Barcelona is a fantastic city to visit - not only is there a huge variety of things to see and shoot, it's also very friendly to visitors and easy to get around.
The one main negative, which I'm sure you've heard about already, is the level of petty crime - pickpocketing is absolutely rife so you really need to be careful with your things. This isn't just a case of it all being reputation - we even saw someone else being stolen from whilst we were there but the thief ran off and down into the underground before anyone could react!
Ok, in terms of what to do/ see - what we enjoyed is as follows, in no particular order:
La Boqueria (produce market on Rambla) - great colour - good for both picking up a picnic and taking some great photos.
Bus Turistic - don't usually do tourist bus routes but this one works so well as transport for a visitor - there are two routes, red and blue. A ticket allows you to do the tour hopping on and off at as many of the stops as you like. We bought a pass that was valid for 2 consecutive days and that worked very well for us.
In the Eixample district stop at the site of Gaudi's Casa Mila and other modernist buildings.
If you're into Joan Miro you could visit the Parc Joan Miro to see a large Miro sculpture.
The next bit you may either enjoy a great deal (as we did) or decide it's too hokey but... we found it fun. We went to the Placa Espanya (which has buildings in an amazing mix of styles), walked past the Palau Nacional and then we took a little tourist train which tours the Montjuic area every 30 to 40 minutes. Not expensive and when we visited 5-6 years back there was a discount offered to those who had a Bus Turistic pass. The route which took us past the Poble Espanyol, through the Olympic stadium and surrounding area, past the stunning and photogenic telecommunications tower, up through the park past the Palua Nacional and through Montjuic castle (and yes, I do mean through!!!!) From the heights of Montjuic we had a stunning view of Barcelona, could see the coast line and the thrusting towers of the Sagrada Familia and many other familiar sights.
We used the Teleferic de Montjuic (a little cable car thing) to take a return trip from to the castle and back. Whilst we were in Barcelona the main cable car down on the waterfront was sadly not operational as I'd have LOVED to do that too.
You must of course visit Gaudi's La Sagrada Familia - started as a traditional cathedral and taken over by Gaudi part way through construction, he changed the plans and style completely but never did complete it.
My favourite Gaudi creation was undoubtedly Park Guell. I just loved it.
Oh, we went to the Tibidabo stop on the Bus Turistic route hoping to take the furnicular up the mountain but it had just broken down so we never did do that.
The Barri Gotic area is a great area to wonder around, or perhaps to find a hotel in if you can.
The Palau de Musica is nothing much to look at on the outside but oh my god the glass ceiling inside is incredible. If you have time, go. Buy tickets in advance at the ticket buying place near the Palau.
You also have the Port Vell/ Olympic Village/ Beach areas of Barcelona. If you're into aquariums the one in Barcelona is great - we enjoyed it very much.
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