Barcelona
Barcelona has a creative, playful spirit that kids will soak up when you travel to the city. Gaudi’s fantastical houses and architectural creations, his tiled mosaics in the shape of dragons, chimneys with people faces are timeless marvels of imagination. Barcelona is also an old city – in Roman times it was called Barcino. And wherever you go in Barcelona with kids, whether it’s running along on the ramparts of the Montjuic castle, or just playing in the sand, the blue Mediterranean is always at your feet.
Ride the metro - The Barcelona metro system is excellent - clean and efficient (trains come about every 3 minutes) and lines are well marked, so it's easy to use. In the station, purchase day tickets (1, 2, 3 or 4 days) that allow for unlimited trips on the metro, buses, city trains, trams and funicular to Montjuic Park, or the 10 trip ticket.
Dragons are very much a part of the history and culture of Barcelona. Read our blog post "
Barcelona Dragons: Old and new" for legends, history, tips to identify different warrior saints, heroes and dragons, and where to see them in Barcelona.
Fun food
There’s no shortage of fun food for kids in Barcelona. Anyone with a taste for chocolate will be in seventh heaven. The chocolate shops, bomboneria, are filled with chocolate in imaginative shapes – sailing ships, mushroom houses, ferris wheels, trains, planes, pianos, and more. Also you’ll want to try hot chocolate (xocolata). Our favorite shops for hot chocolate are Chocolateria Valor (Carrer Tapineria 10), Chocolate Museum (Carrer del Comerc 36) Granja Viader (Carrer Xucla 4) and , but don't feel you need to rush to these shops, just sample the hot chocolate in your neighborhood.
Pastries are also a delight in Barcelona. In every Forn de pa (bakery) find wonderful pastries – ensaimadas (snail shaped), xuixo, xuxo (like a cream puff) , pa de pessic d'ametlles (almond sponge cake), rosquillas (sugar doughnut) and meringues.
Shopping
Kids can't bring back a Gaudi house, but they will enjoy reminders of this remarkable artist - stuffed animals of the Parc Guell dragon, mosaics and tiles, miniature mosaic houses, Casa Batllo in chocolate.
Here's our own Travel for Kids hand-picked list of family hotels and apartment rentals, all styles and price ranges, convenient to fun things to do with kids in Barcelona:
Family apartment rentals in Barcelona, all styles and price range, close to cafes, bakeries, markets:
