Lonely Planet Pocket Barcelona , livre ebook

Contents

Plan Your Trip

Barcelona’s Top Experiences
Dining Out
Bar Open
Treasure Hunt
For Kids
Architecture
Art & Design
Museums & Galleries
Parks & Beaches
Under the Radar
LGBTIQ+ Barcelona
Four Perfect Days
Need to Know
Barcelona Neighbourhoods

Explore Barcelona

La Rambla & Barri Gòtic
El Raval
La Ribera & El Born
Barceloneta, the Waterfront & El Poblenou
La Sagrada Família & L’Eixample
Gràcia & Park Güell
Montjuïc, Poble Sec & Sant Antoni
Camp Nou, Pedralbes & La Zona Alta

Survival Guide

Before You Go
Arriving in Barcelona
Getting Around
Essential Information
Responsible Travel
Language
Behind the Scenes
Our Writer

COVID-19
We have re-checked every business in this book before publication to ensure that it is still open after the COVID-19 outbreak. However, the economic and social impacts of COVID-19 will continue to be felt long after the outbreak has been contained, and many businesses, services and events referenced in this guide may experience ongoing restrictions. Some businesses may be temporarily closed, have changed their opening hours and services, or require bookings; some unfortunately could have closed permanently. We suggest you check with venues before visiting for the latest information.
Barcelona’s Top Experiences

Barcelona Top Experiences
1 Discover Gaudí’s spectacular Sagrada Família

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Barcelona Top Experiences
1 Admire the art and surrounds of Museu Picasso

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Barcelona Top Experiences
1 Check out the stunning architecture of La Pedrera

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Barcelona Top Experiences
1 See Miró’s best at Fundació Joan Miró

FUNDACIÓ JOAN MIRÓ, BARCELONA. FOTO: PEP HERRERO ©

Barcelona Top Experiences
1 Stare in wonder at Casa Batlló

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Barcelona Top Experiences
1 Marvel at the magnificent Catedral

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Barcelona Top Experiences
1 Step into Basílica de Santa Maria del Mar

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Barcelona Top Experiences
1 Explore enchanting Park Güell

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Barcelona Top Experiences
1 Take in the masterpieces of Museu Nacional d’Art de Catalunya

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Barcelona Top Experiences
1 Stroll along La Rambla

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Barcelona Top Experiences
1 Pick up a bargain at Mercat de la Boqueria

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Barcelona Top Experiences
1 Catch an FC Barcelona game at Camp Nou

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Dining Out

Barcelona has a celebrated food scene fuelled by a combination of world-class chefs, superb markets and magnificent ingredients. Culinary masterminds such as Ferran and Albert Adrià, and Carles Abellán are reinventing the world of haute cuisine, while classic Catalan recipes and creative international flavours continue to earn accolades.

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New Catalan Cuisine
Avant-garde chefs have made Catalonia famous across the world for their food laboratories, their commitment to food as art and their mind-boggling riffs on the themes of traditional local cooking. Here the notion of gourmet cuisine is deconstructed as chefs transform liquids and solid foods into foams, create ‘ice cream’ of classic ingredients by means of liquid nitrogen, freeze-dry foods to make concentrated powders and employ spherification to create unusual and artful morsels. This alchemical cookery is known as molecular gastronomy, and invention is the keystone of this technique.

Classic Catalan Cuisine
Traditional Catalan recipes showcase the great produce of the Mediterranean: fish, prawns, cuttlefish, clams, pork, rabbit, game, first-rate olive oil, peppers, tomatoes, loads of garlic. Classic dishes also feature unusual pairings (seafood with meat, fruit with fowl) such as cuttlefish with chickpeas, cured ham with caviar, rabbit with prawns, or goose with pears.

Tapas
Tapas, those bite-sized morsels of joy, are not a typical Catalan concept, but tapas bars nonetheless abound all across Barcelona. Most open earlier than restaurants, making them a good pre-dinner (or instead-of-dinner) option. There are also plenty of wonderful Basque-style pintxo (pictured top right) bars dotted around.

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Best Catalan
Can Recasens Superb local cooking, romantic Poblenou setting.
La Pubilla Lightly creative classics in Gràcia.
Cafè de l’Acadèmia High-quality dishes that never disappoint.
Cinc Sentits Jordi Artal’s Michelin-star cuisine highlights Catalan produce.
Bar Muy Buenas Catalan faves amid 1920s decor.

Best Tapas
Quimet i Quimet Mouth-watering morsels served to a standing crowd.
Bar Pinotxo A legendary Boqueria joint.
Tapas 24 Everyone’s favourite gourmet tapas bar.
Pepa Natural wines meet ambitious bites in L’Eixample.
Belmonte Hidden-away Barri Gòtic bodega with home-grown produce.

