Sagrada Familia Avenida Gaudi Views Cozy Lounge

The Neighborhood

Welcome to a FridaysFlats experience! If you’re here for the city Barcelona is a very lively place, with its contagious exuberance constantly spilling out onto small streets and cute Plaças packed with cafes, bars and local designer shops. The iconic La Rambla, an eclectic kilometer of restaurants, bars, cultural venues, street vendors, convenience stores, fashion boutiques and just about anything else you can think of is within walking distance. Explore palaces, history rich sites like Plaça Reial, admire street performers and avoid flower sellers. There’s an El Corte Inglés department store, in the heart of the city: Plaça Catalunya. A notable stop on La Rambla is its famous Boqueria, a fresh-food market with over 300 stalls that sell produce, meats, cheeses, fish, seafood, nuts, fresh juices and many other incredibly delicious things to munch on. There’s also a local food school where local chefs and sommeliers share their wisdom. If you’re not afraid of a little hike, head uphill to find other iconic Barcelona landmarks, like the local’s favorite Villa de Gracia, or Gaudi’s other masterpiece: Park Guell. Either way you go, something awesome is waiting to be discovered. Contemplate the gothic architecture around Barcelona’s 800 years old Cathedral, all covered in gargoyles. See Columbus’s statue, admire the yachts in the marina and stroll through the Barceloneta streets onto the nearest beaches for the Mediterranean vibe. Elegant colonial buildings surround you. Shadowy arches. High windows. Fading wooden shutters. Travel back in time as you wander the narrow streets. The buildings lean overhead, almost touching. If you’re here for the beach Barcelona’s beaches are many and offer a wide variety of dining, spots and other entertainment activities. For example, around Port Olimpic you will find people playing volleyball most of the year. The Barceloneta area is the most lively stretch of the beach, especially during the night, but if you’re not into crowds, here’s our tip: Bogatell is one of Barcelona’s newest beaches. Renovated in the 90s when the city’s coastline was rehabilitated to host some of the Olympic festivities, it is now a local favorite, not just for sunbathing and water sports, but also for everyone enjoying ping-pong, beach volley, or football. Due to its recent urbanization, this 700m stretch of perfect sand is one of the best quality seafronts Barcelona has to offer. If you’re here for nature Parc Guell, Parc de Ciutadella and many other locations such as Montjuic or Tibidabo are easily accessible by metro, bus or taxi. There are many places where you can enjoy the beauty of nature, wild colored flowers or fragrant bushes. Just to visit all the attractions of Montjuic could easily take you a week. Here you can find not one but two wondrous botanical gardens, one of them a picture perfect cactus reservation that’s one of the natural wonders of Barcelona, The Fundacio Miro, The Poble Espanyol, The Theatre Grec, Palau Sant Jordi or the former Olympic village are only some of the attractions on Montjuic, but neither rivals the panoramic view of the city and the sea you will get from up there. Tibidabo’s amusement park offers breathtaking views of Barcelona. If you’re here for shopping Shop ‘til you drop! Or maybe not that much, but still, find local designers and cute boutique stores around your area, or head to the center for the big Corte Ingles next to Portal del Angel and walk along Passeig de Gracia / Rambla de Catalunya. If you’re looking for something more upscale, go to the Corte Ingles on Diagonal, or to Diagonal Mar, Europe’s biggest luxury shopping mall. Pro tip: You’ll love the boutiques on Carrer d’Avinyó. At Number 7 you’ll find La Manual Alpargatera. It sells espadrille-inspired shoes. It's whispered they cut their colors from a real rainbow. Gray-purple-green? No problem. If you’re here for museums Rest assured, all the adjoining neighborhoods like Gothic, Born and Raval are full of museums, monuments and interesting cultural venues like Museo de la Marina, MACBA (for Contemporary Art) or the Catalan Cultural Center, plus some fun and interesting stuff for kids of all ages (Big Fun Museum and Museum of Illusions or the Wax Museum). The Gran Teatre del Liceu (Opera) is also on La Rambla. Everything is easily accessible by metro, bus, taxi or walking.