Spain Travel Guide| Barcelona, Seville & Granada

Travel

Jan 14

Written By

As mentioned in my 2018 recap post, I did a lot of traveling in 2018. This month I'm sharing recaps of my trips and posting itineraries and recommendations of what to do, where to stay and what to eat. First up is a Spain Travel Guide from my week in Spain with my brother in April 2018. We visited Barcelona, Seville & Granada so we did a lot of moving around.

Spain Travel Guide | 3 Days in Barcelona

What to do in Barcelona

There are several amazing architectural works by Antoni Gaudi, but the most impressive is definitely La Sagrada Familia. It's still under construction, but the inside is truly breath-taking. This is a must see if you visit Barcelona.
My brother and I spent a lot of time exploring and just walking around Barcelona. One of the days he took a day trip to see the Black Madonna at Monserrat, and I decided to stay in town. I decided to visit the Museu D'Art Contemporaria de Barcelona (MACBA) and I loved the architecture of the building and the exhibits they had.
My family loves sports, so it's always fun to check out a game when we travel. Of course we were dying to see the hometown hero - Lionel Messi - play a game for FC Barcelona. In true Spanish fashion, the game starts really late (like 9pm), and it was incredible to see so many fans packed into the stadium.

Don't forget to look up.
Another view from above.

La Sagrada Familia has been under construction since 1882!

Where to eat in Barcelona

El Nacional. I loved this upscale food court. When you walk into the huge space, you see several bars and different affiliated restaurants within. There's an oyster bar, a steakhouse and a traditional tapas restaurant. We decided to go to the tapas place and the food was really good. I especially loved the atmosphere because the waiters come out with trays of food shouting the dish and you have to raise your hand to get the dish before another table does. It's a really lively place that's beautifully decorated. It wasn't the best meal we had in Barcelona, but I loved the vibe and would definitely go back.

Bubo Born. We stumbled across Bubo Born walking around the artsy El Born neighborhood. The pastries looked like works of art and the chocolate cake we got was insane. Definitely a must visit if you love decadent desserts.

Alsur Cafe. This is a really cute and yummy brunch spot that was close to our hotel.
Cal Pep. Cal Pep is a tiny restaurant with only counter seating. When you sit at the counter, one of the waiters/cooks asks if there's anything you don't eat and then they prepare a several course meal for you based on what's fresh. The food was delicious and it was so cool to sit on the counter and see all of your food being prepared. This was one of our most expensive meals with it costing about 100 euros total. I think it's worth the splurge though.
Ciudad Condal. This was definitely my favorite restaurant in Barcelona. They had a wide variety of tapas and everything was delicious. It's a really big restaurant that was insanely crowded but we didn't have to wait too long for a table (maybe 30 min). We actually planned to go back but my brother got sick at the end of our trip and I didn't want to go eat by myself.
Arume. This was another outstanding meal. The food and service were amazing, and so were the drinks. They're known for the Blackberry Mojito and it didn't disappoint.
Other restaurants we enjoyed: Tosca & La Candela.

Spain Travel Guide | 2 Days in Seville & Granada

What to do in Seville

The Alcazar in Seville is incredible, and if you're a Game of Thrones fan, you'll recognize the Alcazar from the gardens in Dorne. Unfortunately, the gardens were closed when we visited due to rain, but I was excited to visit nonetheless.

The food in Seville was just as good as in Barcelona, but even more affordable. Our favorite restaurant in Seville was La Brunilda, and we loved it so much that we ate there twice. The good food coupled with the small town vibes means that I'd love to return to Seville again to spend more time.

Even on a cloudy day, this was gorgeous.

What to do in Granada

The Alhambra was the royal court of Granada during the 13th century, however its roots as a fort date back to the 8th century (source). It's a sprawling palace full of beautiful Islamic design with some stunning views of the area.

We got to the Alhambra by booking a day trip from Seville, which meant we had a very long day. The bus picked us up close to 5 am and we didn't get back until 7 or 8 pm that day. We took a pretty extensive walking tour of the Alhambra and had a couple of hours to spend in Granada before boarding the bus back to Seville.

Granada has been a center of education for centuries and now it still has that college town vibe.