What Not to Do in Barcelona
Are you wondering what not to do in Barcelona, Spain?
These are the most common mistakes that tourists make in Barcelona — and how to avoid them! Barcelona is an amazing city, but it can also be a polarizing destination because some first-time visitors don’t have the best experience there. Luckily, a lot of those bad experiences are totally avoidable.
I’ve now been to Barcelona several times, including most recently for a full week. After spending so much time in this Spanish city, I’m here to share the biggest mistakes that you should avoid there.
Barcelona has been in the news a lot lately for its anti-tourist sentiments. Many locals are frustrated by the effects of overtourism, and how it has contributed to making the city unaffordable and unpleasant for the people who actually live there. Barcelona has 1.7 million people, but 32 million annual tourists.
If you’re visiting Barcelona for the first time, you’ll want to come prepared. It’s definitely still possible to have a great time in this city, known for its art, architecture, food, scenery, and electric energy. But this is a destination that I think is best enjoyed with some advanced knowledge and preparation.
So here are the biggest mistakes tourists make in Barcelona, and how to avoid them:
1. Eating at restaurants on Las Ramblas
Las Ramblas is probably the biggest tourist trap in all of Barcelona. This tree-lined, pedestrian street runs all the way from Plaça de Catalunya to the waterfront, and at first glance, it looks inviting.
There are tons of restaurants, bars, and shops lining Las Ramblas. Perfect place to stop for a meal or shop for souvenirs, right? Wrong! Everything on Las Ramblas is known for being overpriced. Most of the restaurants are low-quality tourist traps, and the souvenir shops sell inauthentic junk at inflated prices.
Skip dinner or shopping on Las Ramblas — there are so many better options around the city.
2. Not taking precautions against pickpockets
Speaking of Las Ramblas, it’s one of the worst places in Barcelona for pickpockets. Although you really need to be on your guard everywhere you go, as pickpocketing is a fairly big issue in Barcelona.
I’ve written an extensive guide about how to avoid pickpockets in Europe, so I recommend reading that before you go. But basically, you’ll want to be vigilant about your belongings at all times.
For girls, don’t walk around with your purse unzipped or hanging off your shoulder. For guys, don’t walk around with your wallet in your back pocket. And be extra-weary of anyone who approaches you on the street — my brother had his watch stolen right off his wrist in Barcelona while studying abroad there, because a couple of teenage guys approached him and his friends on the street and distracted them.
This can also happen at outdoor cafes and restaurants. Don’t leave your bag hanging off the back of your chair, or keep your cellphone sitting on the edge of the table. And when you’re in crowded areas, like standing on the Metro at rush hour or a busy street filled with pedestrians, be extra cautious and aware.
3. Visiting at the worst time of year
Maybe calling summer “the worst time of year” to visit Barcelona is a bit subjective, but many locals would also agree that July and August are not the best months to plan a trip to Barcelona.
Summer is the hottest, most crowded time of year to visit. Not only are there millions of tourists in Barcelona in the summer, but this is also when cruise ships are the most active, and Barcelona has a huge cruise port. The cruise ships exacerbate the overtourism problem and unleash even more crowds.
If you’re looking to enjoy Barcelona in the summer, early June or mid-September are much better options. You’ll still be able to enjoy sunny, warm weather, but it won’t be disgustingly hot.
Don’t overlook other times of year to visit Barcelona either. My first visit to Barcelona was during the first week of January, and I loved coming at this time of year. It was cold, but not freezing, and the city was still decked out for the holidays with the approach of Three Kings’ Day on January 6th.
Winter, spring, and fall are all nicer times to visit Barcelona than the peak of summer.
4. Eating outside of Spanish mealtimes
All across Spain, mealtimes are later than what you might expect, and this is also the case in Barcelona.
Breakfast is usually small, just coffee and a pastry or a slice of cake. Lunch is a big meal, but it doesn’t happen until 1:30 PM at the earliest, and sometimes even later in the day, up until 4 PM or so. (However, many people will also have an early afternoon snack to tide them over until lunchtime arrives!)
