Barcelona is one of the most famous and visited cities in Spain. The idea of visiting this city is often inspired by nightlife and entertainment, but not only that: Barcelona is the cradle of Antoni Gaudì’s most famous works.
In this article we suggest a 4 day itinerary in Barcelona that will allow you to enjoy all the main experiences that Barcelona offers to its millions of annual visitors!
We had the opportunity to visit Barcelona twice, where art and movida coexist and become complementary parts of this wonderful city. Here is a suggested 4 day Barcelona travel itinerary that you can follow or customise to immerse yourself in Barcelona’s culture and experience every facet of it.
Barcelona is a city that lends itself to a classic ‘long weekend’ and we assure you that 4 days in Barcelona will be enough to visit the most famous sights of the city. Of course, if you want to visit lesser known places, or if you want to spend some time wandering around the city without a specific destination, but just to soak up the atmosphere, we recommend that you spend at least one more day in this fantastic city.
Ready to leave? Here’s our “4 day Itinerary Barcelona”!
On the first day of our “4 day Itinerary Barcelona”, we arrived in the early afternoon. After dropping our luggage at the hotel and freshening up, we made our way to La Rambla, the first stop on our 4 day Barcelona travel itinerary.
La Rambla is an imposing tree-lined avenue that connects the Plaza de Cataluña to the Columbus monument overlooking the sea. It is divided into two side sections for traffic and a central pedestrian section surrounded by trees and decorated with various flower and souvenir stalls.
Walking along La Rambla towards the Plaza de Catalunya, our first stop was the Mercato de Sant Josep de la Boqueria, the most famous market in Barcelona and Spain. This huge covered market is home to over 300 stalls selling all kinds of food and is a must for tourists. We stopped at one of the stalls for a delicious aperitif, accompanied by a glass of local wine and a taste of jamon iberico.
After exploring the colourful stalls of La Boqueria, we continued to Plaza de Cataluña, one of Barcelona’s most important squares, where some of the city’s main arteries converge, including Passeig de Gràcia, La Rambla and its extension, La Rambla de Cataluña.
In the afternoon, we took a leisurely stroll along these streets, lined with shops and clubs.
For our first evening in Barcelona, we decided to immerse ourselves in the energetic nocturnal atmosphere of La Rambla, the first stop on our “4 day Itinerary Barcelona”, where the city comes alive with life and music as the sun goes down.
Colours from La Boqueria
On the second day of our 4 day Barcelona travel itinerary, we began our tour of Antoni Gaudi’s works, starting at Parc Güell, located in the north of the city. We spent about two hours visiting the park, admiring the view of Barcelona from the famous colourful balcony, walking through the portico of La Bugadera and admiring the Sala Hipòstila.
Once we finished our visit to Parc Güell, we walked to the first of Gaudi’s houses, Casa Vicens, for a lovely 20 minute stroll through the streets of Barcelona.
Casa Vicens is truly an extraordinary place, often overlooked by tourists, but full of charm and significance. Its uniqueness lies in the encounter between Gaudí’s early approach to Modernism and Oriental-inspired architecture, creating a fascinating mixture of styles that merge and complement each other. This synergy of contrasts is one of the strengths of Casa Vicens and makes visiting it a unique experience, allowing visitors to discover a different and lesser known phase of Antoni Gaudí’s creative genius.
We spent about two hours visiting the house, at the end of which we took a pleasant break in the small but charming garden of the house, where there is a delicious cafeteria.
In the early afternoon we went to the Sagrada Familia, one of the icons of Barcelona, and spent most of the afternoon there. The tour with the official audio guide lasts about an hour, but we recommend a longer visit to allow for the queues at the entrance and to enjoy the visit. Once inside, you will be amazed by the play of colours offered by the huge stained glass windows and the impression of being in an imposing forest, and you can spend some time walking around or simply sitting on the benches to admire this spectacle.
After visiting the Sagrada Familia, we returned to the hotel to get ready for the evening. We walked down La Rambla to the port and continued along the quayside to Barceloneta beach, where we had dinner in one of the many restaurants along Passeig de Joan de Borbó.
We ended the evening of the second day of our itinerary Barcelona 4 days with a dive into Barcelona’s nightlife at one of the clubs at the end of the beach, near Carrer de la Marina.
View of Barcelona from Parc Guell
The ceiling of Sala Hipòstila
Details at Casa Vicens
The entire morning of the third day of our “4 day Itinerary Barcelona” was dedicated to discovering two of Antoni Gaudi’s most iconic works, Casa Milà (La Pedrera) and Casa Batllò. A visit to each house lasts about a couple of hours and the two are about a five-minute walk apart.
They are two extraordinary and very different buildings:
Very soon, we will dedicate a specific article to the houses designed by Gaudi, to give you more detailed information to plan your visit!
After a delicious lunch of tapas on the Rambla de Cataluña, we spent the whole afternoon exploring the Barrio Gotico, the old heart of Barcelona. In contrast to the open spaces of Las Ramblas, this charming neighbourhood is a maze of cobbled streets leading down to the sea. Here we immersed ourselves in the romantic and atmospheric atmosphere of the neighbourhood, exploring the tree-lined squares and alleyways where open-air bars, typical restaurants, shops and local boutiques abound.
We were captivated by the beauty of the Barrio Gotico and decided to return at night to experience the magic of the neighbourhood as the sun went down. After dinner, we enjoyed a cocktail in the beautiful Plaza Real, surrounded by tall arcades and towering palm trees, and ended the third day of our “4 day Itinerary Barcelona” with a pleasant evening.
Casa Milà
Trencadis at Casa Battlò
Walking through the Barrio Gotico
To start the fourth and final day of our “4 day Itinerary in Barcelona”, we took the cable car from the port to Montjuic Castle, which once housed the famous prisons described in Carlos Ruiz Zafon’s famous novels. There are spectacular panoramic views of the city and the sea from the top of the hill.
On Montjuic there are many attractions to explore, including the Botanical Garden, the National Museum of Catalan Art (MNAC), located in the Palau Nacional, under which the Barcelona Fountain is illuminated and coloured at night, and the Joan Miró Foundation, a museum dedicated to the artist. If you want to visit Montjuic without stopping to visit the museums, we recommend that you spend at least a couple of hours there.
In the early afternoon, while waiting for our evening flight home, we spent some time in the Parc de la Ciutadella, a great place to relax in the green. We walked along the Passeig de Lluís Companys to the impressive Arc de Triomphe at the northern entrance to this beautiful park. With a pleasant walk through the greenery of Barcelona, we concluded our Itinerary Barcelona 4 days, happy and excited to have visited this fantastic city!
Panorama from Montjuic
We hope we have provided you with an excellent itinerary for organising your visit to Barcelona, one that has satisfied all your curiosities and may possibly inspire you to create one of your own. As you have read, 4 days in Barcelona is enough to visit all the main places of interest, but you will have to organise your time very well! We will soon publish more articles on Barcelona so stay tuned via our newsletter, check out related articles and above all… trip to try!
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