocolate store on the ground floor of the Casa Ametller: Faborit.
The space doubles as a chocolate store selling the house chocolate brand, which is what the owners of the building had and how they managed to get a Modernist inspired building next to the famous Casa Batllo, and a cafe.
It is the perfect place for breakfast or for an afternoon hot chocolate with churros or the Catalan version, melindros (a softer version of a biscotti) or toasted bread. More information here.
The store has also kept the original patio and kitchen so you can see how the family living in the building used to cook. Buy some chocolate as souvenir. If you have a sweet tooth, order a portion of churros and chocolate.
Pro Tip: we do not ever eat churros as dessert in Spain, they are a breakfast or tea time snack item.
Casa Batllo and La Pedrera
You cannot leave Barcelona without visiting these two architectural gems and learning more about Gaudi’s buildings in Barcelona. So, even if you only have one day in Barcelona, these two buildings are a must. They are beautiful.
At Casa Batllo, get the audio guide which has a 3D virtual reality option and is really cool. Make sure to go up and behind into the main patio that is so typical of this neighbourhood in Barcelona. And look up, La Casa Batllo has a beautiful dragon shape roof.
Information about the building here. I would strongly recommend you get the early Private Skip-the-Line Casa Batlló Tour so you don’t have to queue and can make the most of your day in Barcelona. This will give you access to visit Casa Batllo without waiting in the queues.
If you are visiting in the summer months, Casa Batllo has evening concerts and performances which are an absolutely fantastic way to end the day so you may want to switch things around.
At La Pedrera, get the audio guide and learn more about the many undulated walls, the snail stairs, the ventilation systems and the history of this amazing building.
Make sure to go all the way up to the roof for the nice views over the city and an interesting look at the building’s chimneys.
Get the Skip the line tickets so you don’t have to queue, La Pedrera is one of the most popular tourist attractions in Barcelona. Buy ticket here.
There are also evening performances and concerts in the summer months and you can enjoy a drink with the city views. Buy tickets for the night performances here. Information about La Pedrera here.
If you have a bit more time, I would also suggest a visit to La Casa de les Punxes, an unusually fairytale-like structure by Gaudi contemporary Josep Puig i Cadafalch.
Lunch at El Nacional
There are a million and one places to eat in Barcelona and you could spend weeks just trying them all so it is really hard to give just one recommendation, but El Nacional has a few options which should be good for sampling local food.
This is a multi-disciplinary space housed in a beautiful Art Deco building with more than one area under the same roof and restaurant each serving different types of foods, from tapas to seafood, so there will be something for everyone. It is also quite near Casa Batllo and La Pedrera so you do not waste time crossing the city.
More information about El Nacional here. If you go early (before 1,30pm) you should not queue much for a table.
La Sagrada Familia
With a full and satisfied belly, visit Barcelona’s most famous landmark: La Sagrada Familia. This consecrated Basilica is a working religious building and place of prayer where mass is given at certain times.
It is also a building that, when I was a kid, we all joked would never be finished. In fact, there is now a completion date estimated for 2028, well over a century after the first stone was laid down.
Read all about how to make the most of your visit to La Sagrada Familia on my post here.
One could talk about La Sagrada Familia and its many details and allegories of nature forever but I have always been impressed by the fact that it has been entirely built with donations. It helps that when its popularity increased the famous landmark topped the world for the most reviewed tourist attraction in the world on TripAdvisor.
So many people visit it every day that tickets are always sold out so make sure to buy them ahead of time if you want to visit.
I have two additional suggestions when visiting La Sagrada Familia. Firstly, make sure to buy the tickets that allow you to go up the towers, the views are well worth it and getting to see the towers from up close is very cool.
Secondly, buy the tickets for the guided tour and not just the entry on its own. You get an experienced guide that will tell you about the building and its history, without it you will miss Gaudi’s genius and the building’s magic, a guided tour is a must. Book your private, fast-track guided tour here. And the guided tour with tower access here.
La Rambla
After La Sagrada Familia it is time to explore another one of the most famous places in Barcelona: La Rambla.
This street connecting the city’s Placa Catalunya with Christopher Columbus statue by the sea is the most famous street in Barcelona.
Make sure to stop at Placa Catalunya which is considered the heart of the city. Here you can feed the pigeons if that’s your thing. Think it through before you extend your hand out with their food, dozens (if not hundreds) could descend on you.
La Rambla is a great place for people watching but do watch your belongings because professional, experienced and very smart pick-pocketers are in action there and if you take your hands and eyes off your stuff it will fly away without you even realising.
