Barcelona - Don't Miss
Delve deeper into this surprising city and discover rooftop terraces, heavenly scents and seaside charm.
Bypass the La Sagrada Família's crowds to seek out smaller Gaudí gems including the sculpted chimneys of La Pedrera (Casa Milà) on the Passeig de Gràcia where the mosaic-tiled roof-top terrace offers views over the city. A few steps away the Museu del Perfum harbours precious scent bottles of different shapes. If science appeals, head for futuristic CosmoCaixa Barcelona, or light a candle in the Gothic Santa María del Mar Basilica. The old fishermen's quarter of Barceloneta leads through a jumble of narrow streets strung with billowing washing lines to the cool blue of the Mediterranean.
Not for the weak-kneed, the cable car is one way up to the hill-top park of Montjuïc or enter via the Plaça d'Espanya past the Màgica fountains to the Palau Nacional. Once on the hill visit the huge Olympic stadium Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys, and see 20th-century Masters from Miró himself to Matisse at the Joan Miró Foundation.
Barcelona's favourite architect Antoni Gaudí was run down by a tram in 1926. The eccentric artist was so shabbily dressed that he was mistaken for a tramp. Hundreds of thousands of mourners came out to see a horse-drawn cortege carry his embalmed body through the streets of Barcelona to be laid to rest in the crypt of his extraordinary church of the La Sagrada Família.
