Explore Barcelona

The Barcelona Museum of Contemporary Art (MACBA) stands on Plaça dels Àngels in El Raval, in a white building with a long glass front designed by the American architect Richard Meier and opened in 1995. Its galleries show the museum's collection of art from the mid-20th century onwards alongside changing temporary exhibitions.

Aquarium Barcelona is a public aquarium on the Moll d'Espanya in Port Vell, the old harbour, opened in 1995. Its tanks hold some 11,000 animals with a focus on Mediterranean sea life, and the large oceanarium for sharks and rays is crossed by an 80-metre underwater tunnel.

The Arc de Triomf is a red-brick memorial arch in the Neo-Mudéjar style, designed by Josep Vilaseca i Casanovas as the main entrance to the 1888 Barcelona World Fair. It spans the promenade of Passeig de Lluís Companys, which leads to Parc de la Ciutadella, and its front frieze carries Josep Reynés's relief Barcelona Welcomes the Nations.

Parc de la Ciutadella is a 31-hectare park on the edge of the Ciutat Vella, laid out from 1872 to plans by Josep Fontserè on the site of an 18th-century military citadel and later used for the 1888 World Fair. It contains a boating lake, the monumental Cascada fountain, the Parliament of Catalonia, Barcelona Zoo and several 19th-century buildings.

The Port Vell Aerial Tramway is a cable car that crosses Barcelona's old harbour, linking the Torre de Sant Sebastià in Barceloneta with the Miramar station on Montjuïc by way of the Torre de Jaume I beside the World Trade Center. Built for the 1929 International Exposition and opened in 1931, it covers about 1.3 km in cabins for up to 24 people.

Barcelona Zoo occupies the eastern part of the Parc de la Ciutadella and opened in 1892. Its grounds include a terrarium from 1972, an aviary with about 70 bird species and a Sahel savannah area built in 2018 for giraffes, lions and elephants; it was long the home of Snowflake, an albino gorilla who died in 2003.

Altamar is a restaurant at the top of the Torre de Sant Sebastià, the 78-metre steel tower from 1931 that serves as the Barceloneta terminal of the Port Vell cable car. The dining room sits about 75 metres above the harbour, with views over the port and the city, and serves Mediterranean cooking à la carte or as a tasting menu.

Casa Amatller is a house on Passeig de Gràcia that Josep Puig i Cadafalch remodelled between 1898 and 1900 for the chocolate maker Antoni Amatller, giving it a stepped gable faced with ceramic tiles. The family's rooms keep their original furniture and decoration of 1900 and are seen on guided or audio-guided visits.

Casa Batlló is a house on Passeig de Gràcia that Antoni Gaudí remodelled from 1904 for Josep Batlló, part of the block of Modernista buildings known as the Illa de la Discòrdia. Its facade is covered in broken-tile mosaic, with bone-like columns and a roof shaped like a dragon's back; visitors tour the main floor, the light well and the roof terrace.

Museu Tàpies is an art museum founded in 1984 by the painter Antoni Tàpies and opened in 1990 in the former Montaner i Simon publishing house, an early modernista building of brick and iron by Lluís Domènech i Montaner. A large wire sculpture by Tàpies crowns the roof, and the galleries show his work alongside temporary exhibitions.

Passeig de Gràcia is a wide avenue in the Eixample that runs from Plaça de Catalunya to Carrer Gran de Gràcia, laid out in the 19th century on the old road between Barcelona and the town of Gràcia. It is lined with shops and modernista buildings, among them Casa Amatller, Casa Lleó Morera and Antoni Gaudí's Casa Batlló and Casa Milà.

The Montjuïc Cable Car is a gondola lift that climbs Montjuïc from the upper station of the funicular to a terminal beside Montjuïc Castle. Opened in 1970 and rebuilt with closed cabins in 2007, the 752-metre line rises about 85 metres above its lower station and looks out over the port and the city.

Casa Milà, known as La Pedrera, is an apartment building on Passeig de Gràcia designed by Antoni Gaudí and built between 1906 and 1912 for Pere Milà and Roser Segimon. It has a self-supporting undulating stone facade with wrought-iron balconies, and visitors see its courtyards, the attic and the roof terrace with sculpted chimneys.

The Palau Baró de Quadras is a town house on Avinguda Diagonal that Josep Puig i Cadafalch remodelled between 1904 and 1906 for Manuel de Quadras, first Baron of Quadras. Its Diagonal front carries a carved stone Gothic-revival gallery by Eusebi Arnau and Alfons Juyol; the building is the seat of the Institut Ramon Llull and its main floor is shown on guided tours.

The Fundació Joan Miró is a museum of modern art on Montjuïc, created by Joan Miró and opened in 1975 in a white building with courtyards and roof terraces designed by his friend Josep Lluís Sert. It holds a large collection of Miró's paintings, sculptures, tapestries and drawings, and its Espai 13 shows work by young artists.

Montjuïc Castle is a military fortress on the summit of Montjuïc hill, above the port. A first fort was raised in 1640, and the present castle with its moat and bastions took shape between 1751 and 1799 under the engineer Juan Martín Cermeño. Now run by the city, it has exhibitions on its history and walls with views over Barcelona and the sea.

The Sagrada Família is a Catholic basilica in Barcelona's Eixample, begun in 1882 and led from 1883 by Antoni Gaudí, who worked on it until his death in 1926 and is buried in its crypt. Its central Tower of Jesus Christ, completed in 2026, is 172.5 metres high. Visitors see the Nativity and Passion façades and the tree-like columns of the nave.

The Joan Antoni Samaranch Olympic and Sport Museum opened in 2007 on Montjuïc, opposite the Lluís Companys Olympic Stadium, and took its present name in 2010. Run by the Barcelona Olympic Foundation, it covers the Olympic Games and the 1992 Barcelona Games, sport in different civilisations and disability sport, with interactive multimedia displays.

The Magic Fountain of Montjuïc is an illuminated fountain designed by Carles Buïgas for the 1929 International Exposition, at the head of Avinguda de la Reina Maria Cristina below the Palau Nacional. On set evenings it stages shows of water jets, coloured light and music, pumping about 2,600 litres of water a second through three concentric basins.

Plaça d'Espanya is a large circular square at the foot of Montjuïc, laid out for the 1929 International Exposition. Its centre holds a fountain designed by Josep Maria Jujol with sculptures by Miquel Blay, and two 47-metre Venetian Towers mark the avenue leading up to the Palau Nacional. The former Arenas bullring stands on its north side.