The best way to explore La Rambla is simply by walking it all the way down to the sea along the middle part. Look out for the flower stalls, the human statues, the painters, the singers, the musicians and the many people who call it home. And make sure to look both sides for the building lining it.
Be sure to stop at Mercat de la Boqueria, the local market designed in Modernist style and filled with all sorts of local food.
Since the market became a sort of tourist attraction beyond being a working fresh market, the stalls at the entrance sell ready-to-eat, take-away items like cut fruit or fresh juices, all well worth the extra vitamin boost.
If you are peckish, you could also stop at one of the stalls to the left when you enter the market which serve food in season. Check out the ones which serve tapas. Just take a seat and pick from the daily menu based on what is best available at the market.
Tip: You can also explore La Boqueria with Context Travel, I am not responsible for the expanding waistline!
Fancy an ice cream stop? Find Rocambolesc, the ice cream parlour by the brothers behind the World’s Best Restaurant, El Celler de Can Roca. Their ice cream is so delicious I always make sure to stop by when I am in the city.
El Gotic – The Gothic Quarter of Barcelona
The gothic Quarter of Barcelona is the oldest part of the city. It was where the former Roman Barcino city was and where the Medieval city was born and developed.
It is also my most favourite part of Barcelona and one which I love to walk at dawn when I am back home. The empty streets and the narrow lanes are filled with so much history, so of course I had to recommend you explore it too even if you only have 1 day in Barcelona.
On your way up from the port, veer right into the Placa Reial and the narrow, dark and old lanes around the Barri Gotic or Gothic Quarter. This is a wonderful place to get lost.
Look out for the Cathedral, a stunning building, the cloister attached to it and the many medieval buildings in that part of Barcelona.
The cathedral can be fully visited when there is no mass, when service is ongoing you can only see the back of it and the cloister. During Christmas time a large nativity will be placed there and a market will fill the square in front.
Find l’Esglesia del Pi and see if there are tours going up to the roof of the church from where you can see the entire old part of the city and also get a glimpse of what it must have been in medieval times when the wall surrounded it all. Your guide will be able to point at the city’s edge back then.
If you are feeling hungry or want a break, there are two places in the area where you can stop by for some historical and interesting snack. Granja Dulcinea is one of the oldest running churrerias in Barcelona and Caelum sells cookies and other sweet treats made at Spain’s best monasteries and nunneries.
Tip: Join Context Travel Gothic Quarter tour to get the ins and outs of this fabulous part of the city, your insights and what you will learn at the hands of an expert will be amazing. So much history behind those ancient walls.
Sunset drinks
If you are visiting Barcelona from spring to autumn, you should enjoy a pre-dinner drink at one of the few great rooftop bars in Barcelona. They have great views and since dinner is not until after 9pm (especially in the summer) you should make the most of it with a pre-dinner drink.
The Mandarin Oriental is a favourite of mine, as is the few bars in the Gothic Quarter which even have sea views.
Another option for sunset views, but with a bit of a hike is to visit the Bunkers del Carmel, which has actually become quite a hip spot for Instagrammers. It is a little out of the way, but the views are really rewarding.
Dinner
If you can get a table, try Tickets, the casual molecular cuisine tapas bar that is the brainchild of elBulli chef Ferran Adria and which he opened after elBulli closed for good.
The restaurant is always full, but if you go first thing when they open you may be lucky and get a table or wait at the bar before the tables are occupied. You can also go latest, before closing and hope you snatch a table.
If that doesn’t work, and you want to splurge, both Lasarte and AbAc have three Michelin stars and are fabulous restaurants. You also need to book ahead but might be luckier with a last minute show up.
For something more casual, try the montaditos and pinchos of Txapela, a very laid back place where you order individual pinchos Basque style (slice of bread topped with many things from jamon to meat, cheese, salad, etc.), and then couple them with Txakoli white wine.
After dinner drinks
Clubs in Spain don’t open until very very late so you should have some drinks before dancing. There are a lot of bars and places where you can chill.
This is how a regular weekend night goes down in Spain. Dinner is very late, never before 9,30pm. Then we have drinks at a bar until 2am more or less when bars close (by law) and clubs start to fill up. If you go to a club before, you will be all by yourself.
There are a few bar areas in the Gothic Quarter. Check out the Born area for the hipster and bohemian feel.
For a fashionable spot with views, the W Hotel has a bar at the top that has both sea and city views and turns into a club if that is more your thing.
For a wine evening, Monvinic is not only a great proximity food restaurant but also has one of the most extensive wine cellars and menu by the glass in Barcelona and the world. To complete your local dining experience, I would recommend pairing your food with one of the Catalan wines from the Penedes region.
