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Friday 29 August 2014

Travel Guide - Barcelona


Hi everyone! I'm back home after a very relaxing holiday in Barcelona. I absolutely love that city and think it's a great place to travel to for a short break. I decided to make a different post from my usual beauty stuff and tell you a little bit about the places I've been to and really enjoyed visiting. 

I think one of my favourite places in Barcelona is 'Las Ramblas', as it's the most central location of the city. I stayed in a hotel in the area called Catalonia Portal de l'Angel, and I fully recommend it. Breakfast is expensive at €15 per person, but if you enjoy having a full continental meal first thing in the morning, it's worth it. Food is amazing! 
Las Ramblas, Barcelona
Las Ramblas for those who don't know is basically a long street, with lots of great shops in and around it, an awesome atmosphere with street artists, little market stalls, restaurants & the harbour. There are also some other interesting things around to explore, like Plaça Reial, Parc de La Ciutadella and if you go up the street by Plaça de Catalunya, you'll be able to see some of the buildings designed by Gaudi, a famous Spanish architect that has such a unique style. Find a list of all his buildings here
Plaça Reial
Here's another reason why Las Ramblas is one of my favourite places in the city. ;-) At the top of the street, just by the Plaça de Catalunya, you will find the best places to shop for cosmetics, which are Sephora (of course!) and El Corte Inglés (the equivalent of our House of Fraser, with loads of high end brands like Mac, Bobbi Brown, YSL, Chanel, etc). Sephora is a must go to place for me, as we don't have any in the UK. Watch out for a mini haul coming up on Sunday! ;-)
Eating Tapas is another must, as it's a traditional food in Spain. There are many Restaurants in and around Las Ramblas. My favourite was Ocaña, in Plaça Reial. Such a beautiful place, candle lit, nice spanish music... Tapas and drinks are really nice there. If I had to choose one dish, I'd recommend ordering the Grilled Beach Squid with Tomato Sauce (€7.80). So good! And I loved the Wonderland drink, which is a mix of vanilla syrup, mint, ginger beer, lime & passion fruit. You can choose to have it with or without alcohol. It's delicious!

I also highly recommend visiting is La Sagrada Família. This is Gaudi's most famous creation. It's a beautiful church that is still under construction. You won't find anything like this building anywhere in the world. You can pay to go in. The queues are very long, It was a very hot day, so I chose not to go in, but I've heard it's even more gorgeous inside. So maybe next time! 
Sagrada Família, Barcelona
Another one of Gaudi's creations I love is Parc Güell. This park is amazing! Again, it's got the quirkiest and most interesting architecture I've seen so far. 
Parc Güell, Barcelona
You also need to see the Magic Fountains of Montjuic. Such a pretty place to visit at night. Unfortunately the fountains got turned off just as I decided to take a photo, so I don't have a shot with the fountains on. I hope you can still see how beautiful the place is. The fountains operate this time of the year Thursday to Sunday, between 9pm - 11:30pm. Musical displays at 21:00, 21:30, 22:00, 22:30 and 23:00. The place lights up and becomes alive with hundreds if not thousands of tourists from everywhere across the globe. (click here for full performance times)  
Montjuic
Lastly, the beach, of course! Not much to say other than it's pretty crowded but a great place to relax and cool down.  
Beach, Barcelona
If you love animals like me or if you are travelling with little ones, I'd also recommend having a look at the Zoo. The highlight for me was the dolphin show, which I have never seen before. I loved it!  
Barcelona Zoo - Dolphin Show
Barcelona has more to offer than these things, but these are the places I really like and recommend seeing. I hope this 'guide' will be helpful to those of you who might be travelling there soon and also to those who haven't been to Barcelona yet, but might be interested in getting to know the city a little bit better.

Have you been to Barcelona before? What has been your favourite holiday destination so far? X
               

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6 comments

  1. Loved your post! It's so gorgeous, isn't it! We both picked Park Guell and the Magic Fountain as our favourite places ;) My favourite holiday destinations are cities in general, London will always have a special place in my hear but last year I went to Berlin and it's been simply amazing! Something made me completely fell in love with it ;) xx

    Gyudy’s Notes Of Beauty

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    1. I love Barcelona. Did you pop into Sephora as well? I nearly went to Berlin in the beginning of the year. You made me regret not going. hehe xx

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  2. Love this post, the pictures are gorgeous! I'm off to Barcelona on Thursday so this has got me excited! xx

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    1. Barcelona is great! You're gonna love it! Hope you have a lovely time there! xx

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  3. I wish I could go back to Barcelona, there was so much I didn't get to see
    blogablebeauty.blogspot.com

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  4. Beautiful photos!!!!! :)

    Layla xx
    www.sprinklesofstyle.co.uk

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