How to plan the perfect trip to Barcelona

Barcelona is the perfect holiday location if you want an exciting city break with plenty of sunshine, beautiful beaches and plenty of exciting attractions to enjoy. Millions of tourists enjoy its long golden beaches, stunning architecture, and beautiful parks every year. It’s always best to be prepared before you travel in order to get the most out of your holiday. Take a look at these helpful tips to help you plan the best break possible.

Choose where to stay

Barcelona is a fairly spread out city and where you stay will have a big impact on the kind of trip you will have. Here are some recommendations on the top places to stay in Barcelona:

• Gothic Quarter - This is Barcelona’s oldest neighborhood and also considered the most beautiful. It’s the most popular area with tourists and has plenty of great restaurants, bars, and attractions nearby.
• Las Ramblas - Barcelona’s most popular and busiest road! Staying on Las Ramblas means you’ll be right in the center of the action and near all of the city’s main attractions.
• Gracia - This hip village has some of Gaudi's most famous works within easy walking distance. It’s also a lot quieter and less crowded.
• El Born - This area looks similar to the Gothic Quarter, but with a more residential feel and far fewer tourists.

Decide how to get around

Once you know where you will be staying, you need to decide how to get around. Fortunately, Barcelona has a great metro system which makes navigating the city fairly straightforward. Renting a car is another great option as it offers convenience and flexibility, especially if you want to go outside of the city and main tourist areas. It's also pretty straightforward to arrange, with plenty of car hire companies offering Discount International Car Rental, so you should find it easy to find a good deal! Generally, the early you book the better the price, but you should still be able to find good last-minute rental deals if you want to plan a spontaneous Spanish road trip.

Find the best attractions

Barcelona is perfect for travelers of all ages! Adults can appreciate the fascinating history, architecture, and culture, but there’s also plenty of things to keep kids entertained too. Make sure you do some research and make a list of attractions you want to visit. You can use resources like travel websites and blogs to find recommendations. Here are some of the best attractions you should be sure to check out when visiting Barcelona:

• La Sagrada Familia - Designed by Antoni Gaudi, this impressive building dominates the city skyline and is one of the world’s most visited basilicas.
• Park Guell - This is a beautiful large park showcasing some of Gaudi’s best work.
• Barcelona Cathedral - An impressive example of gothic architecture that offers amazing photo opportunities.
• The Magic Fountains of Montjuic - The fountain puts on an amazing nightly light, music and water performance that shouldn’t be missed.

Barcelona Cultural Heritage Vandalized

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In yesterday's post I advanced the news published in El Periódico de Catalunya about the criminal acts against Barcelona's cultural heritage. I am talking about the important damage inflicted on one of the main symbols of Gaudi's legacy: The Lizard or Dragon fountain in Park Güell. There are larger pictures in this article via 20Minutos newspaper to compare with this snapshot from my archives. What are we going to show our kids? What goes wrong with society to breed such monsters? Do you think hitting with an iron bar on a beautiful thing is human?. This is not a mere incident, this is a consequence of our own mistakes. Shall we burn that hooligan in hell or shall we teach this kid before it is too late?

barcelona barcelona+photoblog barcelona+photos barcelona+pictures barcelona+photography barcelona+images barcelona+news gaudi park+guell catchy+colors mosaic modernisme nikon+d70s

Art Nouveau Mosaics: The Trencadis Technique

Parc Güell, that amazing jewel of Art Nouveau, where Gaudi left his unmistakable legacy in spite of being part of a housing project that was bound to fail, is a vast green area where your eyes are immediately seduced by curious shapes, impossible lines, incredible designs and innovative ideas. Such is the case of the mosaic benches around the square facing the entrance to the park. Serpentine benches waving around the central arena, feature spectacular combinations of colorful shards of mosaic that apparently at first sight do not make any sense but that are part of an intelligent meaningful composition, a sort of magic snake showing off her shiny scales on top the 86 Doric columns that hold the square. The scales are really thousands of little shards, fragments of mosaic carefully assembled to create a sort of mural in which chaos generates beauty and such technique is called trencadis.

Top Tips for Exploring Barcelona’s Natural World

Barcelona is famed for being home to one of the most cosmopolitan cityscapes in the world, where people travel from countries far and wide to see its beautiful baroque buildings and learn about its history. But, that is not all there is to it. In fact, within the city and surrounding its edges are numerous natural wonders which people overlook when they visit. If you are hoping to inject a dose of the natural world into your trip and escape from the busy crowds of the centre, you will not be disappointed. From city beaches to mountainous abbeys, there is something here that everyone can enjoy, whether you are a nature lover or not.

Visit city parks 

One of the city’s biggest perks is that you don’t have to travel far to find some green spaces. There are many parks you can find that are easy to reach by jumping on the metro or walking the short distance. For example, the famous Park Guell is home to some of Gaudi’s iconic architecture, where bright trees line the paths that lead to the perfect picnic spots and colourful buildings. Here, you can also catch a glimpse of the sea on the horizon. A trip to Barcelona wouldn’t be the same without heading to the Ciutadella Park, where you can catch sight of exotic wildlife in the zoo. For a more natural escape, the Jardi Botanic de Barcelona has views of rolling hills, forests, and exotic fauna in contrast to the bustling city alongside it. Such places are the perfect setting to take some pictures to commemorate your trip.

Travel outside the city

 

The green spaces inside the city are a great introduction to the natural world that lies beyond the metro line. In such places, you can enjoy hiking and biking, but you can also go camping in the warmer weather for an unforgettable experience. To make the most of the mountainous land nearby, you should make the short drive to Serra de Collserola, where you can catch mountain views as you explore. To get to these areas, it is best for you to travel in a car rental if you don’t have your car with you. This will ensure you can see some of the best natural scenery on the drive there. 

Relax on the beach

 

When people think of the natural world, they often picture green forests and mountainous terrain. However, beaches are also a great way to make the most of it if you don’t want to spend your days surrounded by greenery. There are many city beaches you can relax on like Playa de la Barceloneta, but you can find the most peaceful by traveling further down the coast. For a few short hours or an evening trip away, you should catch the train to Platja de Sant Sebastia, which offers great views of old town and the sea. There are other beaches to explore nearby. For a more unique beach experience, travel north to Platja de L’Illa Roja, where you can find impossibly clear waters and rocky, coastal hikes to indulge your beach dreams.

Flower Digital Photography: Light Purple

Another assignment for flower enthusiasts: I came across these beautiful purple flowers at Park Guell gardens. Due to the long stem and leaves I suppose it is a bulb flower very common in public places but I must have missed that botany lesson so I need your help one more time.

Last quiz answer was Lantanas. Thanks to those who gave me the correct name or enhanced the scarce information of the post.

Update: agapanthus was the name!

Park Güell: A Personal Approach

Here is a sort of mixture between reality and canvas. I exaggerated the frame around the main subject which is the entrance to Park Güell by Gaudi. 

 It looks better from the distance I guess. I have a long way to go till I learn photography. 

 Have a nice weekend everybody.