If you prefer beer, Mortiz is a beer bar that was recently revamped after having almost been abandoned. It is an historical brand and a great place for a local beer.
For a posher vibe head to Maria Cubi street where there are a few bars. If you are looking for a speakeasy experience, Bar Mut is your choice. You will really feel like you are entering a hidden place. The space is small and they make great G&Ts.
Where to party on your one evening in Barcelona
Barcelona and Spain in general, are known for being all night party destinations and we party until the wee hours, usually until the sun comes up when we head for breakfast. Churros come in handy then as they are greasy, sweet and rich and can soak up whatever alcohol is in your body.
For the real party life in Barcelona, try Bling Bling, alternative and massive Razzmatazz or posher Sutton, where university graduates mix with the posher kids from the upper side of Barcelona. Jazz club Jamboree is a long timer located in Placa Reial.
Where to stay in Barcelona
You may be visiting Barcelona for just one day but maybe you end up staying for the night and will need a place to stay. Since I have been an expat for many years, when I go back, I often stay at one of its many amazing hotels.
These are my recommendations for where to stay in Barcelona.
Monument Hotel is very well located and the home of Barcelona’s top restaurant, Lasarte. The rooms embody what I think of when I think of Barcelona: modern, sleek, functional and blending history and sophistication.
For something really special, try Mercer Hotel. The hotel is relatively new and during the renovation they discovered some old parts of the ancient Roman walls of Barcino in the hotel so you can sleep next to 2,000 year old walls. You can read my review here.
Hotel Neri is housed in a Medieval palace in the heart of the old town and is the city’s only Relais & Chateaux. You will find long velvet curtains blending into the balcony with wonderful views overlooking Neri square. Visit Neri Church to see remnants of the Civil War’s where you will find bullets and shrapnel indented into the back walls.
For something more modern, stunning and elegant, try Mandarin Oriental, the city’s most exclusive hotel. Its rooftop bar has the best views and well, the service is what you can expect from the brand.
Table of hotels in Barcelona
Below is a summary of all the hotels mentioned in this article and many more that I like. Click the relevant link of your choice to see more photos or make a booking.
| Hotel | District | Stars on TripAdvisor | Price | Click to book now! |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| AbAc Hotel | Barri Sarria-Sant Gervasi | 5 | $350 | Booking.com | Agoda |
| La Florida | Barri Sarria-Sant Gervasi | 4 | $200 | Booking.com | Agoda |
| Fairmont Hotel Rey Juan Carlos I | Les Corts | 4,5 | $210 | Booking.com | Agoda |
| Sofia | Les Corts | 5 | $220 | Booking.com | Agoda |
| Bagues | Cuitat Vella - El Raval | 4,5 | $275 | Booking.com | Agoda |
| Le Meridien Rambla | Cuitat Vella - El Raval | 4 | $440 | Booking.com | Agoda |
| Hotel Neri | Cuitat Vella - El Gotic | 4,5 | $380 | Booking.com | Agoda |
| Hotel Mercer | Cuitat Vella - El Gotic | 5 | $380 | Booking.com | Agoda |
| DO Placa Reial | Cuitat Vella - El Gotic | 5 | $380 | Booking.com | Agoda |
| Serras Hotel | Cuitat Vella - El Gotic | 5 | $670 | Booking.com | Agoda |
| Hotel Arts | Cuitat Vella - La Barceloneta | 4,5 | $365 | Booking.com | Agoda |
| W Hotel | Cuitat Vella - La Barceloneta | 4,5 | $460 | Booking.com | Agoda |
| Ohla | Cuitat Vella - El Born | 4,5 | $260 | Booking.com | Agoda |
| Grand Hotel Central | Cuitat Vella - El Born | 4,5 | $300 | Booking.com | Agoda |
| Mandarin Oriental | Eixample | 4,5 | $710 | Booking.com | Agoda |
| Monument Hotel | Eixample | 4,5 | $320 | Booking.com | Agoda |
| Hotel Omm | Eixample | 4,5 | $350 | Booking.com | Agoda |
| Palace hotel | Eixample | 4,5 | $360 | Booking.com | Agoda |
| The Cotton House | Eixample | 4,5 | $400 | Booking.com | Agoda |
| Alma | Eixample | 4,5 | $310 | Booking.com | Agoda |
| The One | Eixample | 5 | $330 | Booking.com | Agoda |
| Casa Fuster | Gracia | 4,5 | $250 | Booking.com | Agoda |
Bonus! If you decide to stay longer in Barcelona and are not sure of where to stay, I have written an extensive guide of where to stay in Barcelona including a description of each area. Read my complete Guide on Where to Stay in Barcelona.