Then there’s the merienda, or snacktime, when many people will eat a sandwich, some fruit, and a pastry around 5 PM to 6:30 PM. This is like a little pre-dinner meal, but it’s not even close to dinnertime yet…
Dinner doesn’t happen until 8:30 PM at the earliest, but 9 PM, 10 PM, or even 11 PM is more common. In Barcelona, you will see the locals having dinner until well past midnight! When in Barcelona, it’s a good idea to embrace local mealtimes. Many local restaurants won’t open early for lunch or dinner.
So if you want to eat outside of the standard Spanish mealtimes (say, a full dinner at 6 PM), you might find yourself eating at more touristy restaurants rather than the authentic places that locals frequent.
5. Not understanding that Barcelona is Catalan
Barcelona is in Spain, and everyone in Spain speaks Spanish, right? Not quite! Barcelona is part of the Catalonia region, and Catalan is the official language here alongside Spanish. Catalan is a Romance language with many similarities to Spanish, but it’s a totally unique language with a lot of differences.
There is a strong sense of Catalan pride in Barcelona, and there is even a big Catalonia independence movement. You’ll see Catalan flags in Barcelona just as frequently (if not more so) than Spanish flags.
Here are a few basic Catalan words that are helpful to know:
- Hola: Hello
- Bon dia: Good morning
- Bona tarda: Good afternoon
- Bona nit: Good night
- Adéu: Goodbye
- Si us plau: Please
- Gràcies: Thank you
If you know basic Spanish, you’ll notice many of these words are similar to Spanish, but not quite.
Locals really appreciate it when you use a few words in Catalan rather than automatically defaulting to Spanish or English. Most people in Barcelona do speak English, especially if they work in tourism or hospitality, and you can always be understood in Spanish, but it’s polite to learn a bit of Catalan too.
6. Showing up to popular tourist attractions without a ticket
A huge mistake that leaves many tourists disappointed is not buying tickets for popular tourist attractions in advance. This is a must in Barcelona, even if you’re not visiting during high season.
Some places, like the famous Sagrada Familia, only allow advance ticket purchases — you can’t just walk up and buy a ticket the day of, and the online tickets usually sell out days in advance.
Gaudí’s Casa Batlló is another super popular tourist attraction that you need advance tickets for.
I recommend buying your tickets for Barcelona attractions on GetYourGuide. This is the platform I always use when I travel, and I like that they offer free 48-hour cancellation or rescheduling for almost everything, allowing for more flexibility. It’s also almost always the same price as buying your tickets directly.
7. Not getting an eSIM
If you’re traveling to Barcelona from abroad, getting an eSIM is a must. You can use your existing phone plan while in Spain, but you might rack up expensive data roaming charges or pay a high daily rate for it.
I’ve now used Airalo in more than a dozen countries and counting, and I cannot recommend it enough! It saves you so much money by getting you connected with a local eSIM you can use for high-speed data abroad, without impacting your existing phone plan or phone number. And it’s so easy to use.
All you have to do is download the app, select the country you’re traveling to, choose how much data you want (you can choose any amount from 1 GB to unlimited data), and follow the instructions to activate the eSIM. It’s super simple, and you can easily top up your eSIM if you end up needing more data.
It’s also really affordable and makes staying connected while you’re abroad a breeze!
8. Underestimating how far apart neighborhoods are
Barcelona is a pretty large city, and while it’s very walkable, a lot of tourists underestimate the distances between neighborhoods. For example, walking from the Gothic Quarter, Barcelona’s oldest neighborhood, to Sagrada Familia, which is in the Eixample district, would take you over 40 minutes.
And walking from Sagrada Familia to Parc Güell, another major tourist attraction in Barcelona, is “only” 1.25 miles, but it will take longer than you think, because a lot of it is walking steeply uphill.
It’s a good idea to plan your days so that you aren’t criss-crossing the city and backtracking across different neighborhoods, because this transit time can quickly eat into your sightseeing time.
9. Cramming too much into one day
Another big mistake that many visitors make in Barcelona is trying to squeeze too much into one day. I understand the temptation to do this, especially if you only have a couple of days in Barcelona.
