Taking the family to Barcelona, Spain presents more family attractions packed with culture, recreation, shopping, and fine dining than most families dream of.
Surprising Barcelona is filled with so many unusual sights and attractions that families often find it to be the highlight of a Europe tour with the kids. Young ones delight in the city’s exotic array of architectural monuments, teens adore the shopping and street life, and all ages will appreciate the fine cuisine and laid back lifestyle.
Barcelona (or BCN) is the proud capital of Catalunya province. Barcelona family attractions feature the colorful Catalan language and culture that set it apart from any other city in Spain. A temperate Mediterranean climate makes it a pleasant destination year round, though a chilly, damp winter spell and some summer scorchers are not unknown.
Barcelona, however, may be Europe’s hottest destination in terms of popularity! Take advantage of being able to book Barcelona family attractions ahead and skip the lines. Your kids will be grateful. For more information about it and the city in general, visit the Barcelona Tourist Information website.
Great Fun For The Kids
(Toddler to Age 8)
Barceloneta and Port Olimpic
Capitanía Port Olimpic
08005 Barcelona
34/93 225 9220
Those who knew Barcelona in the pre-Olympics days (prior to 1992) will be interested in seeing the city’s extensive waterfront development known as Port Olímpic. It’s busiest from March to September, the best weather for beach-going and sitting at oceanfront cafes. The Olympic area includes some major hotels (Hotel Arts is one of the best) if you want to stay portside. Stroll the 700-berth marina, Forum shopping and entertainment complex, and the Diagonal Mar shopping center. Look for cushy nurseries for shopping moms. The attractive Parc Diagonal Mar is ideal with a stroller. Don’t forget pictures with some wonderful public sculpture. Pause at one of the many beach bars for a cool drink and some tapas before playing at the beach. (Cristoforo Colon departed from Barcelona on his voyage to the New World from a pier at the foot of Las Ramblas.)
Parc de la Ciutadella – Barcelona Zoo
Parc de la Ciutadella s/n
08003 Barcelona
34/93 225 67 80
This is a large, full service zoo with exotic animals such as lions, camels, elephants and reptiles. Alas, the legendary crowd favorite, Snowflake, an albino lowland gorilla, passed away. The mobility challenged can tour the zoo aboard a small train, and pony rides and dolphin shows give everyone brief opportunities to sit down. Hours for this Barcelona family attractions vary according to season. Check their website for multilingual guided tours and Catalan language workshops for children.
Parc d’atraccions Tibidab – Tibidabo Amusement Park
Pl. del Tibidabo 3-4
08035 Barcelona
34/93 211 79 42
This is a classic amusement park built high on a hill in the northern part of the city. Founded in 1899, it offers panoramic views, puppet shows in Catalan, a variety of rides, a robot museum and more. The brave should check out Avio, a vintage 1927 propeller plane that’s really a flight simulator and soars above the crowd. Open daily with extended hours on weekends; check before going for their seasonal operating times.
Museu de la Xocolata
C/. Comerc, 36
08003 Barcelona
34/93 268 78 78
The Barcelona Confectionary Guild runs one of c. This small, modern museum devoted to the study of chocolate. In addition to its uses and history, visitors can learn how chocolate is made into candy, or stay for baking workshops devoted to local recipes. Said to be suitable for all ages.
Free Barcelona Attractions Fun For Older Children
(Up to Age 18)
If you only have a few days in the city, spend one of the them outdoors. Soaking up the city’s lavish architectural elements and hip vibe. Museums can wait for the next stop on your Eurotrip.
Plaça de Catalunya – Catalan Plaza
This huge traffic circle lined with shops is another favorite Barcelona attraction for families. The plaza separates the 19th century city that grew beyond the medieval city walls and old Barcelona is Barcelona family attractions, a Corte Ingles department store, and sidewalk cafes that define the city center. It’s the place for the main tourist office (underground), the beginning of Las Ramblas (a pedestrian walk leading to the port) and a cool place to hang out
Moll d’Espanya
Port Vell
08039 Barcelona
Families need to inject some of the familiar into a schedule packed with squiggly Gaudi architecture and Picasso paintings. (Especially true with teens.) This popular mall is a great place to do it, as the kids can check out a contemporary Euro food court, the Imax Port Vell theater and the interactive, well-designed L’Aquarium de Barcelona.
