Ever since we moved to Barcelona, we continue to receive many requests for travel recommendations around the city for those of you and your friends who are planning a visit. So today, I’m happy to finally present to you our official Gimme Some Oven Travel Guide!
Barclay and I have done our best to compile a list of our favorite places to eat, visit and stay in the city. And we’ve especially worked hard on the restaurant recs, because with so much amazing food in this city, I firmly believe you should never have a bad meal here! (Always such a tragedy on vacation.) We’ve also created a list of Barcelona-specific pro travel tips for how to navigate the city like a local. And we have created a Google Map so that you can download to have easy access to all of our recommendations while you’re out and about.
We’ll try to keep updating this guide as often as possible as we continue to discover more great places around the city. But please, if you have your own Barcelona travel recommendations, be sure to share any of your favorites in the comment section below too. And if you use this guide in any way, would you mind leaving a comment below just to let us know what you enjoyed? We’ve received hundreds of emails and DMs from readers over the years who have used and loved this guide, but very few people leave comments here and I’d love for you to be able to read one another’s feedback and share recommendations too.
For more travel guides and general travel tips, feel free to also check out the archives in our Travel section on the blog. And if you would like to follow along with our adventures behind the scenes living in Barcelona, you’re always welcome to check out my personal Instagram. Alright, without any further ado, here are our favorite Barcelona travel recommendations including:
- Our Barcelona Travel Tips
- Our Barcelona Travel Map
- Where To Eat
- What To Do
- Where To Stay
- Barcelona Culture 101
- Getting Around Barcelona
- Dealing With Money
- Apps To Download While Traveling In Barcelona
- Things To Know About Eating Out In Barcelona:
- 5 Ways To Be A Nice Person In Barcelona
- 5 Ways To Save Money In Barcelona
- Important: A Note About Pickpocketing
We would really encourage you to download our (free!) Gimme Some Barcelona Google Map, which includes all of the recommended places listed in this guide. It’s a great way to navigate around the city and can also give you the option to make an impromptu stop somewhere nearby if a place on the list catches your eye. Be sure to also click through to read the notes for each restaurant pin, where we have included our recommendations for what to order.
Naturally, my favorite subject. ♡ And also the #1 question we’ve received from friends, family and all of you readers coming to Barcelona — where to eat!
There are literally thousands upon thousands of places to eat here in Barcelona, with new great spots popping up literally every week. And as someone who tends to plan my vacations — and, let’s be real, everyday life — around food, it’s critically important to me that each of your meals here be home runs. So here is our current list of places we love and recommend. There should hopefully be something for everyone here!
Brunch
- Bohl (Eixample)
- Brunch & Cake (Multiple locations)
- Clubhaus (El Born)
- Faire (Eixample)
- Funky Bakers Eatery (Eixample)
- Gringa All Day (Eixample)
- Picnic (El Born)
- Roast Club (Eixample)
Bakeries
- Baluard (Croissants, bread, and more / Multiple locations)
- Brunells (Croissants and pastries) / El Born