But I promise that this is a recipe for disaster! If you only have one, two, or three days in Barcelona, you won’t be able to see everything. So pick what you’re truly most excited about seeing, but don’t overschedule your time to the point where you’re trying to do seven different activities in one day.
Allowing some extra time for simply wandering around the narrow streets of the Gothic Quarter in the evening or relaxing at a sidewalk cafe in the middle of the afternoon will make your trip so much better than following a regimented itinerary that just feels like you’re ticking things off a checklist.
10. Thinking that Barcelona is a beach destination
If you come to Barcelona expecting a Mediterranean beach vacation, you’ll be very disappointed. Yes, Barcelona is a city located on the Mediterranean Sea, and there are some beaches here that you can visit. But they’re not the kind of pretty beaches you dream of when you picture the Mediterranean coast.
The most popular beach in Barcelona is Barceloneta Beach, although there are more beaches all along the city’s coastline. These urban beaches aren’t bad, but they aren’t spectacular either. You won’t see amazing views or find quiet, hidden gems here. Barcelona’s beaches can be quite crowded and a bit dirty.
Luckily, good beaches aren’t too far away. The Costa Brava region of Spain has the best beaches close to Barcelona. I recommend spending at least a few days exploring Costa Brava, but if you’re short on time and want a quick beach escape, it’s also possible to get to some Costa Brava beaches by train on a day trip.
11. Leaving a tip at restaurants
Tipping customs vary around the world, but it is not customary in Barcelona (or anywhere else in Spain.) The most anyone will do is round up one or two euros for excellent service at a restaurant. But other than that, it’s not common to tip in restaurants, bars, hotels, taxis, Ubers, or anywhere else.
I’ve noticed in some destinations, there’s growing pressure on tourists to leave a tip (especially if they know you’re from the US where it’s always expected to tip 15% to 20% in many situations.) This definitely happens in Barcelona, and you can feel free to ignore it, because it’s definitely not a customary thing here.
12. Taking expensive taxis or Ubers around the city
I mentioned earlier that the distances between neighborhoods in Barcelona can be surprisingly large, and you might not be able to walk everywhere you want to go. Does that mean you should take a taxi or Uber instead of walking? Not unless you have unlimited money to spend or really want to splurge.
Barcelona has a perfectly good public transit system that many tourists overlook. Taxis and Ubers can be very pricey, but taking the Metro or the bus is only €2.90 per journey. It’s even cheaper to buy the Hola Barcelona travel card, which gives you unlimited Metro and bus travel for five days for €18.90.
13. Being noisy or rowdy in residential areas
Barcelona definitely has one of the strongest anti-tourist sentiments I’ve encountered in any European city lately, but I can’t say I blame the locals for getting upset. Not only have companies like Airbnb driven up prices and taken away apartments from locals, but many tourists who visit Barcelona aren’t respectful.
If you’re the type of person to read an entire article about what not to do in Barcelona and mistakes to avoid, then this probably doesn’t apply to you, because you’re clearly interested in going about your trip the right way and doing lots of research. But I wanted to quickly go ahead and mention this anyway.
Some people treat Barcelona like it’s their personal playground, especially in areas known for nightlife. It’s obviously not — it’s a city where people actually live. Being noisy or rowdy, loitering in front of people’s apartment buildings, or just generally being obnoxious are clearly things not to do.
14. Wearing a swimsuit or going shirtless outside the beach
Finally, this one probably also goes without saying, but you can’t walk around in Barcelona wearing a swimsuit or going shirtless. This seems like common sense, but many tourists do it anyway!
Yes, Barcelona has beaches, but that doesn’t mean you can stroll into the Barcelona Cathedral wearing swim trunks or a flimsy cover-up over your bikini. It’s actually illegal to be shirtless or wearing a swimsuit in Barcelona if you are not at the beach. So even though it may be hot, you need to wear actual clothing!
What Not to Do in Barcelona
This guide showed you what not to do in Barcelona to avoid making big mistakes.
Barcelona is a fantastic destination, and knowing what to expect will ensure you have a great time and aren’t disappointed. Most of these common mistakes are easily avoidable now that you know them.
Enjoy your trip to Barcelona!
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