Beautiful Barcelona

Check out the various things you can do in this beautiful Spanish city.

- Vida Gabe

A FRIEND ONCE ASKED ME what my favorite Spanish city was. Unabashedly and without pause, I told her it was Barcelona. At that time, the swiftness of my response surprised me. I try not to play favorites when people ask me to talk about the cities I’ve seen. Travel is a personal thing, after all, and so when someone asks me for the next place they should visit, I counter by asking them what they’re looking for, what they like to do, and what they would like to experience. But ultimately, no matter how I spin it, I somehow always end up recommending Barcelona.

It’s not just that Barcelona is beautiful (it is—breathtakingly so), because so are many other places in Europe. There’s a beauty in Barcelona that goes beyond the merely striking Instagram posts we share; the city is vibrant in a way that feels almost tangible when you’re walking in it. And although Barcelona is about two thousand years old, it still feels young and contemporary in a way that other quintessential Spanish cities can never fully capture.

I’ve found that it is also an ideal recommendation for many people simply because it is so many things, even as it maintains its uniqueness. Barcelona is Spanish and Catalonian, historical and modern. And there is no shortage of things to take in during a visit. Here are some of my top recommendations for a trip to Barcelona:

FOR THE LOVERS OF ART