- Chök (Cronuts, donuts, chocolate / Gothic)
- Demasié (Cinnamon rolls, cupcakes, desserts / El Born)
- Eric & Benjamin (French breads and pastries / Eixample)
- Hofmann Pastelería (Croissants and pastries / El Born)
- Origo (Breads and pastries / Gràcia)
- Turris (Breads, pastries and more / Multiple locations)
Tapas
- Bar Del Pla (El Born)
- Bar Betlem (Eixample)
- Bar Mendizábal (El Raval)
- Bar Mut (Gràcia)
- Bormuth (El Born)
- Centric (El Raval)
- Cerveseria Catalana (Eixample)
- Ciudad Condal (Eixample)
- El Nacional (Eixample)
- El Quim de la Boqueria (Raval)
- El Xampanyet (El Born)
- La Cova Fumada (Barceloneta)
- La Paradeta (El Born)
- La Pepita (Eixample)
- La Rovira (Gràcia)
- Quimet y Quimet (Poble Sec)
- Tantarantana (El Born)
- Teòric (Eixample)
- 1881 by Sagardi (Barceloneta)
Paella & Fideuà
- Barraca (*favorite paella* / Barceloneta)
- Camping Mar (Barceloneta)
- Martínez (Montjuïc)
- Peix Vela (Barceloneta)
Vegetarian & Healthy Food
- Bohl (Eixample)
- Bon (Eixample)
- Flax & Kale (Multiple locations)
- Frizzant (Eixample)
- Honest Greens (Multiple locations)
- Hummus Barcelona (Eixample)
- Les Filles Café (Eixample)
- Maoz Vegetarian (Gothic)
Pizza & Italian Food
- Bella Italia (Eixample)
- L’antica Pizzeria Da Michele (Eixample)
- Las Sorrentinas (El Born)
- Maccaroni (El Born)
- NAP (Multiple locations)
- Parking Pizza (Eixample)
Mexican Food
- Costa Pacífico (El Born)
- La Güerita Mexicana (Multiple locations)
- Quiote Mezcaleria (Eixample)
- Pikio Taco (Gràcia)
- San Pedrito (El Born)
Middle Eastern Food
- Bistrot Levante (Gothic)
- Hummus Barcelona (Eixample)
- La Balabusta (Eixample)
- Mazah (Eixample)
- Maoz Vegetarian (Gothic)
- Mustà Shawarma (Gràcia)
- Parking Pita (Eixample)
Southeast Asian Food
- Bun Bo (Vietnamese / Gothic)
- Burne (Korean / Eixample)
- Grasshopper (Ramen / El Born)
- Liuyishou Hotpot (Hotpot / Eixample)
- Mosquito (Asian Fusion Tapas / El Born)
- Nakashita (Sushi / El Born)
Desserts / Sweets
- Chök (Cronuts, donuts, chocolate / Gothic)
- DelaCrem (Gelato / Multiple locations)
- Demasié (Cinnamon rolls, cupcakes, desserts / El Born)
- Gocce Di Latte (Gelato / El Born)
- La Cava Cakery (Cava and cupcakes / Eixample)
- La Colmena (Traditional sweets, chocolates / Gothic)
- La Pallaresa (Churros / Gothic)
- Rocambolesc (Soft serve ice cream / Las Ramblas)
Coffee
- Cafés El Magnífico (El Born)
- Eat Nudes (El Born)
- El Noa Noa (Gràcia)
- Hidden Cafe (Multiple locations)
- Nømad (Multiple locations)
- Syra (Multiple locations)
- Xiloteca (El Born)
Drinks
- Bar Marsella (Hemingway’s absinthe bar / El Raval)
- Bar Salvatge (Natural wine / Gràcia)
- BierCaB (Craft beers / Eixample)
- Boca Chica (Cocktails / Eixample)
- Casa Almirall (Vermouth / El Raval)
- Dr. Stravinsky (Cocktails / El Born)
- Garage Bar (Craft beer, natural wines, etc / Sant Antoni)
- Garage Beer Co (Craft beer / Eixample)
- Hotel Praktik Vinoteca (Wine tasting / Eixample)
- La Vinya Del Senyor (Cava / El Born)
- Old Fashioned (Cocktails & wine / Gràcia)
- Paradiso (Cocktails / El Born)
In a city that offers so many great things to do, choosing places to visit isn’t always an easy decision! But whether you like to see a place through its sights, sounds or flavors, we’ve put together a list of our favorite ways to experience Barcelona. Two things that we would say that you can’t miss here — visiting La Sagrada Familia (trust us, it’s not like any cathedral you’ve ever seen) and taking a food tour (always our favorite way to get to know a new city).
