Barcelona holidays

Popular holidays

With a border made up of beaches and a map smattered with sights, city breaks to Barcelona come with best-in-class status.

City breaks to Barcelona

Barcelona’s a bit of a triple threat when it comes to city breaks – it’s got beaches, a bumper selection of snap-worthy sights, and a haul of history packed into its holiday locker. It stacks up on size, too – it stretches for more than 38 square miles making it Spain's second biggest city, only coming second to the country’s capital, Madrid. The city’s split into neighbourhoods, and each one has a trademark look. The Gothic Quarter is the city’s historic centre, where you’ll find remanets of its Roman past sat alongside trendy bars. Talking of trendy, nowhere does it quite like they do in El Born, which is the place to head for bars cucumber-cool, backstreet boutiques and top-notch tapas.

La Barceloneta

Many of Europe’s big-name cities are tucked well inside the country’s borders, putting anything you could define as a beach well out of reach. But Barcelona’s bragging rights aren’t just reserved for its iconic landmarks, first-class sweeps share the spotlight here, too. There’s a string of sandy beaches to choose from – the main spot’s La Barceloneta, which sits a 20-minute walk from the far end of Las Ramblas.

Premier parks

When it comes to al fresco sightseeing, Barcelona lines up plenty of options. Park Guell stretches for more than 17 hectares, making it one of the city’s biggest green spaces. And with Gaudi behind its design, it’s one of the best lookers too – sculptures, mosaic-tiled walkways and a hilltop setting offering unbeatable views across Barcelona’s skyline are just a few of the highlights here. Then there’s Ciutadella Park, it sits slightly closer to the centre of the city, bordering the El Born neighbourhood. It’s often dubbed as Barcelona’s open-air museum, thanks to the monuments and sculptures that share its pathways with age-old lime trees and towering palms and pines.

A foodie favourite

A search for Spain’s best spot for foodies will often lead you to Barcelona, for good reason. A selection of seafood spots border its beaches, with menus filled with market-fresh fish that’s caught the same day from the seas that surround them. Meanwhile, tapas bars are tucked between Las Ramblas’ side streets – they’re the perfect pick if you’re looking to try out Spanish staples with a Catalan twist. Then there are cocktails and canapes on the agenda in classy rooftop spots that look out over Plaza de Catalunya in Eixample.

How long does it take to fly to Barcelona?

The flight from Ireland to Barcelona takes between two hours and two hours 30 minutes.

When is the best time to visit Barcelona?

If you're looking for a beach holiday then we'd suggest visiting between June and September however Barcelona is mild year round, so for a fun city break look out of season for some deals. Take a look at the weather in Barcelona throughout the year to help.

Popular hotels in Barcelona

Top things to see and do in Barcelona

Beaches

A bevy of Blue Flags

Barcelona bags itself more than five kilometres of Mediterranean coastline. The city’s beach count stacks up to nine, with each one proudly waving its own Blue Flag. It’s easy to switch things up, as they all sit side by side. Barceloneta Beach is the closest spot to the city, then there’s a separate pair of swathes on its right and another six on its left-hand side.

The big beach

La Barceloneta Beach is the sandy sweep you’ll see plotted on postcards throughout the city. To reach it take a stroll along Las Ramblas towards the coast – it’s around a 20-minute walk from Port Vell, which marks the end of the avenue.

The secret beach

Barcelona’s beaches can get busy, particularly in the height of summer. For something a little less-trodden, your best bet is to head out of the city. Castelldefels Beach is a good pick for more secluded swims, it’s around a 25-minute drive from the centre of the city. Or, if you’d prefer to travel by train, you’ll be looking at a door-to-door journey time of just under an hour.

Shopping

Bargain buys

La Boqueria market is one of many places worthy of a pitstop while walking along Las Ramblas. It’s a great place to have lunch, with stalls selling seafood snacks and meat-stuffed sarnies at low prices.

Mid-range buys

The streets surrounding Plaza de Catalunya are the place to go for high street shops, Primark, H&M and Zara all have their names above doors around this part of town.

Designer buys

Paseo de Gracia headlines Barcelona’s designer shopping scene, top-end stores such as Prada and Cartier both have shops along this super-classy tree-lined street.

Nightlife

Laid-back evenings

While the neighbourhood of El Born offers plenty in the way of big night out, it also has its fair share of quiet spots, too. Rooftop bars offer up the perfect spot to watch the sun sink behind the skyline, then after darkness falls you can head into a tapas bar to see the night out with some small plates and a glass of fizz.

Lively evenings

A list of Barcelona’s biggest clubs sits side by side in Port Olimpic, it was built in the early 90s for the Olympic Games but the nightlife here’s about as on-trend as it gets. Opium and Barcelona – two of the city’s biggest clubs – are open well into the early hours.

Food & drink

Croquettes

Deep-fried croquettes come in a variety of flavour combinations on tapas menus across the city, although bechamel sauce, ham, mashed potatoes tend to come as standard.

Padron Peppers

These green peppers tend to hail from northwest Spain and are much milder than their fiery chilli counterparts. They’re sprinkled with flakes of salt and drizzled with olive oil before being slightly charred in the oven.

Chipirones

Seafood’s a big game in Barcelona, with many restaurants dedicating their menus to locally caught fish dishes. For something a little out of the ordinary, order yourself some chipirones – they’re delicately deep-fried baby squid pieces served up with a huge squeeze of lemon.

Cava

Spain’s favourite fizz is produced in Penedes, just an hour’s drive from the centre of the city. It means there’s never any shortage of supply in wine bars, rooftop spots and alongside dishes in tapas restaurants across the city.

Crema Catalana

This thing is a bit like a crème brûlée, but with a couple of tweaks here and there. Milk is swapped out for cream and a dose of orange and lime flavouring gives the dish a citrus fruit twist.