9 lieux à visiter à Barcelona

The Eixample is where Antoni Gaudí and his Modernisme contemporaries built most of their surviving work, including Casa Batlló and La Pedrera on the same stretch of Passeig de Gràcia. Barcelona-El Prat Airport (BCN), 12 kilometres southwest of the centre, connects by the Aerobús and by rail (R2 Nord line) to Passeig de Gràcia and Sants stations; Sants is the main hub for AVE high-speed trains to Madrid, Valencia, and France. The Barcelona Metro's eight lines and the TMB bus network cover the built-up city thoroughly enough that a rental car is a liability rather than a convenience within the Rondas ring roads.

The 1992 Olympics reshaped the city twice over: Montjuïc hill, already home to a 17th-century castle and the 1929 International Exposition's Palau Nacional, gained the Olympic Ring's stadium and pool complexes, while the derelict industrial waterfront north of the port was cleared to create Barceloneta's marina and the Olympic Village beaches — meaning the city's now-famous urban beaches are barely three decades old as a public amenity. Catalan and Castilian Spanish are both official; most museum and transit signage runs in both plus English.

April through June and September through October avoid the worst of the summer crowding and heat, when August temperatures regularly exceed 30°C and cruise-ship arrivals compound with land-based tourism at the Sagrada Família and Park Güell. Winter (December–February) is mild by northern European standards but many beach-facing businesses reduce hours. Pickpocketing is a genuine, well-documented risk on La Rambla, the metro, and around Sagrada Família — keep bags zipped and in front.