Why Barcelona is the best place for a short summer holiday 🇪🇸

Hands down Barcelona may just be one of my most favourite city in the entire world! I had such a good time there that I cannot wait to go back and experience it all over again.

This was the first holiday in years Nadu, Minnie and I took with my mum and Aunty. My days what an experience that was, let’s just say I won’t be doing that again anytime soon 😂 they literally can’t hang and wanted to rest every 5 minutes. In their defence they signed up for a relaxing beach holiday and we wanted to explore so that’s where it got difficult.

The deal ✈️

Hotel: AB Paseo de Gracia €968.50 through Booking.com

Flights:  Monarch (outbound) £88 pp & Norwegian (inbound) £30pp

Dates: 10th – 13th August

Hotel

Our apartment was equipped with towels, cleaning products and coffee. Although we had a few complications with our room, they were quickly fixed when we called the reception.

We stayed on the busy, high-end street of Passeig De Gràcia in Eixample. This is the slightly pricier area in Barcelona with designer stores like Chanel, Louis Vuitton and Diesel lining the streets on one side and the slightly more affordable stores like H&M, Brandy Melville and Zara on the other. There was also a McDonalds literally right next to us so win win!🙌

There are loads of other restaurants and cafes located on this street which would be handy after a long day of shopping on the never-ending street.

It’s an ideal location if you’re going to Barcelona for the first time. The street was always bustling, local transport is easily accessible and the famous Las Ramblas was a 5 minute walk away. Not to mention, the famous tourist attraction Casa Battlo literally right across the road from us!

Food 🍽️

On the first day, we ate at an Arab restaurant located in Ramblas recommended to us by a family friend. We ate a dish of grilled fish, rice, salad and fries – the portions were huge!

The second day was Minnie’s birthday, so for breakfast we decided to get an unhealthy breakfast of buttery, sweet pastries from Cafè Pans where you can choose croissants filled with jam or chocolate, donuts and cookies with various delicious toppings😋

For lunch, we chose a Spanish restaurant to finally try a traditional seafood paella which was amazing! In the evening, we ate at another Arab restaurant called Khalijia which seemed quite popular. We ate a tagine served with rice and a mixed grill that came with fries and pitta bread. The restaurant served shisha which you could have alongside your food if thats your kinda thing.

Seafood paella in Puerto Olimpica

Attractions 

There is a lot to see and do in Barcelona.

Skipping on some tourist attractions as we did want to relax too, we decided to go to Villa Olympica one afternoon. There we bagged ourselves a really good (for peak summer) jet-skiing excursion deal. This had been something we all wanted to do for ages so as soon we saw it advertised, we were sold!

We paid 60euros per jet-ski and rode them for around 45 minutes.

I LOVED IT!

It was amazing to be out in the water on such a hot day and I defo recommend this excursion if you’re visiting in the summer – worth every penny!

We spent the rest of that day chilling at the beach, getting massages and seeing what Villa Olympica had to offer. There’s a delicious ice-cream place on the beachfront which you must try!

Across the road and over the bridge, you will find loads of bars and clubs literally swarming with people from all around the world. You can definitely enjoy a night out there – the most famous nightclub is Opium which attracts international celebrities and DJ’s💃💃🏾

We also visited the world-famous Sagrada Familia which has been on my bucket list since I watched Cheetah Girls II 😂 (if you know, you know)

The Gothic Quarter, Barcelona Cathedral and Arc de Triomph were walking distance from our apartment so we saw them too. We really did go at the best time as the weather was beautiful and we could walk around taking in all the stunning sights ☀️

Zayna’s advice

• Do not go with your parents😂 – Barcelona is definitely a holiday you want to do with your girls or friends whilst young, free and singleeeeeee.
• It’s a pricy city so make sure you take enough money with you to have a good time – nobody wants to be on holiday and not enjoy it properly!
• The best time to go is in the summer, yes it’s a little expensive compared to winter but the city has so much more to offer in the warmer months.
• Skip the churros in Las Ramblas and go for the ice cream instead – trust me it’s a thousand times better 🍦