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Parc de la Ciutadella in Barcelona

Barcelona City Breaks

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Barcelona City Breaks

Choose one of our Barcelona City breaks and get ready to visit this remarkable destination. The capital of Catalonia, Barcelona, is the 10th most visited city in the world, with over eight million visitors every year. It’s no surprise though considering the warm Mediterranean climate, famous football team, beautiful architecture, nightlife, authentic food markets, and delicious restaurants.

Barcelona is also home to glorious beaches where you can simply grab yourself an ice cream and watch the world go by. Or if you are looking for a lively atmosphere, visit the bustling La Rambla, which offers an exciting collection of history, architecture, food, and Spanish culture.

If now’s the time to book a getaway to sunny Barcelona, book today with one of our in-store travel experts.

Best City Break and Holiday Hotel Deals in Barcelona

Price is based on 2 adults sharing one room for 3 nights. The prices shown below are guide prices only. Refine your results using your preferred departure airports and travel dates below.

Top 5 Things To Do
Visit the Sagrada Família - Renowned unfinished church, started in the 1880s, with museum and city views.
Take up the views from the Park Güell - The Park Güell is a public park system with mosaic-covered building, steps and sculptures that offers stunning panoramic views of the city.
Stroll round the Gothic Quarter - This charming area in the city has narrow medieval streets filled with trendy bars, clubs and Catalan restaurants.
See a game at Camp Nou - Camp Nou is the home stadium of FC Barcelona since its completion in 1957. If you dont manage to see a game here you should definitely take a tour of the stadium.
Admire the Plaça de Catalunya - In the centre of the city this square is filled with sculptures, tre's and an abundance of cafes and shops.
Location
Barcelona City Break Activities
Parc de la Ciutadella in Barcelona
Barcelona - Sagrada Familia -Fast Track

Adult: £48 Child (6-10 yrs):£32

This guided-tour includes skip-the-line entry to one of the most visited buildings in the world – the incredible Sagrada Familia cathedral – Antoni Gaudi’s unfinished UNESCO protected masterpiece!

This tour allows skip-the-line access taking you straight inside La Sagrada Familia (The Holy Family) Cathedral, Gaudi’s unfinished masterpiece and one of most famous landmarks in Barcelona. The immense Gothic basilica, which has been under construction since 1882, is not expected to be finished for another 80-years!

We will visit the astonishing interior of this church, where vaults reach seventy meters. Antoni Gaudí designed a Latin cross plan with five aisles, extremely rich in ornamentation and symbolism. We will also visit the Sagrada Familia museum, where you will see drawings, plaster models and pictures about the history and development of this basilica from its early beginnings to the present day. The museum will also give valuable information about Antoni Gaudi´s life and career.

Please note: If you wish to visit the Towers you will need to choose our Sagrada Familia – including Towers Ticket. Please note however that this is not suitable for people with walking difficulties as the lift will only take people up the towers NOT back down also. Please check the ticket details for further information.

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A cosmopolitan melting pot

Barcelona has a wealth of historic gems, inspiring art, designer shops and a vibrant and trendy nightlife scene. You can’t help but be mesmerised by the breathtaking architecture of Gaudí dotted around – especially the Sagrada Família. The church is like something from a Brothers Grimm fairytale and is the city’s crown jewel.

A city by the beach

If the sun’s shining, take time out from the sightseeing and head to the beach. There are wide, the golden sandy coastline stretches to check out. Pop over to the neighbouring port for a brilliant selection of chic bars and seafood restaurants. You’ll find peace and quiet further along on one of Barcelona’s seven sizzling shores.

Panoramic city views

Head up the steep hill to Park Güell to enjoy more artistic works, including Gaudí’s home – it looks like somewhere Hansel and Gretel would have lived! Sports fans will go mad for Olympic Park, built especially for the 1992 games, while the nearby cable cars offer rides up to Montjuïc for cinematic cityscape scenes.

What to expect in the city of Barcelona

The enchanting city of Barcelona is a visual delight and has an atmosphere that combines elegance and sophistication with provincial charm. In exploring its streets you'll discover medieval romance in its Gothic quarter and the awe-inspiring delights of the fantastic and sometimes outrageous Art Nouveau architecture of Gaudi and his contemporaries.

