I had been meaning to visit the Fundació Joan Miró for two years. Last week I finally went. Here is what I found, and which other Barcelona institutions are worth braving the crowds for.
The Barri Gòtic is noisy and central. The Eixample is comfortable and expensive. Poble Sec is where I live and I’ll tell you exactly why. A stay guide without the PR.
La Boqueria is famous because it was photographed in a magazine in 1994 and the world never updated its information. Santa Caterina is better in almost every way.
The metro is excellent. The T-Casual is what you need. Bicing is for residents. The airport bus is €6.90 and runs every 5 minutes. Here’s the actual transport guide.
May in Barcelona is a quietly excellent month. The Easter crowds have cleared, the summer invasion hasn’t started, the weather is warm enough for terraces but not brutal. The city is at its most liveable. Here’s what’s worth planning around. The big June anchor is Primavera Sound (June 4–6, Parc del Fòrum), which sold out…
The Barcelona rental market is difficult. Not uniquely difficult by European capital standards, but difficult in specific ways that aren’t obvious until you’re in it. Here is what I learned over four years of renting here, one relocation at a time. The market moves fast and everything happens in cash. Landlords typically want one month’s…
I moved to Poble Sec from Eixample eighteen months ago when my rent went up for the second time. I told myself it was a compromise. Within six weeks I understood that it wasn’t. Poble Sec is the neighbourhood on the south side of Montjuïc, squeezed between the hill and the Parallel — the old…
Barcelona-El Prat airport has two terminals. T1 is where most international flights arrive. T2 is smaller, used by budget carriers and some domestic routes. They’re connected by a free shuttle bus but are not walking distance from each other. Know which terminal you’re arriving at before you plan anything. From T1, the best public transport…
Before I understood Barcelona, I didn’t understand the vermut. I thought it was just a drink. It’s not. It’s a time slot, a social contract, and a way of structuring the day that makes everything else make sense. Fer el vermut — to do the vermouth — means gathering with people between roughly noon and…
April in Barcelona means the cultural season is hitting its stride before the summer heat changes everything. Here’s what’s worth your time this month. Sant Jordi — 23 April. The Catalan equivalent of Valentine’s Day, except it involves books and roses rather than dinner and chocolates. The tradition: men give women roses, women give men…
The advice you’ll find on most travel sites puts you in the Gothic Quarter or near the Sagrada Família. Both are central and both are fine. But if you want to actually feel what the city is like to live in, you need to be in a residential neighbourhood — and there are good options…
The metro is your baseline. Eight lines, clean, frequent, and cheap — a single T-Casual card (10 trips, €12.15) covers metro, bus, tram, and suburban FGC trains within Zone 1. Buy it at any metro station. Don’t buy single tickets; they cost almost three times as much per ride. Within the old city — the…