Barcelona is located on the Mediterranean sea in the very north
of the Spanish coast. The second largest city in Spain, with glorious beaches and a history
stretching back over 2,000 years Barcelona has something to suit everyone. Its style and
sophistication make Barcelona one of the most popular cities in Spain, second only to
Madrid. The city has greatly increased in popularity since the early 1990s, when the 1992
Olympic Games relaunched the city, with a multi-billion-
dollar building boom. This saw an
entirely new harbour development and face-lifts for many existing buildings.
Barcelona's location on the shores of the Mediterranean means that it enjoys pleasant
temperatures all year round. The city has over four kilometres of well equipped beaches,
frequented scores of residents and tourists alike. Barcelonas olympic harbour provides
excellent conditions for water sports.
Barcelona has an enormous number of sites and tourist attractions worth visiting. There are
several tourism and tourist information offices situated in the city centre of Barcelona and
these provide up-to-date information about Barcelona attractions, museums, events, festivals,
travel, Barcelona sightseeing and general Barcelona tourism and tourist information.
Barcelona boasts some of the best shopping in the whole of Spain. With everything from traditional
family stores, to top designer outlets and large department stores. The markets in Barcelona are
equally impressive drawing large crowds of both tourists and locals. Street-café life in
Barcelona is rich and in the evenings, many people site outside in the squares and watch the world go
by.
Barcelona has a rich history, and there are monuments of Romanesque, Gothic
and Renaissance
periods or still before, but the most characteristic features of the city were built in the last
100 years. Some of the city's most popular sights include Gaudi's masterpiece, the unfinished
Sagrada Família Cathedral, and Parc Güell in the north. Not forgetting the home ground
of FC Barcelona, the 98,000 seater Nou Camp stadium.
Barcelona attractions
La Rambla is a long boulevard where you'll find all kinds of entertainment
including buskers and mime artists in action, market stalls selling anything from flowers to newspapers,
birds and rabbits.
At the end of La Rambla you will find the Columbus Monument. You can take a lift to the top for
spectacular views up the Ramblas and across the harbour.
Barri Gòtic The Gothic Quarter is just east off the Ramblas and contains
medieval Gothic buildings dating from the 14th and 15th century. There are plenty of
cafés and bars to enjoy amoung the maze of interconnecting narrow streets linking with
squares and plazas.
La Sagrada Família The magnificent spires of Gaudi's unfinished cathedral La
Sagrada Família are the most stunning of attractions on Barcelona's skyline.
There has been ongoing controversy since Gaudí´s death in 1926, as to how the completion
should progress.
La Pedrera is another of Gaudi's masterpieces. Built between 1905 and 1910 in
the
upmarket Gracia district serving as an apartment and an office block. The interior is fascinating
as you step back a century into the home of the Milà family and see the different rooms of
the apartment.
Parc Güell is a spectacular park with superb city views. It is home to one
of Barcelona's most photographed attractions, the giant coloured lizard. Gaudi lived
for most
of the last 20 years of his life in the Casa Museu Gaudí within the grounds.
Montjuïc is the hill which overlooks Barcelona from the southwest
and is home to the Olympic Stadium which was used in the 1992 Olympic Games. It also has some
excellent art galleries including the Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya and the Fundació
Joan Miró.
Museu Picasso is Barcelona's most visited museum is housed in three
medieval palaces. The museum houses some of his most famous works.
FC Barcelona Museum is the second most visited museum in the city.
It is located in the main stand of the Nou Camp and provides memorabilia depicting the
history of this great club.
Tibidabo is the hill you can see from the city looking north.
Standing at over 500m and reached by funicular railway, it affords great views over
Barcelona and has an amusement park which attracts many locals and tourists. |
