I learned a long time ago, if you plan to go on a vacation, have an initial itinerary for every day, even if you change it later.
We planned to have 3 days in Barcelona. I still hear the song from the Broadway Show “Company” every time I hear the word Barcelona…..oh yes, vacation planning.
The flight to Barcelona is overnight, so to start our visit we needed to have something to do when we got off the plane for 3 reasons: a) get from the airport to our hotel, b) have something to do until we could check into the hotel which is in early afternoon, and c) stay awake so that we can work on jet lag.
Borrowing from our travel plans that we made when going to London, I found a tour service that offers a multi-hour tour from the Barcelona airport highlighting the key sites around the city via a private car, and then drop you and your luggage (and your travel companions) at your hotel. Perfect.
I set up the tour with Barcelona City Tours. First day in Barcelona covered, including a stop at Gaudi’s famous Park, Guell. Barcelona City Tours will drive us around, help us get acclimated in a new city and keep us awake until we could get to our hotel (nice plan).
After reading several tour guides about Barcelona, we picked 2 additional activities – one a day – for our other 2 full days. Sagrada Familia, the famous unfinished Gaudi Church and the Picasso Museum. Each one of these adventures would take the morning and we would have the afternoons to find a spot for lunch and then explore the city.
Done.
Tickets for Sagrada Familia and the Picasso Museum can (and should) be purchased in advance and online. This is a must as the end of May starts the busy tourist season and all of the tickets have timed entry.
I even found the place to go to find authentic espadrilles, that has to be included in the plan.