Barcelona in 3 days, planned by the clock

Three days is the right length for Barcelona, and this plan spends them the way the city is built: one day for Gaudí, one for Montserrat, one for the sea and the old town. Every stop is a real booking with a real time, and the order follows the slots and the light rather than the map.

How the days are built

Day one is Gaudí, in the order the tickets make sensible: the Sagrada Família in the morning light, Park Güell at midday, Casa Batlló in the afternoon, and a tapas walk in the evening. Day two is Montserrat, early, with the ridge before the basilica and the afternoon back in the city. Day three is the water and the old town: a paddle or a swim in the morning, the Picasso Museum and El Born after lunch, the sunset catamaran and a flamenco show to finish. If your third day is the day you fly, swap it with day one and finish on the Sagrada Família.

What to book, and when

Book the Sagrada Família as soon as you know your dates, then Park Güell, then the flamenco. Montserrat does not sell out; the tour does, in summer. Everything else can wait until the week before.

Getting around

You do not need a car for any of these three days. The Hola card covers the metro, the buses and the train to Montserrat's foot; the rack railway is separate. The planner on the main page has a car mode if you would rather drive, and the honest answer is that a car costs time on all three days.

Adjusting the plan

Open any day in the planner and you can drag the stops, add thirty minutes where you want to linger, move a stop to day two or switch the whole day to public transport. The sunset and the sell-out flags are updated for the date you choose.