Bohemian at heart, Barcelona is one of Europe’s most intriguing cities. The City Centre sits at the centre of the action and is a fabulous place to experience the quirks of Catalan culture. The buzzing La Rambla pedestrian mall cuts through the district, stretching for 1.2 kilometres from Plaça de Catalunya to Port Vell’s Christopher Columbus Monument.
Thanks to its idyllic location on Spain’s Mediterranean coast, Barcelona enjoys sultry weather year-round, which means that sipping on sangria and indulging in tapas at a terrace café is a Barcelona rite of passage. For architecture aficionados, Barcelona City Centre is a paradise. It’s peppered with a fusion of styles, from Gaudi’s extravagant “Catalan Modernism” designs to the medieval masterpieces of the Old City.
As the name suggests, accessing Barcelona City Centre is easy. It’s serviced by a fantastic metro network, as well as a public bus system. From El Prat Airport, the drive takes just 15 minutes. It’s also possible to catch the metro or bus in just under one hour. Once in the city centre, the best way to soak up Barcelona’s high-energy ambience is by foot.
Over the centuries, Barcelona has found itself in several different realms. In the 5th century, it was captured by invading Germanic Visigoths, who crowned it the capital of Gothic Spain. In the 8th century, it was seized by Islamic invaders, then claimed by the French in 801. Today, it stands as the capital of Spain’s Catalonia region and is considered one of Europe’s most cosmopolitan cities.