Read about more fun Barcelona attractions with older kids in this family’s report!
Worth Every Euro Barcelona Attractions with Teens
Shell out those Euros to engage with three key Barcelona family activities. Two focus on the region’s incredibly rich artistic heritage and one on its famous futbol team. All are worth a closer look.
Museu Picasso
Carrer Montcada 15-23
08003 Barcelona
34/93 256 30 00
The city’s Picasso Museum, housed in five connected palaces dating from the 13th to 15th centuries, is a wonderful stop for those interested in the famed Spanish artist Pablo Ruiz Picasso. Soon after moving to Barcelona in 1895, the Picasso family enrolled their artistic son in a local arts academy. More than 3,800 of his early works, largely completed before the artist settled in Paris, make up the permanent collection. The family’s houses, Picasso’s studios, the Llotja Painting Academy where he studied, the Quatre Gats bar, his friends’ studios and other sites related to his life are found in the area around the present Ciutat Vella or Old City of the Gothic Quarter.
Fundacio Joan Miro
Parque de Montjuic s/n
08038 Barcelona
34/93 443 9470
The Miro Foundation and Centre for Contemporary Art Studies are a popular attraction for artists and cultural visitors. In addition to showcasing the famed Catalan artist, the contemporary white museum is considered a masterwork of the architect Josep Lluis Sert. Kids enjoy seeing Joan Miro’s colorful large paintings and playful sculpture. Be sure to catch the pieces out on terraces — together.
Combine a visit with a walk through Montjuic, Barcelona’s most prominent park. This hilltop park hosts the National Palace built for the 1929 World’s Fair and remodeled into an art museum for the 1992 Olympics. The large Magic Fountain in front of the palace is a popular evening attraction in summer, and has light shows weekend evenings year round. Local families enjoy the Piscines Picornell, public swimming pools, where outdoor films are shown in summer. Getting there is fun, too. The Montjuic Funicular runs from the metro stop at Paral-lel in the city up to the park in less than 2 minutes. Your Barcelona Hola! BCN travel cards can be used as tickets.
Futbol Club Barcelona
Avinguda Aristides Maillol, s/n
08028 Barcelona
34/97 236 65 36
Sports fans and soccer moms will want to visit Camp Nou, the famous soccer arena of the “Barca” team that sports blue and red stripes. The admission fee is pricey (kids under 6 years enter free) but worthwhile. Visitors are welcome to explore the indoor arena and walk on the pitch; see the president’s box, press area and locker rooms; shop in the huge and well stocked official merchandise store, and tour a small memorabilia museum. Those who don’t realize the importance of futbol in Europe are in for a real treat, as everything related to Barcelona Kappa is enshrined in a manner befitting the Crown Jewels. Open daily.
Fun For The Whole Family
Barri Gotic (Barrio Gothico)
This enclave of narrow, winding cobblestone alleys that captures the mystique of Barcelona should be the family’s first stop. The immaculately preserved heart of old Barcelona’s Gothic Quarter shelters many major landmarks. Our first pick is the Picasso Museum. History buffs should see Museu d’Història de la Ciutat (see remnants of ancient Roman era walls at the city history museum.) If you have time, take in the beautiful Cathedral Sant Jaume in the Plaça de Sant Jaume; Palau de la Generalitat (seat of the Catalan government); and City Hall. Book Barcelona walking tours and other attractions in advance to appreciate the Gothic Quarter. No one gets lost, kids can easily follow along with the fascinating stories of bohemian life in the district, and elements of stunning architecture are brought to your attention.
