Two days in Barcelona-Must sees?
 

I am going to be in Barcelona for two days at the beginning of June. I have never been there before, and I wanted to know the must sees before I leave. It will just me me and my other friends, two girls in our early 20's. What should we do or see?

Two girls in their early 20's sound like you'll be seeing a lot of night clubs. For sights, don't miss the Gaudi influence and the street atmosphere on La Rambla . There are many open air buses that you can get on and off of at a variety of locations. I think they are the red and blue lines and they stop at all the attractions. It's a great city for young people, you'll have a great time.

We might stop at a bar or club, but honestly we are more the artsy and museum types, then the party goers. Maybe we're boring for a couple of young girls, but when in Europe we want to soak up as much culture and history as possible. We will definiately check out Las Ramblas, is there anything else we shouldn't miss?

Barri Gotic area (during the day) & Barcelona cathedral
Picasso Museum
La Sagrada Familia
While doing the Ramblas walk, visit Gaudi designed Casa Mila, Casa Amatlier and Casa Batllo, all on Passeig de Gracia.
Parc Guell
Montjuic if you have time

Great thanks! (Now I just need to figure out what some of those things are...) =)

Gaudi is Barcelona's most famous architect and his influence on the city is apparent. Most of the sites the last poster listed are Gaudi's work and should not be missed.
There is a bus tour of the city that takes only a couple of hours and takes you to those spots, I believe it's an on & off type of bus, but I'm not sure.

We were in Barcelona last week and spent a fabulous afternoon on the beach in Barceloneta. Barceloneta is a great neighbourhood south-east of the main tourist areas. You can walk there from Port Vell, which is nice Marina setting in the Port area or you can take the cable car from the front of the Grand Marina hotel, which gives you great views. Barceloneta is an area of town where people actually live so it is alive with locals - playing dominos, soccer, fishing off the pier, sunbathing and it has a string of great beaches where you can just step off the boardwalk and sit at a bar right on the sand (there are a number of them) and watch the world go by - definitely a highlight of our trip and we only spent a few hours there. If you keep walking you will reach the casino on the waterfront - it has a great big copper sculpture out front that looks like a fish.

Have fun!

Cram your brains full of architectural history and the art nouveau (or "modernist") movement - Barcelona is a stunning collection of turn-of-the-last-century architecture and decorative arts. Not just Gaudi, but numerous other designers, many anonymous at this point, who left an amazing legacy.

Visit the Palau de la Musica Catalana to see a premier example of (non-Gaudi) design from this period. The stained glass ceiling in the main concert hall is simply unbelievable.

Just wander around and savor the city - you really can't go wrong. But conserve your energy - like most big Spanish cities things don't shut down until way early.

Have a meal (Basque tapas) at Txapala (Tx = ch) on Pg. de Gracia across from Casa Batllo. Try the cider, but watch out.

Are the tourist bus routes worth the 20 euros for a two-day pass if I am only going to be in town for two days?

We were there for three days and we didn't need the hop on/off bus (though I think they are a good idea and have done them in larger cities). We were staying on Placa Catalunya and were able to explore on foot La Ramblas, the Boqueria Market, The Cathedral, Dali Museum & Picasso Museum in the Barri Gotic (the old city part of town), Port Vell and Barceloneta, Eixample, Passeig de Gracia with its Gaudi buildings and shops, and visit Segrada Familia (this is the only thing we took the metro for - very easy). The only thing we didn't get around to seeing was Montjuic (next time!)

If you decide to take the hop on/off bus I'd only purchase one 24 period for your first day to get oriented.

We were in Barcelona last summer with kids ages 16 and 18. We all loved the Miro museum. It's at the top of Montjuich. It has a great combination of paintings and whimsical sculpture among other things. As I recall, the ground floor had traveling exhibitions and other artists than Miro.

ahh, the Miro museum. Woman and Bird. Woman and bird at night. Woman and Bird 39. Woman and bird, the statue.

And they arent even birds . . .

Its a great museum, however - an era/school of painting that hardly any other European museums cover. However, in 2 days you probably wont get much out of the centre of the city and checking out that Gaudi guy. The Picasso museum might be more 'time efficient' - its also a stunner.

I'd be interested in others' opinion on this, but my wife and I both came from Barcelona with a wish that we'd seen the Sagrada Familia on our last day in the city.

It's just simply jaw-dropping. Park Guell, Batllo House, etc. seem to make even more sense as prequels to the ongoing cathedral construction.

Incidentally, we did the 2-day pass for our 2 1/2 days in Barcelona and found it pretty helpful. It was Barcelona 101 and helped to identify things to check out next trip, get a feel for city layout, etc. Plus, riding on the upper deck in between our must-sees was cooling in the unseasonably hot days we seemed to get.

Have fun!