Things to do in Barcelona fall/winter edition

I love Barcelona in fall/winter because it is still such great weather! I am from The Netherlands, so I am used to gloomy and rainy days after the summer. But here it is most of the time still perfect weather 🙂 In the years I lived here I don’t think it has ever been less then 15 degrees (celsius).

So Barcelona is basically a good location for the whole year, and with the Christmas lights here it is so magical 🙂

Read on further to get tips on what to do in Barcelona in the seasons fall/winter.

Check out Sagrada Familia

La Sagrada Familia is probably the most famous thing to do in Barcelona. You can find this beautiful basilica in the district Eixample.

La Sagrada Familia was designed by the famous architect Antoni Gaudi. Since the year 1882, the basilica is almost always being worked on. At the moment they think they will be ready in the year 2030.

You can see the basilica from outside, but you will not be disappointed when you take a look in the inside! La Sagrada Familia has also two towers you can visit, here they have stunning views of Barcelona. Keep in mind that when you purchase the ticket, you can only choose one of the towers.

More information about the opening hours and ticket prices you’ll find on their website.

Get here tickets for La Sagrada familia, with an audio guide and access to one of the towers.

Walk around Parque del Guinardó

This park has amazing views of Barcelona, it is one of my favorite things to do on my day off to escape the city life or as a workout. If you also love to watch sunsets like me, than I recommend going there to watch the sunset 🙂

Read this post to get to know more about the park and how to get there.

Enjoy the views at Bunkers del Carmel

One of my favorite things to show my friends and family when they visit is the Bunkers del Carmel. Here you’ll have amazing views of the whole city, and it is a perfect location to watch the sunset as well. Another positive thing is that it is totally free and

Spend a day at one of the many museums

Barcelona has a lot of choices when it comes to Barcelona, so if there is a rainy day while you are here then don’t worry, Barcelona still has many things to offer that are indoors.

You could go to the Banksy museum, Picasso museum, moco museum or the museum of national art of Catalunya.

Read here more about the museums in Barcelona and information about prices etc.

Go for a walk in Parc de la Ciutadella

One of my favorite things to do on my day off is going to the park and enjoy the sun with a good book. And because the weather is still so good in fall / winter you are still able to bring a blanket and enjoy the day at the park. Or go for a walk, and enjoy the views around you.

Parc de la Ciutadella was built in the 19th century and when you walk around you’ll find the beautiful monumental waterfall, a lake where you can rent a boat and the zoo.

Enjoy the picturesque streets of the old town

Walk around in the old town, these are the neighborhoods El Born & Barrio Gotico. It is perfect to walk around because of the picturesque streets and the small boutiques. Here you can also find the Parc de la Ciutadella, Arc de Triomf, museums like Picasso and Moco, Plaça Reial and the Cathedral.

For the ones that love to make pictures, here is a post about my favorite streets of Barcelona 🙂

Admire Casa Batllo and Casa mila

Another work from Antoni Gaudi is Casa Battlo, the outside of the house is already beautiful to see but the inside is also really interesting to see.

The duration of the tour is a small hour, because Casa Batllo is a famous attraction in Barcelona I would advice to purchase the tickets online.

Casa Battlo has also a roof terrace where you have stunning views over Barcelona, Unfortunately when I was there it was a gloomy day. But the view was still really beautiful!

opening hours:

Tuesday to Thursday from 09:00 to 18:30
Friday to Monday from 09:00 to 20:00

The price of a ticket is around €35,-

*The tickets also include a audio guide which is available in different languages: Dutch, Spanish, Catalan, English, France, German, Italian, Chinese, Portuguese, Japanese and Russian.

Get here tickets for Casa Battlo.

Casa Mila

Casa Mila is another famous design from Gaudi. I really liked this house, I might like this one even more then Casa Batllo. Casa mila also has an rooftop with amazing views over Barcelona.

Opening hours: Monday to Sunday from 09:00 to 18:30

prices:

La Pedrera Essential: €25,-
the unseen Pedrera: €28,-
La Pedrera night experience: €35,-
La Pedrera Premium: €32,-
La Pedrera Essential & night experience: €45,-

Check Getyourguide for tickets to Casa Mila.

Spend a day in Park Güell

Park Güell is designed by Antoni Gaudi, Here you’ll find lots of works from Gaudi and in the mean time you can enjoy the beautiful views over Barcelona as well. If you visit the park in summer time make sure to bring a bottle of water, because you’ll probably be there a pretty long time walking around.

Tip: if you decide to walk to Park Güell, you really need to walk via the street Carrer de Molist. Trust me, the climb is worth it. When you are at the stairs at the end of the street stop for a minute and take in the view over Barcelona. From here it is a 5 / 10 minute walk to Park Güell.

Park Güell is open everyday from 09:30 to 19:30

A general ticket is €10,-

* you can purchase the tickets till 17:30, after this there are no more ticket available because of the closing time.

Check Getyourguide for tickets to the park.

Walk along the beach

Barcelona has amazing beaches, the famous one is Playa Barceloneta. Or go a bit further to Nova Icaria beach or Playa de Bogatell.