The funicular up to Tibidabo or the cable car up Montjuic offers breathtaking views over this attractive city. Its skyline is perhaps most famous for Antoni Gaudi's masterwork, the still incomplete church of the Sagrada Familia, as well as the city's huge Gothic cathedral. The artistic legacy of Barcelona is one of the city's most appealing attributes, with museums containing extensive collections of the works of Miro and Picasso. Barcelona is also a shopper's paradise, with the city's flair for style reflected in its numerous boutiques and markets, open late into the evenings. As the sun sets, and the city's many bars and restaurants open, the night truly comes alive. Dinner is served at any time between nine o'clock and midnight, and the festivities around the bars and nightclubs carry on well into the early hours of the morning.

Barcelona is the commercial centre of the popular holiday region known as the Costa Brava, the northernmost Mediterranean seafront in Spain, as well as the Costa Dorada to the south. The coast is dotted with popular resort towns, many retaining their age-old charm, easily reaching the city.

Barcelona's excellent transport system includes the metro, buses, trains, funiculars and cable cars; tickets for all (except night buses) are transferable across the system. The metro is the fastest and most efficient way to get around the city, except during rush hour when it becomes very crowded. The bus network is extensive and is easy to master with a transport map. Night buses take over from about 10 pm to 6 am. During summer the hop-on hop-off Bus Turistic links all the main sights and tourist destinations. Taxis are plentiful and inexpensive and are a good option especially late at night, but charge extra for a number of things. Uber and Cabify are also options. Hiring a car is unnecessary and frustrating, but it can be useful if planning day trips beyond its limits.

With a lunchtime siesta, there's no excuse for not having enough energy to make it through a long night of partying up a storm on the streets of Barcelona. Alfresco dining is a good way to start an evening of revelry and has become a way of life in many of the city's squares. Good spots to sip on a glass of wine and people-watch are the Placa del Sol in Gracia and Passeig del Born, Placa del Pi and Plaça Reial in the Old Town.

Barcelona is a trendy city with a fickle club scene that changes just about as often as its locals change their minds on what they'd like to drink. During the summer, (beach bars) open along the white sands of Barcelona's urban beaches, each with its own vibe and music, and are popular with both locals and tourists.

Key nightlife spots include Barri Gotic, which despite its medieval atmosphere, boasts a great selection of bars and clubs to choose from, though it is best for visitors to keep possessions close to their bodies, as pickpockets operate in these areas. Las Ramblas is also full of party venues. This is where visitors will find some of Barcelona's most popular and trendiest nightclubs and bars. L'Eixample, north of the city, is the place to go to enjoy Barcelona's gay scene. Port Olimpic is great for night owls, with plenty of bars, clubs and great seafood restaurants, while the yacht marina is a great place to enjoy sundowners on a warm summer's evening.

With the rest of Europe right on its doorstep, Barcelona is dripping with culture and there are plenty of regular performances of ballet, music, dance and opera at various venues such as the Joan Miro Foundation and the Greek Theatre, or the Liceu Opera House. And for a more relaxed evening, visitors can enjoy Flamenco at various venues throughout the city such as Tablao de Carmen and Travel Bar Flamenco Guide, which are both located in the old quarter's centre.

Barcelona is a shopper's playground. A three-mile (5km) shopping route runs from Las Ramblas, through Placa de Catalunya, along Passeig de Gràcia, and up Avenue Diagonal. Most of it is pedestrianised and pleasant to navigate on foot. The Tomb bus is a service specifically tailored for shoppers in the city, covering all the major retail centres; it departs every seven minutes from Catalonia Square and makes 28 stops up until Placa Pius XII. Tickets can be bought on the bus.

Barcelona is a very fashion-conscious place and several big names such as Giorgio Armani, Burberry and Bally are represented in exclusive stores in the city while there are also local Spanish mega-fashion stores like Zara, Mango and Adolfo Dominguez. Travellers on a budget might want to take advantage of seasonal sales. During these sales, winter sales officially start around 10 January and summer sales around 5 July; savings are generally high, between 50 to 70%.

