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Gran Teatre del Liceu
If you can’t catch a night at the opera, you can still have a look around one of Europe’s greatest opera houses, known to locals as the Liceu. Smaller than Milan’s La Scala but bigger than Venice’s La Fenice, it can seat up to 2300 people in its grand horseshoe auditorium. Built in
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Convento de las Descalzas Reales
The grim plateresque walls of the Convento de las Descalzas Reales offer no hint that behind the facade lies a sumptuous stronghold of the faith. The compulsory guided tour (in Spanish) leads you up a gaudily frescoed Renaissance stairway to the upper level of the cloister. The vau
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La Rambla
Barcelonas most famous street is both a tourist magnet and a window into Catalan culture, with cultural centres, theatres and architecturally intriguing buildings lining its sides. Set between narrow traffic lanes and flanked by plane trees, the middle of La Rambla is a broad pedes
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El Fòrum
Once an urban wasteland, this area has seen dramatic changes in recent years, with sparkling new buildings, open plazas and waterfront recreation areas. The most striking element is the eerily blue, triangular 2001: A Space Odyssey –style Edifici Fòrum building by Swiss architects
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Fundació Antoni Tàpies
The Fundació Antoni Tàpies is both a pioneering Modernista building (completed in 1885) and the major collection of leading 20th-century Catalan artist Antoni Tàpies. A man known for his esoteric work, Tàpies died in February 2012, aged 88; he leaves behind a powerful range of pain
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Colònia Güell
Apart from La Sagrada Família, Gaudí’s last big project was the creation of a utopian textile workers’ complex for his magnate patron Eusebi Güell outside Barcelona at Santa Coloma de Cervelló. Gaudí’s main role was to erect the colony’s church, Colònia Güell. Work began in 1908 bu
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Poble Espanyol
Welcome to Spain! All of it! This ‘Spanish Village’ is both a cheesy souvenir hunters’ haunt and an intriguing scrapbook of Spanish architecture built for the Spanish crafts section of the 1929 World Exhibition. You can meander from Andalucía to the Balearic Islands in the space of
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Son Real
Set back from the Ma12 south of Ca’n Picafort at the Km17.7 milepost, Can Sol is a complex of former farm buildings. From them, three signed trails (2km to 3.5km one way) lead down to Son Real nature park and Mallorca’s largest necropolis. To the southwest of the centre, where the
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Fundación Francisco Godia
Francisco Godia (1921–90), head of one of Barcelona’s great establishment families, liked fast cars (he came sixth in the 1956 Grand Prix season driving Maseratis) and fine art. An intriguing mix of medieval art, ceramics and modern paintings make up this varied private collection.
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Palau de la Música Catalana
This concert hall is a high point of Barcelona’s Modernista architecture, a symphony in tile, brick, sculpted stone and stained glass. Built by Domènech i Montaner between 1905 and 1908 for the Orfeo Català musical society, it was conceived as a temple for the Catalan Renaixença (R
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Casa de Campo
Sometimes called the ‘lungs of Madrid’, this 17-sq-km stand of greenery stretches west of the Río Manzanares. There are prettier and more central parks in Madrid but such is its scope that there are plenty of reasons to visit. And visit the madrileños do, nearly half a million of t
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Antic Col·legi de la Sapiença (seminary)
South along Carrer del Temple you run into another church, the largely baroque Església de Sant Jeroni (Plaça de Sant Jeroni), part of a convent complex founded in the 15th century. If you manage to get inside (the convent is still home to a handful of cloistered nuns) you will be
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Museu
This peaceful old convent was first opened to the public in 1983 and is now a museum of monastic life (the few remaining nuns have moved into more modern neighbouring buildings). It stands at the top of Avinguda de Pedralbes in a residential area that was countryside until the 20th
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Castell de Púbol
If you’re intrigued by artist Salvador Dalí, the Castell de Púbol is an essential piece of the puzzle. Between Girona and Palafrugell (22km northwest of the latter, south of the C66), this castle was Dalí’s gift to his wife and muse Gala. The Gothic and Renaissance building, with c
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Gran Vía
It’s difficult to imagine Madrid without Gran Vía, the grand boulevard lined with towering belle-époque facades that climbs up through the centre of Madrid from Plaza de España then down to Calle de Alcalá. But it has only existed since 1910, when it was bulldozed through what was
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Castell de Montjuïc
This forbidding castell (castle or fort) dominates the southeastern heights of Montjuïc and enjoys commanding views over the Mediterranean. It dates, in its present form, from the late 17th and 18th centuries. For most of its dark history, it has been used to watch over the city an
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Camp Nou
Among Barcelona’s most-visited sites is the massive stadium of Camp Nou (which means New Field in Catalan), home to the legendary Futbol Club Barcelona. Attending a game amid the roar of the crowds is an unforgettable experience. Football fans who arent able to see a game can get a
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Patio de los Leones
The Palacio de los Leones is one of the most stunning structures within the Alhambra, and according to some, the royal harem. It was built in the second half of the 14th century under Mohammed V, at the political and artistic peak of Granadas emirate. The rooms of the palace surrou
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Parc de la Ciutadella
Come for a stroll, a picnic, a visit to the zoo or to inspect Catalonia’s regional parliament, but don’t miss a visit to this, the most central green lung in the city. Parc de la Ciutadella is perfect for winding down. After the War of the Spanish Succession, Felipe V razed a swath
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Park Güell
North of Gràcia and about 4km from Plaça de Catalunya, Park Güell is where Gaudí turned his hand to landscape gardening. It’s a strange, enchanting place where his passion for natural forms really took flight – to the point where the artificial almost seems more natural than the na
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