You’ll Regret Leaving Barcelona Without Hitting at Least One of These 11 Bars

Think “kid in a candy store” but the wine-filled version, and you’ll have a good overview of Bar Brutal. Here, the walls are lined with bottles of all eras, worlds, and colors. Bar Brutal features more than 300 different wines, all sourced from organic and biodynamic producers. Better yet, they’re all sold at reasonable prices. It’s also a great place to go if you’re looking for something a little more unique: you’ll find plenty of locally sourced wines here making good use of Spanish grapes. When you’re done drinking, it’s time to dig into Bar Brutal’s tapas menu. Large portions, quick service, and mouth-watering dishes make this spot perfect for all occasions.

You’ll immediately step back in time when you enter Boadas, a speakeasy-style traditional cocktail bar with a carefully curated menu and an old-school vibe. Boadas is one of the oldest bars in the city and comes with a colorful history to match. It’s a top spot in the city if you’re a fan of cocktails, owned by a cocktail master who learned his skills at Hemmingway’s Floridita Bar in Havana. It’s also easy to access, just a few moments walk from busy La Rambla but tucked away in such a position that you’ll need to look twice to ensure you don’t miss it. Inside, there’s a good mix of locals and tourists, with walls coated in photographs of past guests as well as hand-written letters and eclectic artwork.

Clubhaus is a mixture of a bar, a restaurant, a (secret) club, and an art gallery. This large space covers a lot of ground—literally and metaphorically—and caters to the younger crowd with loud music and an equally loud menu. It’s easy to spend a whole evening exploring Clubhaus, making good use of the varied menu while bartenders go into rich detail about each ingredient used. The expansive, double-height space gives Clubhaus a relaxed appeal with two floors of activities and street-food-inspired tapas to enjoy with your drinks. Visit during the week for attentive service and a deeper understanding of what goes into each cocktail. Visit during the weekend for a more raucous setting with louder music and an enthusiastic crowd.

By day, Cecconi’s is a stylish Italian restaurant inside Barcelona’s Soho House, filled with hand-stuffed pasta and oversized bar stools. By the time the sun goes down, it comes with a whole other type of charm. You’ll still see those dangly chandeliers and oversized, jungle-esque plants, but you’ll admire them with a delicious cocktail in hand. As you might expect from a prestigious Italian restaurant, drinks here are concocted impressively and carefully, served up in elegant glassware and making good use of traditional, Northern Italian ingredients. Visit on Saturday or Sunday for the ever-popular Weekend Brunch complete with strong Bloody Mary. Or, come along for a weeknight dinner to soak up the stunning decor and enjoy your drinks at the bar with a side of seafood.

The Pulitzer Terrace is part of the Pulitzer Hotel: a fashionable rooftop bar designed for lengthy, balmy evenings in the city with close friends. Spacious and welcoming, it attracts a large crowd every night and promises gorgeous rooftop views across Barcelona. The Pulitzer Terrace is based next to Plaza Catalunya, and its central location makes it a popular spot every night of the week. There’s live music during the weekdays and international DJs from Thursday to Sunday. It’s also a great spot for food, with artisan cheese boards, tapas, international dishes, and even its own BBQ. Word of warning: you can’t book a table at The Pulitzer Terrace, so it’s best to arrive early to get a good seat.

Small but ever so friendly, Bar Mariatchi is the definition of unpretentious. Vibrant and colorful, you’ll spot its namesake mariachi theme as soon as you step inside, with multi-colored walls, music-inspired paintings, and joyful background sounds. Sure, it’s not somewhere you’d pick out for a fancy cocktail or two. But if you’re looking for a relaxed beer or glass of wine with friends, Bar Mariatchi is the perfect spot. Set in the heart of the Gothic Quarter, Bar Mariatchi’s cheap prices will put you in a good mood even if the cheerful atmosphere somehow doesn’t manage to. If you’re lucky, you might even get the chance to watch one of the spontaneous musical performances that occasionally spring up here.

Bar Marsella was Barcelona’s very first bar and opened up shop back in 1820. Over time, it’s welcomed thousands of guests ranging from Picasso to Hemingway and comes with a reputation to match. Don’t be fooled by its oversized chandeliers above: Bar Marsella isn’t fancy or polished; it comes with a more understated appeal, complete with faded posters on the walls and mismatching floor tiles. Instead, it’s a place that sticks to what it knows, right through to its unique absinthe that it originally sourced, secretly, from Paris. Based in El Raval, it’s fair to say that Bar Marsella has a vibrant past. But it’s one you’ll want to experience at least once during your time in Barcelona. Try the bar’s unique absinthe ritual if you’re feeling brave, complete with a sugar lump.