My favorite city

Five years ago, I went to Barcelona for the first time to try working remotely. I have returned five times since, so I have got to know the city fairly well. Here is my personal guide.

First, watch this video. It captures how I feel whenever I arrive.

Barcelona is my favorite city because it has:

Good weather throughout the year
A language I love
Distinct neighborhoods
Plenty to do
A great cycling network
Remarkable sights
A beach within the city
People from many cultures
My favorite football club

There are downsides too:

Summers can be too hot and crowded with tourists.
Many people stay only a few years, which can make friendships hard to maintain.
Housing prices have risen sharply, in part because of speculation and Airbnb

Good weather throughout the year

Barcelona has a Mediterranean climate with dry summers and mild winters. It has good weather throughout the year. Temperatures generally drop below 10°C only in January and February. In other months, you often do not need a winter coat during the day. The lowest temperature I have experienced there was 5°C.

The city gets around 300 sunny days a year, which lifts my mood and gives me more time outdoors. All that sunshine can also help me maintain healthy vitamin D levels. Terraces stay busy throughout the year.

Summer can be too hot for me. Spring and autumn are more comfortable, usually around 18–22°C, and there are fewer tourists. Those are the seasons I would choose.

It does not rain often, but when it does, it can pour. Average rainfall ranges from around 20 mm in July to 91 mm in October.

A language I love

I love the Spanish language. To my ear, it sounds beautiful and can express shades of meaning that my native language handles differently. For example, there are many ways to say “maybe,” each suggesting a different degree of certainty. Spanish also has a grammatical mood called the “subjuntivo,” used for wishes, feelings, possibilities, judgments, obligations, and events that have not happened yet.

I have taken around 300 hours of Spanish classes: first in a group, then with a private Spanish teacher. I have a decent level now (B2/C1), although I still sound a little robotic when I speak.

In Catalonia, Catalan is the default language on many signs, place names, and menus. People also speak Spanish, and you can usually manage with English.

Distinct neighborhoods

The city center has eight main neighborhoods you are likely to encounter on a visit. I have been something of a nomad within the city and have lived in five of them. Each has its own advantages and drawbacks.

The Gothic Quarter includes Ramblas, once a meeting place for locals but now crowded with tourists. It also has lively nightlife. This is the oldest part of the city, dating back to Roman times, when it was called Barcino. The Roman city walls are still visible and you can walk around them. Most tourists stay here, which is one reason I usually avoid it.

Next to the Gothic Quarter is El Born, near Parque de la Ciudadela and Arco de Triunfo. It is a lovely area, but watch your belongings: pickpocketing can happen even on a busy terrace in daylight.

Eixample is the largest and busiest district, with landmarks such as Gaudí’s Sagrada Família, Plaza de España and the Torre Agbar. Its name means “expansion,” a reference to the city’s growth beyond Ciutat Vella, which includes El Raval, the Gothic Quarter, El Born, and Barceloneta. You can still see the grid of Ildefons Cerdà’s original plan, although many of his ideas were never carried out.

El Raval is the lively, sometimes chaotic neighborhood to the west of Las Ramblas. It once had a reputation for drug-related problems and was known as Barrio Chino. Today it has a mix of hip bars and communities with roots in Pakistan and India.

Farther west is Poble Sec, at the foot of Montjuïc. It is home to a large Latin American community and to Calle Blai, a street full of pintxos bars.

Poblenou, a quieter, more industrial neighborhood on the other side of the city, is close to the beach, which makes it more expensive. It is my favorite area but I never lived here.

Gracia was once a separate town. The Eixample expansion connected it to the old center in the 19th century. It still feels a little like a town of its own, with busy bars, restaurants, and squares.

Finally, there is Barceloneta, by the sea. It smells of fish and was built in the 18th century to house residents displaced by the construction of Parc de la Ciutadella.

Plenty to do

If you like getting out and exploring, there is plenty to do: theaters, cinemas, bars, more than 10,000 restaurants, a beach, sightseeing, museums, shopping, mountains, parks, concerts and football.

To find out what is on, I use Time Out. It has a useful overview of events each week.

A great city for cycling

Barcelona began building bike lanes in 1990. Today, there are more than 300 km available. This, in combination with the weather, makes cycling one of the easiest ways to get around.

From the city center, you can reach most places by bike in no more than 45 minutes—often faster than by public transport.

Use the bike lanes for your own safety. Traffic moves quickly, and drivers are not always used to cyclists on the road. I would rather take a detour than take a risk.

Remarkable sights

If you want to see a lot in one day, I would consider the sightseeing hop on hop off bus. Two companies offer it, and both seem fine. A day ticket costs around €30 and covers many of the main sights. I have not taken one myself; I prefer cycling.

These are the highlights I would recommend to a first-time visitor:

If you have more time, rent a bike from one of the many shops. You can follow the route above, starting with whichever stop is closest to you. Or book a guided bike tour, which includes a bike.

With more time, I would also visit:

A few less famous places you may not find in every guide include La Xampanyería (for food), Bunkers del Carmel (for the view), La tasqueta de Blai (pinchos), 1881 per Sagradi (for a rooftop terrace by the port), and Barceló Raval (for another rooftop view).

A beach within the city

Barcelona is one of the few large European cities with a beach available within the city. That is a big plus. From the center, I can cycle there in 10–15 minutes, relax for an hour, and head back to work.

The beach is artificial. It was created for the 1992 Summer Olympics. The Games brought major changes to the city, transforming a lot of infrastructure. Before that, the present-day beach areas were run-down.

The water is not especially clean, but it is warm in summer. You can also take surfing lessons, like I did. Unfortunately, there are rarely waves, so I still have not learned to surf.

People from many cultures

Barcelona is a good place to meet people from different cultures. People come from all over the world, especially Latin America and Asia, as well as other parts of Europe. While living there, I made friends from Poland, Italy, the Netherlands, Germany, Spain, the United Kingdom, Russia, the Dominican Republic, Bolivia, Colombia, Chile, Argentina, Brazil, Peru, the United States, Guatemala, Mexico, and Turkey—and I am sure I have forgotten a few countries.

My favorite football club

And last but not least, there is Barça—the football club, not the city, which locals sometimes call “Barna.” It is one of the biggest clubs in the world and played at Europe’s largest stadium at the time (Camp Nou).

At the time, I thought I still had a few years to see the best player ever play.

Back then, tickets started at around €30, depending on the opponent. For El Clásico against Real Madrid, you could pay €1,000 or more.

The best place to buy tickets is FC Barcelona's official website. I generally found tickets available even when a match looked nearly sold out. Resale sites such as Viagogo could be expensive.

My Barcelona song

I choose one song to represent my memories of each place I stay. For Barcelona, it has to be Manu Chao’s Rumbla de Barcelona, of course.