Day 1 - Monday 16th April 2018
Barcelona by Bike Tour 10:30 -15:00pm
My first activity was the bike tour, which I had booked via AirBnb using the app on my iPhone.
The booking process was very simple and easy, perfect for anyone travelling alone!
During the bike tour, I did struggle a little as it's been a while since I had rode a bike, however with this said I did get used to it after a while!
Whilst on the bike tour we visited many different sites across Barcelona city including the Gothic Quarter, Barcelona cathedral, Palace of Catalan Music, Sagrada Familia, Arc De Triumph and the Old Harbour (the beach).
The bike tour was highly informative, fun and perfect for me as a solo traveller, as I met so many different people - one girl in particular called Eri who was originally from Tokyo, became a friend during my trip!
Parc Güell - 16:00pm
The tickets for Parc Guell were booked in advance, prior to me leaving the UK for my trip. I thought it would be the best bet, considering it's a very popular tourist site to visit. I booked the tickets using an app on my iPhone called 'Tiqets'. This app is super user friendly and I would highly recommend it!
After my afternoon exploring the park I returned to my AirBnb for around a little chill time. Later in the evening, I met with another solo traveller called Ardilla - She was from Indonesia on a short holiday. She also became a friend during my trip here!
As I was staying not far from La Ramblas, we decided to meet in the middle and head to a small square just off La Ramblas called Plaza Real. This square consisted of so many different restaurants and bars, the atmosphere was amazing and I ate the most amazing chicken paella EVER!
After our dinner we were absolutely stuffed, delicious food, amazing atmosphere - the evening was booming, so we decided to take a stroll and walked all the way to Plaza De Catalunya!
Day 2 - Tuesday 17th April 2018
Today was all about exploring the infamous Sagrada Familia! Again, this was something I had pre-booked before my trip to Barcelona as I didn’t want to miss the opportunity to see the place everyone speaks about.
I booked my tickets on the website for the cathedral and opted for the audio tour with the Passion Tower.
As the tickets were for a designated time slot, I had some time to head to a cafe for some breakfast. I found a small cafe which was near by called, Friss Cafe! I ordered a chicken and salad bagel for breakfast which was lovely!
My audio tour started at 12:45pm and finished at around 14:30pm. I honestly could not recommend the audio tour enough! The entire experience was amazing, the inside of the Sagrada Familia was mesmerising, the Passion Tower was super high with beautiful mosaic work right at the top of the point, with stunning city views - I’d never seen anything like it!!
SERIOUSLY, DO THE AUDIO TOUR.
After the tour, I decided to go for a shopping trip and hopped onto the metro to Passeig de Gracia. The shopping centre which I went to was called El Courte Ingles which is the equivalent to Selfridges in the UK. Everything that you could purchase here, I’d be able to buy in the UK. Instead I decided to purchase a whole load of food goodies to take home and nibble on! (If you know me personally, you know I LOVE food - this is the way to my heart).
After taking back the crazy food shopping to the AirBnb I was staying at, I visited the cactus farm which was also within a ten minute walk from where I was staying. The location for my AirBnb was extremely convenient and very central.
I spent most of my evening exploring the Montjuic gardens and walked all the way to the top of the mountain to discover a lavish looking hotel called Hotel Miramar! I really liked the location for this hotel, it was isolated in this mountain with beautiful views and a quiet garden outside. It was bliss...
Following on from my little cactus experience, I had plans with Ardilla to meet with her again for dinner/tapas so we met on La Ramblas and found a qwerky restaurant to eat in!
Day 3 - Wednesday 18th April 2018
My first stop was breakfast, I opted for churos as I'd never had this before - OMG the sweetest but tastiest breakfast option I've ever had. This definitely gave me the energy for the last day I had in Barcelona...
My next stop was Camp Nou, I booked my tickets for the experience via the 'Tiqets' app on my phone the night before. How could I not go to the football stadium during my stay in Barcelona?
If you know me personally, then you'll know I'm not much of a football fan but once I had walked up the stairs to see the pitch in-front of me - it literally made me think wow and gave me a strange urge to want to watch live football.
I can only imagine what the atmosphere and buzz would be like if you were sat there watching a live game!
Whilst I was exploring Camp Nou, just before I was about to leave I had a tap on my shoulder - it was a guy called Simo who had taken a photo for me whilst I was being a tourist. He was with a friend (I can't remember her name) and they both invited me for lunch and to head to the beach with them, as we were going in the same direction. Why not?
Turns out there were more people joining us, it was a group of university students from Germany on holiday together!! This changed my entire afternoon - they reminded me, of my friendship group when I was 18 too! It was BAZAAR but so cool at the same time! I went with it. We got to the beach at around 16:00pm, the weather was beautiful, the sea smelt salty as ever but it was relaxing and just what I needed after a busy city break. The university students did invite me for a night out, believe it or not - but I decided to be the old biddy I am and say no thank you. I'm happy sitting on the beach for a while!
To top off my final evening here, Eri (the first girl I met on the bike tour on my first day) had popped me a text to ask if I was still around and suggested a final meet up before she headed off home too. We met for some snacks that evening and said our goodbyes as we were both leaving Barcelona the next day.
THIS WAS THE BEST EXPERIENCE I HAVE EVER HAD.
THIS WAS EXACTLY HOW A SOLO TRAVELLERS TRIP SHOULD BE.
THIS WAS EXACTLY HOW I IMAGINED IT TO BE.
I honestly cannot recommend Barcelona as a solo destination to anyone enough, the experience I had in this city was so different to my solo trip in Nice - but they were both amazing in different ways.
I will be doing a reflection on both of my solo trips too Nice and Barcelona as I don't think this text content will express the excitement and enthusiasm behind the words.
Lucky enough for you guys, I filmed the entire experience and it's available on my channel!
Love, Taran xo