Barcelona

I’ve never been a fan of big cities. I feel like you lose a lot of authenticity when you have an amalgamation of so many people and cultures. This is certainly not the case with Barcelona. For being such a big city, it has a familiar feeling all its own. The few days I got to spend here were certainly not enough and it was my biggest regret that I saved this beautiful city for the end of my Spanish tour.

The best way to explore the city is to take a car to the neighborhood you’re looking to explore then do the pedestrian thing. Because the city is so vast, it’s impossible to walk the whole thing, but if you know where you want to go, walking around will be the greatest benefit to you, especially when you’re in places like the Gothic Quarter, which was never designed for cars. Lots of the best sites are within a few blocks of each other. This does equal a ton of walking, but you’ll also get the pleasure of getting to know the city and the different neighborhoods more intimately. And some of the best attractions are the ones you find just by looking around.

Keep in mind when visiting that Barcelona is the capital of Catalonia, and the people there have their own language, culture, and history, which is different from the rest of Spain.