Remember, you're in Catalonia, not Spain. Except when you're in Spain. Heck with it, just call it Barcelona.

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The second-largest city in Spain is not exactly smug, but it is geared up to show itself off, especially for visitors who want to know what to do in Barcelona.

It wants to be acknowledged in the travel world as more sophisticated than Madrid, more progressive than Paris and a great deal more efficient than Rome.

It does a fine job of it, too.

From the modernist beachfront sculptures to the melted-effect houses of Antoni Gaudi, this is a destination that stimulates the first-time visitor, and still excites those who have been coming back for 30 or 40 years. 

Veterans will tell you what to do in Barcelona and how much the city has changed in two decades.

Hotels

Luxury

W Barcelona

W covers the bases -- and the beds -- from A to Z.

A beacon on the Barcelona beachfront, the W edifice gazes out into the Mediterranean like an ostentatious, pot-bellied bather preparing for his first summer plunge.

From the outside it’s eye-catching; inside it’s roomy, light and does a slick job catering to the guest prepared to spend extra on expansive sea views. There’s a pool, choice of restaurants and, on the 26th floor, the swish Eclipse bar.

For those wanting to know what to do in Barcelona, one of the city’s more popular beaches is at the foot of the tower, and the many restaurants, narrow streets and plazas of the Barceloneta district are a few minutes’ walk away.

Majestic

About 100 years old, the Majestic peers with a certain gravitas down Paseo de Gracia, Barcelona’s major shopping avenue.

With its grand staircase, marbled pillars and discreetly lit ground-floor bar, there’s a classical feel to the place.

From the rooftop terrace bar you can see how the city grew outward from its neatly gridded center and took over village-y barrios like Gracia, which climbs up the hill behind the hotel.

Mid-range

Casa Camper

The famed boot company wants you to take 'em off here.

A hotel inspired by a shoe, or at least by and because of the Camper brand. Like the boots they make, Camper’s first hotel aims to be trendy and functional. The rooms are unpretentious, and the hotel is well located.

The Camper supplies bicycles for guests who want them, although there’s plenty to see on foot, with a location close to the Museum of Modern Art, the Gothic quarter and the Ramblas. 


Budget

Chic and Basic Born

A soothing retreat from downtown Barcelona, the Chic and Basic is a study in cool, with clever lighting in the comfortable modern bedrooms and a cream-and-white color scheme.

If you’re looking for what to do in Barcelona, the Born area hosts lots of eateries and bars.

The Chic and Basic also puts you very close to the Picasso museum. Unfortunately, it can’t help you jump the often-long queue to get inside.

The “Basic” of the hotel’s name is a bit of misnomer. This hotel is classier than that.

Dining

Casa Calvet

Casa Calvet is recommended for two main reasons: first, because of the building. And in a tie for first, because of chef Miquel Alija.

Antoni Gaudi designed the place in the early 19th century for a textile company. Today, you dine under high ceilings and look up at striking stained-glass windows. That makes for a formal atmosphere, though the staff are warm.

They welcome detailed inquiries about the menu. The poultry dishes are usually excellent – everything Chef Alija does is superb – and there’s a good selection of the best local Penedes wines.

If you want to know what to do in Barcelona, start with dinner here.

Botafumeiro

This is one of the very best places to go for seafood, and for a wide range of it. There’s Galician expertise in the kitchen in the form of head chef Moncho Neira from Spain’s northwest. His touch shows in the preparation and selection of shellfish.

Here you can try some of the more unusual Iberian delicacies, such as percebes (goose barnacles).

Botafumeiro gets busy in the evenings, so book in advance. Then give yourself half an hour for a glass of Cava at the long bar just inside the main entrance.  

La Gavina

A good venue for the warmer months – which can often include March and November – to sit outside and look over the boats in the port and the passing human traffic along the quayside.

La Gavina does paellas well and, even better, the more Catalan version of the dish, fideua, made not with rice but with fine, short noodles.

Elisabet’s

Elisabet’s is terrific value and worth the short wait for a table at lunchtime. With luck you might be seated in the snug booth in the corner.

The menu del dia is full of Catalan staples: stews with butifarra (blood sausage) and plenty of pulses; hearty seafood soups and simple fresh fish. It’s just inside the Raval district, so it bustles.

