24 Hours in Barcelona
A journey through the first 24 hours of my trip in Barcelona
24 Hours in Barcelona
In this post I wanted to describe and share what I did the first 24 hours of my trip to Barcelona. This was in inspiration of how busy my first day was in Madrid and I decided to continue and do the same for the rest of the cities in Europe that I had the opportunity to travel and spent time on.
Arriving in Barcelona
At 7:00 PM I arrived in Barcelona, checked into my hostel. During checkin I learned about a pub crawl scheduled for later that evening.
Hostel social hour
At around 8:30 PM I went to the lobby to meet and talk with other people staying at the hostel. During this time I met a dope guy who will come into play later.
at 10PM the Pub crawl starts
The Pub Crawl when from 10PM to 3AM. During the pub crawl we visited: The Room Barcelona, The Mood Barcelona, Shôko, and I had some tapas dinner by myself at Marina Bay Barcelona which was delish.
Returned to the hostel to sleep
At around 3:00 AM, I returned to the hostel to sleep.
Early morning coffee to meet up with Olivier
At around ~9:30 AM I woke up and went out to get coffee and croissants at Hanami Coffee & Bar and met up with Olivier, a person I had met the night before at the hostel social hour. Olivier was kind enough to offer me a tour of Barcelona. This was coool because his family is from Barcelona even though he is not from Barcelona and he knew the history and details of the city very well, could not have asked for a better guide.
Tour of Barcelona
Starting at 10:00 AM, Olivier and I started our five-hour walking tour of Barcelona, showing me places like Barceloneta, Gothic Quarter, La Rambla, Plaça de Catalunya and many others and sharing the city's history. Our journey started at Plaça de Catalunya.
Gothic Quarter
Our next stop was the Gothic Quarter. It was a beautiful and historic area of Barcelona. We walked around the area and saw the Barcelona Cathedral, La Rambla, Mercat de la Boqueria and the Palau Güell.
Barceloneta
Our next stop was Barceloneta. We did not get in the water but we did see the beautiful beach and broadwalk.
La Rambla
Our next stop was La Rambla Again but now from the bottom up. We saw the Columbus Monument, La Rambla, Basílica de Santa Maria del Pi and the Cathedral of Barcelona.
Lunch after the tour at Paninaro Born
At around 2:30pm we parted ways and Olivier went back to the hostel and I went to Paninaro Born for lunch.
Ciutadella Park
After lunch at around 4pm I went to the Ciutadella Park. It was a beautiful park where I relaxed and took a break for a little bit.
Restaurant La Taverna del Coure
at around 6pm I went to this restaurant called La Taverna del Coure. Really great restaurant that I just stumbled upon by walking around looking for a negroni (Sue me! :p). Jeferson my server was awesome, he make some great recommendations and the food was really good. If you are looking for a great negroni and a great restaurant, this is the place to go. Also the atmosphere and the little square across the restaurant is pretty lively and full of life to peopel watch hahaha..
Paradiso
At around 7pm I went to Paradiso. My second highlight of the trip after the tour from Olivier was Paradiso. This is a great bar and with a well deserved #1 ranking! My experience in this bar was top notch, I tried "The Cloud", "Their pastrami sandwich", "Prohibition Apple" and "Evolution Negroni" and by far one of the best bar experiences that I have had since I started visiting bars, the presentation, the flavors, and the service were all top notch. They even invited to the backroom of the bar to experience their new experimental drinks where I got to talk to Sara the bartender. She shared that they were trained in part in the New York Bars. Number 1 according to this website... best50bars in the world and I can confirm that it is a great bar. A must visit in Barcelona.
Beyond 24 hours
At around 10:30pm I returned to the hostel to sleep.
All Places Visited
Here's a map showing all the places I visited during my first 24 hours in Barcelona. From the Gothic Quarter to Barceloneta, from the best sandwich at Paninaro Born to the incredible experience at Paradiso - Barcelona has been absolutely amazing!