Best Gastronomy
Disfrutar Catalan cooking at its most experimental.
Enigma Travel through 40 avant-garde courses.
Lasarte The ultimate eating experience, with three Michelin stars.
La Barra de Carles Abellán Seafood presented in myriad creative ways.

Best Food Tours
Devour Barcelona Explore Barcelona’s neighbourhoods through food.
Wanderbeak Small-group gastronomic jaunts.

Menú del Día
The menú del dia, a full set meal with water or wine, is a great way to cap prices at lunchtime. Menús start from around €11 and can go as high as €25. These days, all kinds of places offer a menú .

Barcelona on a Plate
Salsa Romesco

A Catalan Classic
This classic Catalan sauce pervades the region’s cuisine, popping up in numerous dishes as an accompaniment to roasted vegetables, grilled meats and fish. It’s a rich, garlicky, nutty combination based on peppers and tomatoes. A thickened version, salvitxada , is the de rigueur dipping accompaniment for later-winter barbecues of calçots , those delicious leek-like onions beloved by Catalans.

Top Spots for Romesco
A It’s impossible not to stumble across a tasty romesco during your time in Barcelona. Most Catalan restaurants and plenty of creative newcomers have their own.
A El 58 A French-Catalan Poblenou star for imaginative tapas.
A Belmonte This tiny tapas spot in the Barri Gòtic whips up beautiful small plates.
A Vivanda Magnificent Catalan cuisine showcasing seasonal fare.
A Casa Delfín A culinary delight in El Born for Catalan–Mediterranean cooking.

Barbecued calcots and onions with romesco sauce | NITO/SHUTTERSTOCK ©

Bar Open

Barcelona is a town for nightlife lovers, with an enticing spread of candlelit wine bars, old-school taverns, stylish lounges, magical cocktail hang-outs and kaleidoscopic nightclubs where the party continues until daybreak. For something a little more sedate, the city’s atmospheric cafes and tea-houses make a fine retreat.

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Bars & Lounges
Barcelona has a dizzy-ing assortment of bars where you can start – or end – the night. Of course, where to go depends as much on the crowd as it does on ambience – and whether you’re in the mood to drink at the latest hot spot (try Sant Antoni), with the bohemian crowd (El Raval) or among young expats (Gràcia and El Born).

Wine, Cava & Cocktail Bars
A growing number of wine bars scattered around the city showcase the great produce from Spain and beyond. A big part of the experience is sharing a few platters of cheese and charcuterie and plenty of tapas. Bars serving mostly or even exclusively natural, organic and/or biodynamic wines are surging in popularity. Cava bars tend to be more about the festive ambience than the actual drinking of cava, a sparkling white or rosé, most of which is produced in Catalonia’s Penedès region. Barcelona’s crafted-cocktail scene, meanwhile, has exploded in recent years.

Clubs
Barcelona’s discoteques ( discotecas ; clubs) are at their best from Thursday to Saturday. A surprising variety of spots lurk in the old-town labyrinth; a sprinkling of well-known clubs is spread over L’Eixample and La Zona Alta. At the Port Olímpic, a strip of noisy waterfront clubs (such as Pacha, Opium, CDLC, Catwalk and Shôko) attracts raucous crowds of tourists, though at the time of writing it appeared these venues might close down.

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Best for Wine Lovers
Perikete Lively wine and tapas bar in Barceloneta.
Viblioteca A trendy Gràcia space famed for its wine (and cheese) selections.
Bar Zim Pint-sized, cave-like Barri Gòtic bar showcasing lesser-known wines.
Can Paixano Perfect tapas pair with house rosé in La Barceloneta.

Best Cocktails
Paradiso Walk through a fridge to this glam speakeasy.
Dr Stravinsky The place to linger over an avant-garde concoction.
Two Schmucks Pop-up cocktail bar turned Raval sensation.
Bar Boadas An iconic drinking den going strong since the 1930s.
Best Dancing
La Terrrazza Party beneath palms in the Poble Espanyol.
Sala Apolo Gorgeous dance hall with varied electro, funk and more.
Moog Small Raval club that draws a fun, dance-loving crowd.

Beach Bars
During summer, small wooden beach bars, known as xiringuitos ( chiringuitos in Spanish), open up along the sand from Barceloneta to Platja de la Nova Mar Bella, many with DJs and party vibes. We love La Deliciosa ( www.panteabeach.com ; Platja de Sant Miquel; h 9am-midnight Mar-Nov) and Vai Moana ( www.panteabeach.com ; Platja del Bogatell; h 9am-late Mar-Nov) .

Barcelona in a Glass
Vermouth

Salut!
Having become a favourite of Barcelona’s working class in the run-up to the civil war, vermouth then fell out of favour (though certainly didn’t disappear), but has experienced a dazzling revival over the last decade. New vermouth bars are opening all over town; historical vermouth joints are more popular than ever; and creative artisan varieties are on the up. Join the