Elisabets, Calle Elisabets, 2-4; +34 93 317 5826

Nightlife

CDLC

To get known simply by your initials, you usually have to be quite cool. The Carpe Diem Lounge Club, to give it its full title, has become ultracool for young and not-quite-so-young residents and regular visitors to Barcelona.

It’s on the beachfront and until just after midnight, it’s a bar and restaurant. Then it turns into an open space for dancing, sipping drinks and admiring a decor that hints at Asian.

Late at night, this is where to be and what to do in Barcelona.

Luz de Gas

Set in an old cabaret theater, and with live music every night, this is where you have the best chance of spotting local celebrities: footballers, actors, models and musicians.

There are halls that cater to most tastes and ages. The clientele tends to be Catalan, rather than one-off visitors to Barcelona.

One piece of advice: Don’t dress too scruffy. There can be long queues and nobody wants to be turned away for being too casual after a long wait.

The Pipa Club

A sort of cross between a old-fashioned gentleman’s club and the apartment of an eccentric academic, this is a place to gravitate after an evening in the Born or on Las Ramblas.

There’s a low-key Bohemian atmosphere, pool tables for anyone who wants to strike up competitive friendships and comfortable sofas and armchairs for patrons who just want to slump.

It can get crowded around 3 a.m.

Shopping and attractions

You’ve had all you can eat and drink – for a day or two, anyway. Now here’s where to go and what to do in Barcelona by day.

Mercado Santa Caterina

Most of Barcelona’s big, warehouse-style markets are a joy, not just for the mix of smells and exotic local delicacies – there’s barely a part of the pig that does not find its way into Catalan cuisine – but the vendors.

The ways they compete for your business border on the flirtatious. The Santa Caterina, in the Born, has been remodeled, but retains its old stall system and much of its charm.

Park Guell

Where art comes to relax.

Here you’ll find a weird, Alice-through-the-looking-glass world created in the early 1920s to delight children and celebrate the chameleon vision of Antoni Gaudi.

Whether it’s the tiled, multi-colored lizards that draw your gaze or if you simply want to listen out for the peculiar way the wind whistles through the spooky tunnels, Park Guell is enchanting.

There are superb views of the city from the top of the hill.

Homage to Catalonia

Barcelona regards itself as more than just a provincial capital. Catalonia aspires to be a nation-state, clear of interference from Spain.

Decades of obligatory schooling in Catalan mean the language thrives, even if in the streets of Barcelona you’ll hear as much Spanish spoken as Catalan.

Catalans are proud of their cultural difference from their neighbors. They celebrate the things they think make them unique.

Here’s what to do in Barcelona if you want to see Catalanism as its proudest:

FC Barcelona, Camp Nou

insiderguide-barcelona-campnuo

“Catalonia Is Not Spain.”

So used to say a huge banner at the Camp Nou stadium, home of a sporting club that, more than any Catalan institution, has come to represent the independent-thinking region’s confidence in itself.

They play the world’s most popular sport better than any other team in the world – they’re holders of the UEFA Champions League (Europe’s most prestigious club championship) and have never been relegated from Spain’s premier league.

Where most teams are happy with a double and dream of a treble, Barca, as they are also known, once won a sextuple – six titles in one season.

The museum at the stadium is the most visited of all Barcelona’s museums, and though recent success has made tickets for matches harder to come by, it’s usually possible to get in to all but the very biggest fixtures.

The Miró Foundation

The best works of Joan Miró, artist, sculptor and thinker, are housed in this elegant building close to the top of Montjuic hill.

Miró’s style may not be to your taste, but he lived a fascinating and important life in what were turbulent times for his beloved city.

There are several ways to make your way up to Montjuic. There’s the cable car from Barceloneta, the funicular extension to the metro from Parallel station or a pleasant walk from Plaza Espana.

The Miró Foundation, Parc de Montjuic; +34 93 443 9470

Cava Country

Cava: Built to chill.

Cava, the sparkling white or pink wine produced in a manner similar to champagne, is Catalonia’s national drink. And proud of it the Catalans are.

The major Cava producers come from the Penedes area, about half an hour outside Barcelona and best accessed by car.

Tours and tastings can be arranged by phone at Codorniu, among others.

Alternatively, you can just order a chilled glass somewhere where you can sit outdoors and feel the breeze off the sea.

Cava Country, Cava Codorniu, Autopista AP7, exit 27 Sant Sadurni; +34 93 505 1551