For first-time visitors to the city, we offer a list of the most popular museums, sights and tourist attractions in Barcelona. Find out the famous places to visit, from the Sagrada Família to the Barcelona FC Museum. This is the highlights that you can’t miss. The top ten tourist attractions.
Main sights and attractions
Sagrada Familia
The Sagrada Familia ('The Holy Family') is a massive Roman Catholic basilica under construction in Barcelona. Construction began in 1882 and its formal title is Temple Expiatori de la Sagrada Família. Originally designed by Antoni Gaudí (1852 – 1926), who worked on the project for over 40 years, devoting the last 15 years of his life entirely to the endeavor, the project is scheduled to be completed in 2026. On the subject of the extremely long construction period, Gaudí is said to have remarked, "My client is not in a hurry."
Casa Batlló and Casa Milà (La Pedrera)
The Casa Batllo is a building restored by Antoni Gaudí and Josep Maria Jujol, built in the year 1877 and remodelled in the years 1905–1907; located at 43, Passeig de Gràcia, part of the Illa de la Discòrdia in the Eixample district of Barcelona, Catalonia. The local name for the building is Casa dels ossos (House of Bones), and indeed it does have a visceral, skeletal organic quality. It was originally designed for a middle-class family and situated in a prosperous district of Barcelona.
The Casa Milà, better known as La Pedrera (Catalan for 'The Quarry'), is a building designed by the architect Antoni Gaudí and built during the years 1905–1910, being considered officially completed in 1912. It is located at 92, Passeig de Gràcia in the Eixample district of Barcelona. Hosts a large exposition of Gaudi works, covering Sagrada Familia and Casa Batlio, not only La Pedrera itself. The exposition is a good place to start your exploration of Gaudi; it reveals many hidden details for the art novice.
Gothic Quarter | Cathedral - Santa Maria del Mar
The Cathedral of Santa Eulàlia (also called La Seu) is the Gothic cathedral seat of the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Barcelona, Catalonia (Though sometimes inaccurately so called, the famous Sagrada Família is not a cathedral). The cathedral was constructed throughout the 13th to 15th centuries on top of a former Visigothic church. The Gothic-like façade is from the 19th century. The cathedral is dedicated to Eulalia of Barcelona, co-patron saint of Barcelona, a young virgin who, according to Catholic tradition, suffered martyrdom during Roman times in Barcelona.
The Basilica de Santa Maria del Mar is one of the most representative examples of Catalan Gothic architecture, it features a sombre but beautiful interior. The upsweeping verticality and lightness of the interior are especially surprising considering the blocky exterior surfaces. Built between 1329 and 1383, it was once was home to a Christian cult in the late 3rd century. The church is dedicated to Saint Mary of the Sea, since the quarter where is located (Born) was dedicated to the jobs related to the sea.
La Rambla - Boqueria Market
The Barcelona Rambla is a street in central Barcelona, popular with both tourists and locals alike. A 1.2 kilometer-long tree-lined pedestrian mall in the Barri Gòtic, it connects Plaça Catalunya in the center with the Christopher Columbus monument at Port Vell. La Rambla can be considered a series of shorter streets, each differently named, hence the plural forms Las Ramblas (Spanish) and les Rambles (Catalan).
The most well-known public market in the city is the Mercat de Sant Josep de la Boqueria, or simply La Boqueria. Located along the La Rambla, Barcelona in the heart of the city, It is both a tourist attraction and a functioning food market. The market consists of a series of open sheds, built in 1853 under the direction of architect Mas Vila. Though the building dates from the 19th Century, a market has existed in the same location since the 12th Century.
Port Vell - Maremàgnum
Montjuïc | Museu Nacional d’Art de Catalunya - Poble Espanyol
The Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya is a museum of Catalan visual art located in the Palau Nacional, built for the 1929 World's Fair. Situated on the Montjuïc hill at the end of Avinguda de la Reina Maria Cristina, it was rehabilitated for the 1992 Summer Olympics. The museum was located in this building in 1990, when the Catalonian Museum Law reunited the collections of the former Museu d'Art de Catalunya and the Museu d'Art Modern, and declared it the national museum. The new museum thus combined Romanesque, Gothic, Renaissance, Baroque and the 19th and 20th century art collections.
The Poble Espanyol was built in 1929 for the Barcelona International Exhibition as the pavilion dedicated to art. It is one of the few monuments that belonged to an International Exhibition that can still be visited. From the beginning, it was conceived as a real "village" in the middle of a city, with a surface area of 49,000 m2. The aim was to give an idea of what might be an "ideal model" of a Spanish village containing the main characteristics of all towns and villages in the peninsula.
Gràcia | Park Güell
The Park Guell is a 17, 18 ha wide garden complex with architectural elements situated on the hill of el Carmel in the Gràcia district of Barcelona, Catalonia. It was designed by the Catalan architect Antoni Gaudí and built in the years 1900 to 1914. It is part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site "Works of Antoni Gaudí". The park was originally part of a commercially unsuccessful housing site, the idea of Count Eusebi de Güell, whom the park was named after. It was inspired by the English garden city movement; hence the original English name Park.
Palau de la Musica Catalana
The Palau de la Musica Catalana (Palace of Music), opened in 1908, is one of the most important works of Barcelona art nouveau. The architect commissioned for the job was Lluis Domenech i Montaner, one of the greatest exponents of Catalan Modernismo. The construction, decorated with scultures, mosaics and stained glass by the finest artists and artisans of the time, is perhaps the best example of the synthesis between architecture and decorative arts that characterised this artistic movement.
Futbol Club Barcelona Stadium - Barcelona FC Museum
One for fans, the museum at Camp Nou is always packed and features displays of pictures, posters, jerseys, boots and balls, as well as offering a tour of the huge stadium.