Las Ramblas – La Rambla
This colorful pedestrian passage from the heart of the contemporary commercial city to the old port bisects several interesting neighborhoods. It’s more than an attraction, it’s a good place to get to know the heart of Barcelona. Las Ramblas is always busy, especially around the Boqueria produce market and flower stalls. Explore in the cool and dusky light of late afternoon, when crowd strolls with more purpose. Pause to admire the architecture of the classic Teatre del Liceu, a man selling songbirds, or the mimes and jugglers who ply their entertaining trade.
Gaudi Masterpieces are Barcelona’s Unique Attractions
The works of the Catalan architect Antoni Gaudi are all designated UNESCO World Heritage sites. They are Barcelona must-sees because they are so famous as remarkable examples of modernism. Born in 1852 in the province of Tarragona, Gaudi was a creative visionary who took the naturalistic elements of Art Nouveau far beyond his contemporaries. He experimented with structures and building materials. His fertile imagination turned wrought iron into dragons, skylights into flower petals, chimneys into molten candles and cement benches into fallen logs. The Barcelona Tourist Office can provide a complete list of Gaudi monuments in the city. Read on for a few of the better known structures open for public view.
Casa Batllo
Passeig de Gracia, 43
08007 Barcelona
If you follow the Passeig de Gracia from Plaça de Catalunya you’ll be in the old village of Gracia, a planned residential community that dates back to the beginnings of the Modernism movement. Casa Batllo, ca. 1906, was built by the Catalan visionary Antoni Gaudi (1852–1926) and is a remarkable architectural achievement. The mezzanine floor, staircase, attic and rooftop of this pastel blue and white building have been opened to the public. Kids of any age will be intrigued by the self-guided visit to the former Batllo apartment. Delight the eye with undulating walls, floral skylights, distinctive ceiling trim, imaginative windows and other curvilinear features.
La Pedrera or Casa Mila
Passeig de Gracia, 92
08007 Barcelona
34/93 484 59 00
La Pedrera, or Casa Mila as it’s properly called, is nearby. Don’t miss this unusually sculpted gray stone apartment building. Built between 1906 and 1910, it’s considered Antoni Gaudi’s masterpiece. Undulating walls, waves of wrought iron outlining balconies and stairs, paving stones, playful benches and street lamps convey Gaudi’s completely fantastical vision. There is a fun shop packed with unusual toys and books. Be sure to seet he attic cut into 13 apartments, now fully restored to house a fascinating exhibition about Gaudi’s work. Go, even if the kids only see the maze-like roof where curvilinear walls and chimneys are interspersed with wonderful skyline views.
Temple de la Sagrada Familia, Barcelona’s Top Family Attraction
Mallorca 401
08013 Barcelona
34/93 207 30 31
Antoni Gaudi supervised this project from 1883 until his death in 1926 yet the monumental Sacred Family cathedral remains unfinished to this day. The sheer scale of Gaudi’s fluid, naturalistic elements has made it one of the city’s most famous landmarks. Inside, admire the 12 towers already built, or watch completion of the four belfries, transepts and nave. There is a small museum of drawings, plans and Gaudi memorabilia on site. Admission fees are donations that fund future work and include entry into the Gaudi Casa-Museu near Parc Guell (see below).
Gaudi fans should make the brief walk from here up the car-free Avinguda Gaudi to the Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau, another of Barcelona’s modernista buildings. Open daily with extended hours in summer and limited hours over the Christmas and New Year holidays.
Parc Guell
Carretera del Carmel
08024 Barcelona
34/93 219 38 11
Visitors of any age will delight in Parc Guell, a planned residential community commissioned by Gaudi’s top patron, the Count Eusebi Guell. What failed as a real estate venture in 1923 has since prospered as a public green space. Enjoy weaving walkways, overhanging stalactite forms and undulating benches. Marvel at Gaudi’s signature mosaics of broken tile forming abstract flowers and animal shapes. One of Barcelona’s top family attractions, Parc Guell is a must, even if no one in the family has to run off steam. The park’s central plaza attracts buskers and entertainers, as well as craftsmen selling their wares. At the eastern side of the park is the pink stucco home Gaudi occupied for many years, now the Gaudi Casa-Museu, a museum filled with memorabilia and architectural elements designed for various projects.
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