Catalonia Experience
from $13,200 per person
Barcelona guide
Things to do in Barcelona
Gaudí's buildings, the table, the evenings and the sea, and the days out beyond the city.
By Ramin Jafari · Facts checked
In Barcelona, begin with Gaudí: the Sagrada Família, Casa Batlló and La Pedrera with a guide, and Park Güell. Then the city’s table, its evenings and shops, the sea by boat or from the air, and the country beyond it: the Penedès, the Costa Brava, Montserrat and the Pyrenees. For each, here is what it involves and what we can arrange.
At a glance
- Time in the city
- Four or five days; a week with a day out
- We reserve first
- The Sagrada Família and the three-star tables, before anything else
- Beyond the city
- The Penedès, the Costa Brava, Montserrat and the Pyrenees
Gaudí
Gaudí and the modernists
Three of Gaudí’s works with a private guide, and the city’s art and architecture around them.
The Eixample
The Sagrada Família
- World Heritage
- The Nativity façade and the crypt
Gaudí’s basilica, begun in 1882, is still being built; its central tower, of Jesus Christ, was completed in 2026, a hundred years after his death. A private guide reads the façades and the symbolism with you.
The Passeig de Gràcia
Casa Batlló's main salon Casa Batlló and La Pedrera
Gaudí’s two houses on the Passeig de Gràcia, with a private guide. On Casa Batlló’s noble floor a great window looks over the avenue, under a ceiling that undulates like the sea, and early in the morning very few visitors share it. La Pedrera’s own Premium visit, for a small group and guided in English, opens what the general visit does not, the mezzanine, the rear courtyard and a lift of the period, with a glass of cava.
Gràcia
Park Güell
- The monumental area
- 12 hectares, on the World Heritage List
The park’s monumental area, with the mosaic bench over the city, is best seen with a guide. Gaudí’s Casa Vicens is in the same district, Gràcia.
Beyond Gaudí, and each on request, subject to availability:
- Architecture with a private guide, from the Gothic Quarter to the modernists and the city’s newest buildings: see our private architecture and cultural tours.
- Art out of hours: the Museu Picasso offers private tours of about an hour outside its opening times, and the Fundació Joan Miró private visits to its permanent collection.
- A photographer for a morning in the city, for portraits against its streets and buildings.
Food and wine
The starred tables, a morning in the kitchen, and the wines of Catalonia.
The starred tables
- Three stars, 2026
- ABaC, Cocina Hermanos Torres, Disfrutar, Lasarte
- In all
- 29 restaurants with MICHELIN Stars in the city
Four of Barcelona’s restaurants hold three MICHELIN Stars, among them Disfrutar, whose tasting menus have a waiting list, Cocina Hermanos Torres and Lasarte. We make the reservations, well ahead for the three-star tables, and fit the rest of the days around them.
Canelons A Catalan cooking class
- With
- A chef, after the Boqueria in the morning
A morning at the Boqueria with a chef, choosing what to cook, then a class in the Catalan dishes: canelons, for one, which Barcelona makes for Sant Esteve, the day after Christmas, from the meat of the escudella, rolled, covered in béchamel and baked. On request, subject to availability.
Wine with a sommelier
A tasting of Catalonia’s wines in the city, with a sommelier: cava from the Penedès, the reds of the Priorat and the Empordà’s garnatxa and carinyena. Or the cellars themselves, in chapter 05. On request; for the rest of Spain, see our culinary and wine tours.
Shopping and evenings
Shopping, spas and evenings
The Passeig de Gràcia by day, a spa when you want one, and the city after dark.
Each on request, subject to availability:
- Shopping on the Passeig de Gràcia, the Eixample’s great avenue, with a personal stylist for a morning. At Cotton House, L’Atelier makes clothes to measure with the Barcelona tailors Santa Eulalia.
- Flamenco at one of the city’s historic tablaos, such as the Cordobés, open since 1970.
- A drink high above the city at NOXE, the cocktail lounge and club on the 26th floor of W Barcelona, or in the garden bar of Hotel Alma.
- A spa: W Barcelona’s AWAY Spa and its adults-only pool, or Hotel Alma’s, with a heated indoor pool, free to its guests; and outside the city, yoga in a vineyard or a few days of rest at a country estate.
- A celebration: a private dinner or a party for an anniversary or a birthday, planned around you.
For families, see our luxury family trips to Spain; for couples, our honeymoon trips to Spain.
The sea and the sky
A city with its own beaches, a coast to sail, and the view from above.
Each on request, subject to availability:
- The beach, the hotel way: more than four kilometres of sand run from Sant Sebastià to the Fòrum, and W Barcelona has its own entrance onto Sant Sebastià beach, with loungers, parasols and drinks brought to the sand, and cabanas to hire by its pool.
