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Combining culture, coastline and fine cuisine, Catalonia’s capital Barcelona makes the perfect weekend getaway – and these are the best places recommended by locals
If you’re after some inspiration for your next city break, Barcelona surely ticks all the boxes: sun, sea, history and culture, along with everything you expect from a modern city – and all just a couple of hours’ flight from the UK.
With so much to see and do, but limited time, we asked locals and regular visitors for their top recommendations – and discovered the perfect way to spend a weekend in the Catalonian capital.
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Where to stay in Barcelona
We stayed at the recently renovated Grand Hotel Central, a historic building dating back to 1926, now serving as an elegant five-star hotel that celebrates its artistic and literary history.
As its name suggests, it’s well-located between the city’s Gothic Quarter with its enticing independent shops and restaurants, and the Born area, where you’ll find pretty streets strewn with fairy lights.
The front door (opened for you by friendly doormen) leads into a grand foyer lined with artwork, and a central wrought-iron elevator to take you between floors. Don’t miss taking a peek inside the beautiful little wood-panelled library on the eighth floor, largely untouched since its creation.
The bedrooms strike the perfect balance between modern and characterful, and the locally made chocolates on your pillow each night and a guide to key Barcelonians’ favourite hotspots are a nice touch.
One of hotel’s highlights is its rooftop pool and terrace. After a long, hot day in the city it’s the perfect place to relax with a cocktail and a bowl of the best patatas bravas we ate all weekend – and we tried a lot! Sunbeds by the pool can be reserved for two-hour periods. They are popular, so be sure to book in advance.
Where to eat in Barcelona
Can Bo
Grand Hotel Central’s restaurant, Can Bo, is headed up by a Spanish and an Italian chef, and the food shows clear influences of both cuisines. Our standout dish was one of braised leeks, an homage to an annual Catalan calçotada festival celebrating the vegetable.
The waiting staff at Can Bo are exemplary, helpfully guiding you on what to order from the tapas-style menu (and, crucially, when to stop). They’ll suggest wine pairings for each dish and I thoroughly recommend taking them up on their suggestions, which can be flexibly matched to your meal – a glass for every other dish, for example, or just a little taste.
Other recommendations
With Catalonia named the World Region of Gastronomy 2025, there’s no shortage of good food to be found in Barcelona from morning through to night, from traditional tapas to world cuisine.
In the mornings, we couldn’t resist picking up a mouthwatering pastry tempting us from the windows of La Colmena patisserie opposite the hotel. For the best pinchos (small self-serve snacks on sticks and the best accompaniment to a cold beer), trawl down Blai street, stopping at whichever bar takes your fancy.
For dinner, we highly recommend Bastaix for authentic yet elevated tapas with excellent (and great value) wines by the glass. Copy the locals by rubbing olive oil, garlic and tomatoes onto crisp bread for a DIY pan con tomate.
We also loved La Vinya del Senyor wine bar for sipping and people-watching outside Santa Maria cathedral, and Mariposa Negra cocktail bar for the most unusual creations you’re likely to have ever sampled. My drink was grey, served in a rock and garnished with a slab of chocolate – and utterly delicious.
What to do in Barcelona
No trip to Barcelona is complete without visiting the iconic Sagrada Familia. It’s an absolute must, even if you’re not normally a church person. Still under construction nearly 150 years later – although it is due to finally be completed next year – Gaudi’s masterpiece is truly impressive, both from the outside, where its intricately carved towers dominate the skyline, and inside, where the cavernous nave is filled with rainbow-coloured light from the stained glass windows. Tickets need to be booked in advance (around £22) and be sure to arrive punctually for your time slot.
As you’d expect, the area around Sagrada Familia is very touristy, but we stumbled upon La Taqueria down a nearby street, an excellent little Mexican restaurant if you want a break from tapas.
A stylish hotel in the centre of Barcelona, which pays homage to its artistic and literary history and features a rooftop pool and amazing restaurant.
It feels like a real novelty to have a proper beach in a city as cosmopolitan as Barcelona. Clean and well cared for, it’s popular with locals and tourists alike. Skip the area at La Barceloneta, which gets very busy, and head north to the beaches around El Poblenou, which are quieter and preferred by locals. Take your towel, parasol and a pack of Damm Lemon beers, or pay to hire beds and an umbrella.
Other attractions in the city include the Picasso Museum and Museu Frederic Marès, which is filled with weird and wonderful collections of just about everything. And grab a gelato and stroll around Barcelona Cathedral at night, enjoying the musicians and opera singers busking around it.
We found Barcelona’s key areas and attractions to be quite spread out, so be prepared to walk a lot, or jump on the metro.
How much does it cost to visit Barcelona?
Rooms at Grand Hotel Central start from €350 per night including breakfast, based on two sharing. Return flights from Manchester to Barcelona with Vueling start from €62.
For other options, you can search via booking sites such as Booking.com and Expedia.