The sights that survive the crowds, plus the free hill everyone should walk up at seven.
8 places
Civil war anti-aircraft platforms on a hill, and the only 360° view of the city. Free, twenty minutes uphill, best an hour before sunset. Bring something to drink and expect company.
Turó de la Rovira
Yes, obviously. Book the earliest slot, go inside — the outside is a building site and the inside is a forest made of light. Nothing prepares you for the east windows at nine in the morning.
Carrer de Mallorca 401
The most beautiful modernista site in the city and half-empty, because it is ten minutes uphill from the queue at the Sagrada Família. Twelve pavilions, tiled everything. Go here instead of Casa Batlló.
Sant Antoni Maria Claret 167
The paid monumental zone is a twenty-minute walk-through; the free park around it is where you should actually spend the afternoon. Book the slot, then keep going uphill.
Carrer d'Olot
Catalan Gothic at its plainest and best — built by the port workers of the Ribera in fifty-five years, so it is all one idea. Free most of the day. Sit down for ten minutes.
Plaça de Santa Maria
The market locals actually shop at, in an iron hall that took nine years to restore. Sunday morning there is a second-hand book market around the outside.
Carrer del Comte Borrell 56
The church on the mountain, with a 1901 funfair next to it that still runs the original aeroplane ride. Take the tram and the funicular for the journey, not the shortcut.
Carretera de Vallvidrera al Tibidabo
Barceloneta is for photographs; Bogatell is for swimming. Twenty minutes further along and immediately calmer.
Poblenou seafront
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The sights that survive the crowds, plus the free hill everyone should walk up at seven.