Barcelona Tourism Guide is an independent editorial site about visiting Barcelona. It is not run by the Ajuntament de Barcelona, by Turisme de Barcelona, or by any hotel group, tour operator or ticket reseller. Nobody pays to appear on it.
The problem we set out to solve
Barcelona is one of the most written-about cities in Europe, and most of what is written about it is the same twelve attractions in a different order. Meanwhile the questions that actually decide whether a trip goes well are the boring ones: whether the Sagrada Família timed-entry slot you booked is the one that includes the towers, whether a T-casual still exists or has been replaced by T-mobilitat, which Barceloneta restaurants are set up for people who arrive at 20:00 rather than 22:00, and how far Montserrat really is when you factor in the rack railway.
This site is an attempt to answer those questions in full, in one place, with the numbers written down and dated so you can judge how stale they are.
What is covered
The site is organised into twelve sections, each built around a long anchor guide with supporting articles underneath it. Gaudí and Catalan Modernisme. The neighbourhoods, from the Gothic Quarter out to Gràcia, Poblenou and Sant Antoni. Food and drink, including where Catalan cooking differs from the Spanish stereotype. Getting around by metro, Rodalies, bus and funicular. The beaches from Sant Sebastià up to Llevant. Day trips to Montserrat, Girona, Sitges, Figueres, the Penedès and the Costa Brava. Nightlife. Barcelona with children. Festivals, from Sant Jordi in April to La Mercè in September. Where to stay. Ready-made itineraries from one day to a week. And a general planning guide covering budgets, seasons and the tourist tax.
How the guides are put together
Every guide starts from time spent in the city rather than from other people’s articles. Anything with a number attached to it — an entry price, a metro fare, an opening time, a festival date — is checked against the source that actually sets it before publication: the ticketing page of the monument itself, TMB and Rodalies for transport, the Ajuntament’s own events listings for what is on and when.
Where something is genuinely contested, the guide says so instead of picking a side and sounding confident. Where a recommendation depends on the season, the month or the time of day, it says that too — advice about Park Güell in February and advice about Park Güell in August are not the same advice.
Things this site will not do
There are no paid listings, no sponsored reviews and no pay-to-play “top ten” placements. If a restaurant, tour or hotel is recommended here, it is because it earned the recommendation on its own. Businesses are welcome to send corrections; they cannot buy a mention.
The site also tries not to add to the pressure that overtourism has put on Barcelona’s residents. Where a recommendation would push more visitors into a street where people are trying to live, the guide says so and offers somewhere else.
Keeping it current
Barcelona changes fast. Prices rise, museums close for restoration, transport cards get renamed, and 2026 in particular brings the Gaudí centenary and the works around Sagrada Família’s Tower of Jesus Christ. Guides are revisited rather than left to rot, and each carries a date so you can see when it was last touched.
If you find something out of date or plain wrong, please tell us — the contact page goes straight to the person who edits the site, and corrections are made quickly and acknowledged.