I love to watch the sunset from the beach as well, and because you are going in the low seasons there won’t be too many tourists 🙂

Daytrip to one of the towns of Costa Brava

It is really easy to do a daytrip from Barcelona to one of the famous towns of Costa Brava. You could go to Blanes or Tossa de Mar with the public transport the rest like Begur,

How to get there by public transport:

To get to Tossa de mar, you can take the bus from Barcelona Nord bus station, line to Tossa de Mar. It takes about 1,5 hours and costs are around 23 euros for a round trip.

To get to Blanes you can get the train R1 from Barcelona Sants towards Estación de tren Blanes. It takes about 1 hour and 50 minutes, and a ticket

Read more about Tossa de Mar in this post 🙂

Daytrip from Barcelona

There are many other towns close to Barcelona, so if you have enough time and want to escape the city life of Barcelona then this is a fun way to see more of Catalunya.

My favorites are Tarragona, Sitges or Girona.

Read more about these towns and how to get there in this post.

Check out the Christmas lights

This is one of my favorite times, because Barcelona looks so beautiful with all the Christmas lights. I love to wander around in the evenings, and to just look around me. If you are still deciding when to go, I recommend to go in December.

Wander around the Christmas markets

If you are in Barcelona in December, you can go to the many christmas markets. My favorites are: Fira de Santa Llucia (Barcelon’s oldest Christmas market), which is next to the Cathedral of Barcelona. The Sagrada Familia christmas market, like the name says it is held next to the church, the Feria Reyes on Gran Via and Fira de Nadal del Port Vell.

Opening times:

Fira de Santa llucia: 28th of November till 23rd of December
Sagrada Familia Christmas market: 28th of November till 23rd of December
Feria Reyes Gran Via: 17th of December till 6th of January
Fira de Nadal del Port Vell: 29th of November till the 6th of January

* 2024/2025

Admire the Cathedral of Barcelona

Barcelona has a beautiful cathedral in the old part and there is a square in front of it where there is often a second hand market.

The construction of the cathedral started in 1298 and in 1930 they finished with a lot of constructions in between.

A ticket to the Cathedral is 14 euros, and it will also give you access to the rooftop.

Get tickets for the cathedral here.

Watch the sunset from a viewpoint

Barcelona has many viewpoints, my favorites are: Parque del Guinardó, Bunkers del Carmel, Carrer de Molist and at the museum MNAC. Take snacks with you and enjoy the beautiful sunset 🙂

If you want read about more locations to watch the sunset, read this blogpost.

Make your own souvenir

Candles:

I haven’t done it myself, yet. But I thought it was worth mentioning, there are places in Barcelona where you can do a workshop to make your own candles. This is a perfect way to spend time with your friends, have fun and also a nice souvenir of Barcelona. Here are the places where you can do a workshop:

Cereria Subirá, Twenty two, La fuerza del alma.

Ceramic Painting:

If you want to do something fun with friends or family in Barcelona and not looking for something touristy then this is a really good option. There are lots of options where you can do this in Barcelona but La Ceramicaria is my favorite, they have 3 places in Barcelona.

You can choose a piece, and they have lots of ceramic to choose from, when you bought the piece you get two hours to paint it. And don’t worry if you don’t speak Spanish, they do speak English as well. You can reserve a spot via their website.

Keep in mind that it takes about 1,5 weeks before you can pick your piece up. But if you have enough time, this is definitely a fun thing to do with friends or family! 🙂

Walk around Vila Gracia

This neighborhood is full with beautiful small squares, pretty streets, small boutiques, cafes & restaurants and they have a shopping area as well. It is perfect to walk around and enjoy the picturesque streets.

Spend a day in a shopping mall

Even though the weather is mostly great in Barcelona it could still be that you have rainy days on your trip, or because you find it to cold and want to do something inside. The perfect thing to do then is to go to a shopping mall, I always go to Westfield Glories or Arenas de Barcelona.

Walk around the neighborhood Eixample

One thing I love to do in Fall is to walk around and enjoy the beautiful views of what fall gives. This neighborhood is the perfect one to wander around.

Eixample is a pretty big neighborhood, here you can find La Sagrada Familia, Casa Batllo, Casa Mila and the shopping area with the main shopping street: Passeig de Gracia. It is also full with beautiful architecture, wander around and enjoy the views.

Christmas shopping

Barcelona has an amazing shopping center, and all the small boutiques in the old town are perfect for shopping gifts for Christmas. Plus from November there are Christmas markets all over Barcelona.

For the big stores you need to be at Passeig de Gracia and Placa Catalunya, plus if you are here in December you can enjoy the beautiful Christmas lights 🙂

Tip: check out Käthe Wohlfahrt for the perfect Christmas gift.

Montjuic Castle & cable car

At the Montjuic castle and while sitting in the cable car you’ll get amazing views of Barcelona. The castle is dating back to 1640, and is an old military fortress.

A ticket for the castle is 12 euros and a ticket for the cable car is around 15 euros for a round trip.

Check the websites of the castle and cable car for the opening hours and more information about the tickets.

Get tickets for the castle here.