Shops in Barcelona open at about 9 am and close between 8 pm and 9 pm daily. Some shops close for a lunchtime siesta between 2 pm and 4 pm.

Non-EU visitors to Spain have a little extra incentive to bring souvenirs home: tax-free shopping. So long as the goods bought are items that can be taken back to their country with them and the bill exceeds €90, they will make a saving of 18% on purchases. Visitors should look out for the Tax-Free signs in shop windows.

Legendary rocker Freddie Mercury once described Barcelona's beautiful horizon as 'a jewel in the sun'. The city can best be described as a visual city. It is a sightseer's paradise, with seven beaches and 10 hectares (25 acres) of municipal parkland allotted throughout the city.

From the hills of Montjuic and Tibidabo, one can take in the scope of Barcelona and look down on the scenic tree-lined La Ramblas Boulevard, the iconic pedestrian street running from the city centre to the Port Vella, Barcelona's oldest harbour.

With beautiful warm weather for most of the year, Barcelona is one of those cities blessed with plenty of outdoor attractions and activities. Visitors can go to the beach to splash around in the turquoise Mediterranean, cycle around the neighbourhoods of this bicycle-friendly city, or jump on the hop-on-hop-off tourist bus for some sightseeing.

Barcelona also carries with it a rich history. Founded over 2,000 years ago, the city's architecture reflects its Roman heritage and carries the mark of various influences. The Catalan architecture movement founded in Barcelona is particularly notable, and Gaudi's distinctive creations are among many of the city's buildings declared as World Heritage Sites. Barcelona's weird and wonderful architectural and artistic creations make the city refreshingly unique, quite unlike any other urban destination.

In 2002 Barcelona was awarded the title of most city in Europe by the prestigious Le Guide des Gourmands, the first non-French city so named in the 15 years of the publication's run (at the time). Being the capital city of the Autonomous Community of Catalonia, Barcelona's restaurants specialise in the delicious Catalan cuisine, typically flaunting the extensive use of garlic, olive oil and fish for many kinds of meals. It is not uncommon to find fish mixed with red meat in a stew. The (bread smeared in tomato and seasoned with olive oil and salt) is a signature Catalonian delicacy served with every meal in most restaurants. Tapas, now popular worldwide, originated in Spain, and these bite-sized treats are a firm favourite in the city of Barcelona.

Catalonia is a premier wine region for Spain and the birthplace of Cava sparkling wine. Dark red grapes in the region make for the darker 'black' wine, or, a stronger red concoction. Dry white wines come second to the Cava in popularity among tourists and locals alike.

Barcelona's restaurants usually open around 8 am (if they are open for breakfast that is) and typically remain open until midnight. Supper hours are very late, with most residents opting to dine between 9 pm and 10 pm.

When is the best time to visit Barcelona ?

Barcelona enjoys a subtropical-Mediterranean climate with long, hot summers and cool winters. Winters, between December and February, are mild and snow is rare. January is the coldest winter month, with temperatures averaging between 41F (5C) and 57F (14C) during the day and colder at night. The peak summer months are June to August, but Barcelona's summer really lasts a full six months, from May to October. August is the hottest summer month, with temperatures averaging between 70F (21C) and 84F (29C) during the day. April and November are transitional months, with more unpredictable weather. Barcelona doesn't get much rain, with only a handful of rainy days every month; the wettest months are September, October and May, with thunderstorms occurring between August and November. Although the city gets plenty of sunshine it can get foggy and cloudy, with sea fog especially common in early spring.

The ideal months to visit Barcelona, the Costa Brava, and the nearby resorts of Sitges and Vilanova are May, June, July and September when visitors can expect good, hot weather. In August, locals desert Barcelona for the coastal resorts to escape the heat despite the shade in the tree-lined boulevards.

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  • Currency Euro (€)
  • Flying from UK Flights from Glasgow to Barcelona are around 2 hours 45 minutes.
  • Language Spanish
  • Passport & Visas If you are a British passport holder you do not need a visa to enter Spain & your passport should be valid for the proposed duration of your stay.