Museums / Cathedrals / Top Sights
- Barcelona City History Museum
- Chocolate Museum
- La Sagrada Familia
- Palau Güell
- Picasso Museum
- Miró Foundation
- National Art Museum of Catalonia (MNAC)
- Santa Maria del Mar
Our Favorite Parks
Live Music Venues
More Fun Stuff To Do
Day Trips
Recommended Guides / Tours
- Adler & Marlow (custom-designed experiences and tours – $$$)
- Devour Tours (group food and culture tours – $$)
- AirBnB Experiences (we made paella with Sara – $$)
A Few Of Ali’s Favorite Local Places To Shop
- Be (fun gift shop, multiple locations)
- Biscuit (favorite boutique)
- Charly Therapy (cute sunglasses)
- La Nostra Ciutat (art, apparel, gifts, all made in Barcelona)
- Natura (apparel, home goods, gifts)
- Oysho (yoga apparel, leisureware and more)
- Boutique-ing around El Born or Gràcia in general. There are so many great local shops in these neighborhoods!
We still have yet to do much research on where to stay in Barcelona, but we promise to report back with some updates on great places to stay soon! A few great places we have stayed and loved so far include:
- Alma Hotel ($$$)
- Casa Bonay ($$)
- Seventy Barcelona ($$)
- Praktik Bakery ($$)
- Yurbban Passage Hotel & Spa ($$)
- Casa Gracia ($)
- AirBnB
Also, for more boutique/luxury hotels, we recommend looking here. For discount hotels, check out this list. For hostels, we recommend looking here.
Questions? Requests? Recommendations to share? We’d love to hear from you in the comments below. ♡
Hi Ali and Barclay! My husband and I are headed to Barcelona in June. We work in the Napa/Sonoma wine industry and are interested in heading to Penedes for Cava. Any tips or recommendations? We are torn between and organized tour or just setting up appointments on our own and taking the train. Any insight or ideas? Gracias!
La Central Burger there is beyond yummy!
Ali, your recommendations were amazing!!! We had the best time in Barcelona thanks to all of the great places on your list. Thank you so much for sharing the best of your city with us!
This guide is amazing! I’ll be there in 2 weeks and am SO excited! Can’t wait to see everything and more importantly, eat everything!
Any recommendations for the best souvenirs to take home?
Everyone, this guide is ? spot-on!!!! We followed all of your recommendations and had the best trip. Move over TripAdvisor…this is the best place to get Barcelona recs. Thanks, Ali and Barclay!
This guide is great!
My fiance is moving to Barcelona for 6 months for work and i will be travelling back and forth the UK. so will be sure to check out all your recommendations (or as many as we can!)
Just a questions in regards to you’d recommend to get an apartment for the 6mos- currently scouring websites, any you would recommend ?
Thanks!
Amandeep
Sure thing — we used SHBarcelona for our short-term rental. But we also searched on Engel&Voelkers and Idealista. :) Best wishes!
Heading to Barcelona in September of 2019. Do you know if the Park Guell construction will be done by then? Also loved all your restaurant recommendations, but we are not very adventureus eaters. Can you recommend a good middle of the road place?
I’m not sure whether the construction will be wrapped up by then, but I’d recommend just emailing them closer to your date to ask. And I would recommend ordering chicken paella, bravas, or pan con tomate at any of the recommended restaurants if you want more familiar flavors. :) Bormuth would be a great restaurant for classic tapas.
Where is the top photo taken? I am leaving tomorrow so am so excited. Thanks for this post!
It’s near a store called Angle in El Born! :)
This guide is amazing, thank you for the time you put into this. I am taking every recommendation seriously when my husband and I go to Barcelona this summer.
We are thinking about staying at a hostel near the Arc de Triomf (La Isla Hostal) but are nervous it may be too touristy. I’d love your thoughts! It seems quite central but I’d hate to be in the Times Square of Barcelona without realizing it. Thank you!!
I think you’ll really enjoy the Arc de Triomf area! It’s a bit touristy, but charming. And it borders our favorite neighborhood (El Born), and has nice central access between the city center, the beach, Sagrada Familia and more northern neighborhoods like Gracia.
Hope that you have a wonderful trip!
Ali, your recommendations were SPOT ON! We used your guide to plan basically every single meal on our trip and not a single dish let us down. Thank you for sharing all of your favorite spots with all of us!! :-) It’s so easy to see why you guys love this city.