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Barcelona's famous one mile long street La Rambla is the first port of call for most new visitors to Barcelona. Crammed with street performances, craft stalls, flower stalls, portrait painters and more, Las Ramblas is a lively affair. Numerous cafes and bars line Barcelona's most famous street alongside theatres, historic churches and even a Joan Miro mural. Barcelona Tourism (weblink right) offer an extensive choice of walking tours around Barcelona's Barri Gothic.
As popular as La Rambla is Barcelona's adjacent oldtown Gothic Quarter (the Barri Gotic and La Ribera districts). These areas of the city contain some of Barcelona's most historic sights, and classic examples of Catalan Gothic alongside the remains of ancient Barcelona Roman walls. Barcelona Cathedral is here too. For one of the best examples of Catalan Gothic head to the Santa Maria del Mar. Oh, and as if you didn't know Barcelona's second most popular attraction to the Sagrada Familia is here in the Barri Gotic - the world renowned Picasso Museum. Both Las Ramblas and the Barri Gotic Gothic Quarter are two of Barcelona's most popular areas - they're crowded and best explored on foot. You'll find it difficult to navigate your bicycle hire in these two areas! Get there early too for the Picasso Museum as you'll find long queues form here by lunchtime.
La Rambla Barcelona is probably one of the most famous strolling streets in the world. Barcelona's Ramblas pushes up for one mile from the waterfront from the Columbus monument upto central hub Placa de Catalunya. Actually a series of five ramblas - the Canaletes, Estudis, Sant Josep, Caputxins and Santa Monica, each Barcelona Ramblas section is named mostly after the relevant churches which sit alongside. An extravaganza of urban performance, La Rambla Barcelona is lined with craft stalls, flower stalls, street performance, living art, cafes and a selection of shops, museums and historic churches and theatres. Las Ramblas is still Barcelona's favourite meeting place with visitors and locals.
Busy all year round, La Rambla Barcelona is the perfect introduction to the city. Madrid has the Paseo del Prado, Edinburgh has its Royal Mile and Barcelona has La Rambla. (Metro for Las Ramblas has three metro points, all on Barcelona Metro Line 3. For the Waterfront end of Las Ramblas head for Drassanes, Mid- point La Rambla head for Liceu and Top end of La Rambla head to Catalunya).
Barcelona La Rambla Tourist Information Centre, La Rambla, 115, Barcelona. Open daily from 9am to 9pm. Barcelona's main tourist office is at the end of the Ramblas at Placa de Catalunya, 17-S. Open daily 9am to 9pm. Pick up good Barcelona City centre and Barcelona Las Ramblas/Old town detailed maps from these points.
Barcelona's Gothic Quarter, alias the Barri Gotic sits to the side of La Rambla. Distinctive for its narrow winding streets, which heave with visitors flocking to Barcelona Old Town's numerous attractions including the Picasso Museum, the Barri Gotic is a stark contrast to Barcelona's L'Eixample new town to the north. Look on any Barcelona city map, and you'll see the contrast between Barcelona's tightly packed narrow streets in the Gothic Quarter compared to the wide paseos of L'Eixample. A great point to absorb this contrast is views of Barcelona city from the top of Castillo de Montjuic, reached by the now reopened Montjuic Cable Car. The main Barcelona Tourist Information Office in the Barri Gotic is with the City Hall on Placa de Sant Jaume, Ciutat, 2, Barcelona, open Mondays to Fridays 9am to 8am. There's a particularly good tourist shop, with maps and so forth, in here.
Barcelona's Barri Gothic and La Ribera Old Town districts are two of Barcelona's most popular areas with visitors. Highlights include the Picasso Museum of course (get ready for queues!), the stunning Catalan Gothic architecture of the Santa Maria del Mar and the Museu Frederic Mares which is home to one of Spain's most outstanding collections of sculpture dating from pre-Roman to the 20th century. For a detailed tourist guide on Barcelona's gotic quarter, including the La Ribera district see the Barcelona Tourism Guide weblink right. (Metros. Liceu or Catalunya/Line 3, Jaume 1/Line 4, Urquinaona and Arc de Triomf/Line 1).
Barcelona's Picasso Museum is understandably one of the city's most visited attractions. More than 3500 of Picasso's paintings are held here in the permanent collection, making Barcelona's Picasso Museum one of if not the best collections of the artists' work.
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