Best of Barcelona Itinerary in Seven Days

La Sagrada Familia is still unfinished after over 100 years. Magical curves cascade down its façade while statues and ghouls give you a firm stare. Tiny details make your eyes wander until you realize you are standing in the middle of a cathedral and surrounded by space. This is Barcelona’s most iconic structure, its outward symbol to the world, and a place of ingenuity and sanctuary. Make an early start and get in just after it opens, before you would have to wait in line and while it is still possible to appreciate the beautiful silence that a large cathedral can bring. A Modernist guide will show you around, and their inside knowledge will maximize your experience.

Throughout the rest of today, you will travel back in time, a reverse chronological order through the Modernist works of Gaudi and Montaner. Most of the famous casas, or houses, are found in the Eixample district, and you will first tour Casa Batllo. Next, you can explore Casa Lleo Morera and Casa Amatller, which can only be explored on guided tours. These are smallish townhouses that showcase how Gaudi’s style evolved, particularly the use of flowing lines and peculiar shapes. Park Guell is an ideal place to finish, where a mosaic serpent and twisted brick formations appear high above the city. Incredible city views extend from the park, and it is a great place to appreciate exactly where you have been over the last two days.

The cuisine is one of Barcelona’s iconic highlights. Catalan gastronomy is world famous, from the restaurants that take the gong in the World Top 50 Restaurants list to the everyday flavors that make even a simple lunchtime meal a delight. For many visitors, Catalan cooking reflects the broader appeal of Spanish cuisine. There is the rich mix of fresh seafood and cured meats, a superb pantry of fresh vegetables, particularly eggplant and tomato, along with an informal and fun approach to bringing it all together. Today you can dine on the finer end of the spectrum at a restaurant that has been symbolizing Catalan gastronomy for two decades now.

With seven days in Barcelona, it is easy to escape the city on one or two-day trips. From Placa de Catalunya, you can travel out in three directions with today’s journey heading west to the mountains. Montserrat Monastery clings upon a mountaintop an hour from the cityscape. A cable car takes you skyward as silence surrounds you in this sanctified space above Catalonia. Benedictine monks wander before the monastery’s thick stone walls, making it seem as though you are in some kind of movie set. Choir songs ring out every morning, as it has done for over eight centuries. Young harmonic voices fill the air and when compared to the city below, create a feeling of tranquility.

Barcelona is a big and bustling city, so a day spent at Montserrat really helps get you some peace and quiet in the midst of your vacation. The monastery is famous for the Black Madonna, a remarkable figure for which pilgrims have been coming for centuries. After a short tour, you can eat lunch in a nearby village before the afternoon is at your leisure in Barcelona. Secrets unfold this afternoon, and then you can tour the city’s back alleys on a nighttime tour, hearing tales of warriors, pirates, sorcerers, ghosts, and legends from Barcelona’s past. Part ghost tour and part historical memoir, it will also be a chance to visit parts of the city that usually escape international visitors. End with a drink on a dimly lit terrace, wondering at the truth and fiction behind all the tales you have heard.

From up on the hill, to down by the Mediterranean, today’s journey will take you through the heart of Barcelona. Glorious views greet you in Montjuic, the sea glistening to one side as cathedral spires stand like sentinels to the other. Inhale the fresh morning air before exploring the Catalan Art Museum, the galleries providing a chronological journey through a region’s pride. All of Catalonia’s famous names are here, and you will witness the development in style through swirls and surrealism to sharp lines and modernism. If you are an art lover, then you might also consider visiting Fundacio Joan Miro, a museum dedicated to the painter’s surrealist world and phantasmagorical scenes.

Wandering downhill you can traverse the city and spend the afternoon on the beach. Here is another highlight of Barcelona as all of the culture and history is effortlessly combined with lazy hours on the sand. Barceloneta is an urban beach, a broad and long strip of sand that is back-dropped by apartment blocks and stores. You can almost hear the music from the streets, and smell the coffee from cafes. During the daytime, it is relatively quiet, but it gets busy from 4 pm onwards as the locals hit the beach and some of the bars start playing music.

After some time in the sun, you will head indoors this evening as Montaner’s sublime Palau de le Musica Catalana is the setting for a Spanish guitar concert. A lone guitar starts, soft and subtle as your eyes admire perhaps the finest Modernist building of them all. Sounds begin to echo as it becomes an orchestra, a harmonic call that reflects Barcelona’s sultry atmosphere. As with many experiences in Barcelona, the concert continues beyond the evening and into the night, this being a Spanish city where the streets remain busy long after dark.

There are many superb day trips from Barcelona, and with one week in the city, you have time for one more. Choose between Figueres, Sitges, and Priorat dependent on your interests, with a private tour showing you the wider sights of Catalonia. Figueres is tucked into the hills, a quaint little town mostly famous for being the birthplace of Dali. His larger than life Dali Theater-Museum reflects his character and is one of the most visited attractions in the whole of Spain. It is just a two-hour drive from Barcelona, and you would explore the museum first, during the hottest part of the day. Then relax in the town, exploring its cobblestone alleys.

Sitges is old-world Spain on the coast, a languid town of art galleries and colorful pedestrianized streets. All routes descend to the beach, where the atmosphere is more laid-back than in Barceloneta. Visit a couple of galleries, take an indulgent lunch at a coastal restaurant, then laze away the afternoon. Sitges is best visited by train, a direct 40-minute journey from Barcelona Sans station. Or you could choose Priorat, where decadent wines reflect Catalonia of old. The vineyards produce some of Spain’s most revered wine, and this is one of only two DOCa regions in the country, the highest designation there is, an honor shared only with Rioja. Taste your way through three vineyards with lunch included, before dozing off on the way back to Barcelona.

This will be your final full day in Barcelona, and there are so many places to go and so many experiences to find. Wander the colorful corridors of La Boqueria, where fruit spills from the stalls and the chitchat of market gossip echoes around corners. Drive beneath the colorful rooftop of Santa Caterina market to find a broad space of food stalls, dainty treats, and Catalonia’s finest cured ham. Both the Barcelona History Museum and the Chocolate Museum are worth a visit, so you can opt for one or the other, or take some time for both.

After a morning spent with your guide, the afternoon is free, and there are different ways you could turn. Perhaps visit the beach again or maybe continue your exploration of the city’s old quarter, returning to a favorite wine bar or two. Ending your time in Barcelona is an evening tapas tour through El Born, a labyrinthine neighborhood alive with exotic smells. Although tapas originates from Andalusia, Barcelona has taken the tapastyle to create something that is unique to the city. Here the dishes are indulgent, more like fine dining snacks than anything to accompany a beer. Your guide will know what to order in each bar, so you can hop down the street sampling a breathtaking variety of tapas, with Cava and Priorat wines to go with them.

The morning is left completely free and late checkout will have been arranged, so you can enjoy some final experiences in the city before a private airport transfer.