Barcelona Travel Guide is part of the Gold Medal Trip Report.
TPOL’s Guns & Butter Travel Guide is the best way to see as much as you can in as little time as possible. Here’s how it works: A trip is composed of two factors: Labor And Lazy. The opportunity cost (what is given up) for relaxing and being Lazy is gained by being adventurous in the form of Labor and vice versa. The guide includes inefficient activities i.e., tourist traps that should be avoided and aspirational activities that are worth doing but may be impossible to see given the constraints of time and resources.
Originally, I was supposed to stay in Barcelona as part of my Residency Series (see 2024 Residencies Announced! Barcelona, Buenos Aires, Cape Town). The prices were too high leaving me to join the fight with locals who water-gunned down the unwelcome tourists. It is not lost on me that I am part of the problem.
Here’s what I did, what I would recommend doing, and what I would avoid.
Past
This is my third time in Barcelona. The first time I was here was in 2011 after being unceremoniously fired from General Motors (Read Everyone’s Advice Is Wrong . . . Including Mine). Highlights included the Sagrada Família (not pictured), Torre Glòries, and the Monumental, the last bullfighting ring in Catalonia (see Attending A Bullfight In Madrid: A Range of Emotions).
The second time was in 2019 to make party (see For One Night Only: Barcelona Party Guide).
Present
Older and wiser, this time I indulged in the finer things including a Michelin restaurant (see Mont Bar Barcelona: Am I Michelin Material?).
This did not preclude me from making party.
- Day
If you’re looking to day drink, I recommend the best place on earth: Can Paixano Barcelona. There you will find tapas, cava, and people.
I do not recommend buying over-sugared, suspect mojitos from vendors on the beach in Barceloneta. Go to Opium instead for comfortable seating and overpriced cava.
TPOL’s Tip: Opium is located at Pg. Marítim de la Barceloneta, 34, Ciutat Vella, 08003 Barcelona, Spain
More expensive than Opium are the multiple chiringuitos on the beach. They weren’t this much when I came in 2011.
- Night
Avoid: Barceloneta
When did I get old? In 2019, I went to Shoko in Barceloneta and thought I fit in.
Robbed of my youth thanks to Covid (see The Lost & Found Year(s): COVID Trip Report), I felt self-conscious walking around all the children. It reminded me of the terrible time in Tenerife, when I received unsolicited advice: “Go home old man!” ( see Playa de Las Americas, Tenerife: Well That Sucked).
Go: Club Sutton
This place was not loaded with children. I was able to make party like the good old days.
TPOL’s Tip: Make a reservation online to avoid the mercurial doormen.
TPOL’s Tip: Club Sutton is located at Carrer de Tuset, 13, Sarrià-Sant Gervasi, 08006 Barcelona, Spain
Don’t Follow: People
The problem with Barcelona is that everyone is going somewhere but arriving nowhere. There are crowds of people walking without a destination. In attempt to make party, I stealthily stalked various groups of people to see where I would end up.
Don’t Go: La Rambla
Like Nanjing Xi Lu in Shanghai, La Rambla is the tourist hell of Barcelona. There are tons of people and poachers roaming about. If you did not heed my advice regarding following people, you will end up here.
Do Go: La Pipa
First, you have to find it.
Hint: It’s in this square:
TPOL’s Tip: You have to be a member to enter this speakeasy. That requires providing false information to the doorman via his tablet.
TPOL’s Tip: Pipa is located at Pl. Reial, 3, Ciutat Vella, 08002 Barcelona, Spain.
Do and Don’t: El Born Neighborhood
El Born reminds me of Barrio Antiguo in Monterrey, Mexico. It’s full of people, bars, and restaurants. In theory, it should be a fun time. In reality, it has no flavor. Why most bars do not play music is an enigma.
Tapas
What’s a trip to Spain without tapas? I recommend walking down Carrer D’Enric Granados. There are plenty of places to eat and drink.
I will give an honorable mention to Mosquito, an Asian tapas restaurant AKA dim-sum restaurant in El Born.
TPOL’s Tip: Mosquito is located at Carrer dels Carders, 46, Ciutat Vella, 08003 Barcelona, Spain
Stay
“It is important to rest …”
TPOL! Don’t go human on us now!
Agree with you completely on Barcelona. And Madrid.
Haha sometimes I need my ZZZ