A long weekend in Barcelona

I spent five days in Barcelona over the Easter weekend and this is quite possibly now my favourite city! I couldn't get over the incredible amount of sunshine (something I had forgotten about after nearly five months living through a London winter) and the amazing food. Barcelona really is an incredibly beautiful city.

We tried not to overly plan our trip and take it easy, but this was somewhat of a mistake, given we were there over a long weekend. If I can make any recommendation for Barcelona, it's to pre-book the Gaudi attractions - especially Sagrada Familia and Park Guell. We missed out on entering the mosaic park at Park Guell after the tickets had sold out for the day. Luckily, we managed to get into Sagrada Familia, but at the hefty cost of €39 each for a guided tour. To be honest, the tour was worth it and I would definitely suggest joining a guided tour or at least get an audio guide. You could, however, save a bit of money by booking one of the official tours through the Sagrada Familia website in advance.

The details within Sagrada Familia are so amazing and easy to miss without a guide to point them out. I loved the addition of Mediterranean plants and animals, including lizards and bunches of fruits on the exterior. The lead light windows were also amazing and let a stream of rainbow light into the building - I can only imagine how beautiful it would be at sunrise!

To avoid expensive flights over the long weekend, we chose a 9 am flight on the Wednesday prior to Easter and then flew back on Sunday night. This saved us a lot of money and still gave us plenty of time to see Barcelona - although I could have easily stayed longer. We stayed in the Alexandra Barcelona Hotel, part of the Curio Collection by Hilton. The hotel was in a great location, halfway between Casa Mila (La Pedrera) and Casa Batlló. There is plenty of food around and easy access to public transport. Our one issue with this hotel is that it has a central heating and cooling system. Despite it being quite warm, we were unable to switch our air conditioning to cooling, which made for a very hot hotel room.

We arrived at our hotel in time for lunch and found a Catalan style restaurant. My first taste of Catalan food was nothing short of amazing - I'm still craving that delicious bread rubbed in garlic and tomato (Pa amb tomàquet) with tapas. It was incredibly sunny almost every day that we were in Barcelona, which felt so amazing after snow only one and a half weeks prior in London. We then spent the afternoon on foot exploring the old parts of the city.

I had pre-booked tickets to see the opera, Andrea Chenier, at Gran Teatre Del Liceu on our first evening. This was a great way to see such a magnificent old opera building and a fun start to the trip. We then had a late night dinner at Cafè de l'Òpera opposite the theatre. Despite its basic appearance, this is a great place for a post-opera dinner.

Our second day started with a very photogenic brunch at Brunch and Cake and we then made our way to Casa Mila. We had to queue about 30 minutes to get in, so once again, I would say it makes sense to pre-book this. La Pedrera is an amazing building with an incredibly unique rooftop. If you have any interest in architecture or Gaudi, definitely check out this unique apartment building. We then made our way to Park Guell (and as mentioned, discovered the tickets had sold out for the day). You can still see quite a bit for free, including Gaudi's house which is more of a museum to his life. If you're going to Park Guell, don't miss the Bunkers del Carmel. It sounds bland, but you don't go there to see a bunker. The view across Barcelona towards the ocean is incredible.

We went on a great bike tour of Barcelona, which gave us the opportunity to see parts of the city we may have missed on foot. The tour was run by Free Walking Tours Barcelona, although the bike tour isn't free. The tour went through the beautiful Parc de la Ciutadella and down to Barceloneta Beach, past Plaza De España and then back to the meeting point at Plaça Catalunya. After the bike tour, we visited Real Madrid (my boyfriend's choice!).

I visited the Picasso Museum, which is worthwhile if you have some spare time once you've got your Gaudi and tapas fix! The Museum of History Catalonia is another good museum to visit and explains the history of Catalonia from ancient times to present day.

The food in Barcelona is incredible. We had so much delicious food that it's hard to list it all. Mercat de la Boqueria is great even just to look at the delicious food on offer. The produce ranges from ready-to-eat seafood to cups of chorizo and freshly squeezed juices of almost every variety. This market is very central and close to La Rambla. Mercat de Santa Caterina is also full of amazing food, although it's more of a gourmet produce market than somewhere to buy takeaway snacks. We did, however, have an amazing seafood lunch here. We also visited Els Quatre Gats for lunch, a famous cafe where the likes of Picasso and Gaudi spent time. While it is definitely pricey, the decor and history make it worth a visit. We had an amazing lobster and rice dinner one night with a few too many sides. If I can offer any advice about Barcelona, it's don't go to dinner before 9 pm (it will be very obvious that you're a tourist).

If you go up to Mont Juic, I also suggest walking back down the hill rather than taking the bus. There are some beautiful gardens along the way! If you haven't been to Barcelona, I suggest you move it to the top of your list!