When I break my gaze, I settle on my children’s two young faces mesmerised as they stare agog at an architectural icon, which is everything I need to see.
La Sagrada Familia, the cathedral which is still being built more than 140 years after construction started, and showcases the work of Catalan architect Antoni Gaudi, for which Barcelona is well known, has to be seen to be believed.
Every element of its design is different from the next, and my daughters, Rosie, 14, and Poppy, 11, appear to be lost for words – a very rare thing indeed. We inch our way around every bit of the building; spellbinding spires stretching up into the clear blue sky with pyramids of fruit perching atop.
This is the landmark everyone says you have to see if you come to Barcelona – and with good reason. Ageless beauty sits beside the majestic and modern with pride. Weird and wonderful – every inch of the architecture is like nothing we’ve ever seen before.
The fact that we’re even here is a welcome surprise to us all, let alone gawping at Gaudi in 20C sunshine when it feels like it hasn’t stopped raining at home for months.
We’ve managed to escape for the Easter holidays after deciding a trip abroad was off the cards this year. With bills going up year upon year, sunny getaways are becoming less affordable.
But when we unexpectedly managed to bag four days in Spain’s artiest city for £792 for the four of us, we all let out excited squeals.
I thought the days of bargain flights were over. Even if you book with a value airline, by the time you’ve added on baggage, it seems to be a fortune. But booking three months ahead, we secured four flights with Vueling for £234.77. Baggage is extra (though if you’re savvy and only going for a couple of nights, I would argue you could all pack an under-seat rucksack for free) and you can opt for cabin or hold, which starts from £8.50.
We were less organised with the hotel, but by booking weeks before we secured a basic family apartment at Atenea Calabria, in a relatively
central location, for three nights, for £557. And that included a big old breakfast spread every morning which pleased the kids no end (9am doughnut, anyone?).
Once you get to Barcelona, of course, things can be as cheap or expensive as you like. When it comes to food and drink, after a big morning feast, we opt for a small snack or ice cream around lunchtime, then plump for an early sitting of tapas.
After pounding pavements all the way to the port, where we ogle yachts and people-watch while basking in the warmth, we stumble across the small but perfectly formed Perikete tapas bar.
We scoff patatas bravas, cod croquettes, Spanish tortilla, Serrano ham, padron peppers, broken fried eggs and Manchego as we sit on giant Estrella kegs upcycled into bar tables. A jug of deliciously fruity sangria, half a litre of Keller beer and a couple of Fanta Limons, and the damage is just £61 – a figure we can only dream our dinner bill amounts to when we eat out at home.
Arriving early means getting a table is easy too (by 7pm long queues are forming outside).
Another night, our weary legs fall into La Guapa & La Mala Tapas, where we order a similarly delicious array of treats. Repurposed SodaStream bottles are made into lights, black and white photographs of celebrities adorn the walls, tins are transformed into lampshades, bills come in sardine cans and 90s music blasts out of the speakers. It’s wonderful, £76 covers everything, including beer, Aperol spritz and soft drinks, and the portions are so big, we can’t eat everything.
Barcelona is also renowned for its food markets. The beautiful La Boqueria is the oldest and most famous, but with sweetie stalls replacing traditional food stands, we wander through Mercat de Santa Caterina and Mercat de Sant Antoni instead – an assault on the senses by anyone’s standards.
While food and drink is very much affordable in Barcelona, the big attractions can be expensive.
The beach, however, is completely free. Walking from city sights to sandy surf never fails to make me smile. Sporty types dig and smash their way to beach volleyball victory, friends sit and laze on the stony sands, while savvier folk keep walking to avoid the myriad beach sellers flogging towels, braids, drinks and massages every few minutes.
We walk the length and breath of Barcelona, Gaudi-spotting where we can. We snap La Pedrera from the street, before falling completely in love with Casa Batllo. Stained glass, mosaic, sumptuous textures, quirky balconies and more skyward sculptures. It’s colourful yet classy. But it’s expensive to go inside.
Basic entry costs €43 (£37) or it’s £45 for everything (including queue skipping, which is important for teens and tired parents alike). If you’re organised, you can save money by booking ahead online. But as we’re not, we decide not to spend over £150 for an hour and split up. I pay for the “gold” (queue jumping) entry for me and take Poppy as, delightfully, under-13s are free.
Park Guell is another must-see, but tickets are likely to sell out on the day, so it’s worth getting organised (€10/£8.50 for adults; £6 for children aged seven to 12; free for kids under seven). Families can spend hours inside – we take a picnic and spend the day among extroverted parakeets, squawking and squealing as they zoom from the palm trees, vying for everyone’s attention.
Inside, it’s another mind-blowing Gaudi phenomenon. Bougainvillea and wisteria thread themselves around the undulating stone walls, with greenery sprouting from cobblestone-like top hats.
Visitors rest on mosaic benches, beneath which lies an underworld of picturesque pillars. Look up to punched out domes, circles of colourful art created from the teeniest of shards. Every corner you turn, stony staircase you step down or winding ramp you climb, there is something new. Tourists queue for snaps next to the mosaic iguana, but there is art literally everywhere you look.
Indeed, Barcelona is full of creations you can immerse yourself in. As we pack our bags for the plane ride home, the girls decide the best bit was La Sagrada Familia – and vow to return in 2026 when the building is scheduled to finally be complete.
Book the holiday
- Vueling flies to Barcelona from Birmingham, Edinburgh, Gatwick, Heathrow and Manchester from £35 one way. vueling.com
- Accommodation at the Atenea Calabria Apartaments in Barcelona can be booked at cityhotels.es
- More info at barcelonaturisme.com
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