- A sail at dusk, on a private boat with a skipper from the Port Olímpic, with cava on board.
- The Costa Brava by sea: a half or a whole day along its coves with a skipper, and a picnic on board.
- From the air: about twelve minutes over the city by helicopter from the heliport in the port, or a hot-air balloon early in the morning, about an hour over the Empordà, Osona or the Garrotxa, wherever the wind takes it.
- A car and a driver for a day, in the city or beyond it.
Beyond the city
Four days out, each a day trip or the start of a longer stay in Catalonia.
South-west of the city
The Penedès and the Priorat
- Vilafranca
- 50 km from Barcelona
- The Priorat
- A Qualified D.O. since 2000
Cava began in the Penedès, around Sant Sadurní d’Anoia, its capital: a day among the cellars, with a private tasting and lunch at a cava house. The Priorat, further, grows its reds on steep slate, and is one of Spain’s only two Denominaciones de Origen Calificadas: a longer day, or a night among the vines.
North-east of the city
Tamariu, on the Costa Brava The Costa Brava
- The coast
- 200 km of coves and cliffs, Blanes to Portbou
- Villages
- Cadaqués, Begur, Peratallada
Coves and beaches among cliffs and pines: Tamariu, Llafranc and Calella below Palafrugell, Begur’s old centre under its medieval castle, the fishing village of Cadaqués, and inland, the medieval village of Peratallada. A long day by car from Barcelona, or a few days by the sea; see Girona, the Costa Brava and more on our Catalonia page.
Inland from the city
Montserrat
- The monastery
- Founded in 1025
- Getting up
- Rack railway or cable car
A Benedictine monastery on a mountain of rock needles, reached by rack railway or cable car. The Escolania choir sings there, and we reserve places to hear it; with a guide, a walk of about two and a half hours climbs to Sant Jeroni, the summit, at 1,236 m. By car, or by helicopter on request.
The high mountains
The Pyrenees
- National park
- Aigüestortes i Estany de Sant Maurici
Catalonia’s only national park, high mountain and some 200 lakes, is reached from Espot or the Vall de Boí, whose Romanesque churches are on the World Heritage List. Better as a few days than a day: mountain walks with a private guide, on request.
For a day-by-day plan with a day out, see our four days in Barcelona.
Itineraries that include Barcelona
The Grand Spanish Tour
from $27,200 per person
Luxury Spanish Honeymoon
from $16,800 per person
Spanish Family Adventure
from $9,400 per person
Questions
Questions we are asked
What are the best luxury hotels in Barcelona?
The four we feature have pages of their own: Hotel Arts, a tower on the beachfront by the Port Olímpic; W Barcelona, the glass sail at the end of Barceloneta; Cotton House, in the cotton guild’s old headquarters in the Eixample; and Hotel Alma, a quiet house by the Passeig de Gràcia. Our Barcelona accommodation overview compares them area by area, and the best luxury hotels in Barcelona looks wider; we also arrange others to suit you.
What is the best time to visit Barcelona for luxury travel?
April to June, and September and October: warm days for walking the city, with Sant Jordi in April and La Mercè in September. July and August are the beach months. Book early whenever you come: from April to October the city’s hotels are about as full in every month. Our best time to visit Barcelona guide goes month by month.
Can Avelia Travel create a private, tailor-made itinerary for me?
Yes, that is what we do. Every trip is private and planned around you, from the hotel and the guides to the tables and the days out, whether it is built around architecture, food and wine, or both. Tell us your dates and who is travelling, and we start from there.
What should I know about Barcelona's language and culture?
Barcelona is the capital of Catalonia, whose own language is Catalan. Catalan and Spanish are both official there, and you will see and hear both; the guides we arrange speak English. The city keeps its own feast days, from Sant Jordi in April to La Mercè in September, and a guide who knows them makes it easier to read.
How far in advance should I book my trip to Barcelona?
Three to six months ahead, and earlier for spring and autumn, when the city’s hotels fill as fully as in summer. That also gives us time to reserve the three-star tables and Gaudí’s buildings as soon as your dates are fixed.
Barcelona guides
- Barcelona travel guide
When to go, where to stay, the food, the great buildings and three days in the city.
- Barcelona food and cuisine
Barcelona's table, where to eat, and the markets and the wines of Catalonia.
- Four days in Barcelona
Four days, day by day, where to stay, and how to extend the trip.
- Best time to visit Barcelona
Season by season and month by month, with the festivals and the beach months.
Plan your Barcelona trip
Tell us your dates and who is travelling. Everything else we can work out together.
Plan your Barcelona trip Our Barcelona page
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