48 hours in Barcelona is NOT enough time | Spain Travel Guide 

What a very kind comment, Iramis and Gerry! We so appreciate hearing this compliment! Getting pronunciations accurate is very, very tricky since even when we check it with multiple sources, we've gotten conflicting information at times. Even asking locals is hard when there are thick accents. Thank you so much for watching! -Judy

You were so wise to book early. I hadn't done a deep dive into Antoni Gaudì before we visited, so I wasn't prepared to be so blown away by his architectural designs. And we did see that there's an extra fee for visiting the tower, but I would imagine it would be worth it. Thanks for affirming that opinion. Ten days sounds about right. We weren't there long enough! Thanks so much for watching and for sharing your experience! -Judy

Hi Berg, We were impressed with it as well. We'll be back for sure. Do you prefer staying more in the center of the city or closer to the beaches? -Judy

​@@FindingGinaMarie We found a highrise hotel that was close to both the city center and the beaches along with underground parking. Thia was 4 years ago, if I remember correctly we paid $80 per night.

Beach area is … beach area. Just less cultural things and you have to get out of it to see anything else. City center puts you surrounded by everything.

Thanks for the reality check, @objc. We like a good beach promenade, but since Barcelona is so walkable I think we'd miss being outside the center of everything! -Judy

You got a good price for it, @berg8970! I bet it would be significantly more in 2024 dollars. -Judy

Thank you so much for watching, Hans! We are glad you found us, too, and we really appreciate the compliment! We think nearly anyone can if they want it and are willing to go after their dreams. Here are a few videos that might get you thinking unconventionally like we did! -Judy 🎥 How we thought unconventionally to retire early: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-ttyh4NXrbfs.html 🎥 Our 5 Travel Secrets for Retirement as Full-Time Travelers: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-Oc4tZ4M1v0w.html

@@FindingGinaMarie this is very thoughtful of you, Judy! ❤️ i will make sure to check these out :))

Thanks so much for letting us know that you enjoyed the US dollar breakdown. We had mixed feelings about it, so this is useful information! Thank you so much for watching! -Judy

Yes, you are right, @GriffinAtplay! We had been on a whirlwind trip beforehand with our daughter in Italy, so we didn't plan for this one as well as we would have liked, on top of it being somewhat of a spur-of-the-moment trip. But now we understand the attraction and will be able to be much more prepared for next time. Thanks so much for watching! -Judy

Hi Erin, We hope you have a wonderful time. It's a beautiful place and we just wish we had been able to make more time for it. Enjoy; that trip will be here in a blink! -Judy

Hi Joe, so nice of you to watch and comment. We SO identify with the Italy addiction! And although we haven't been traveling for very long (international travel began in 2011), it's not lost on us that it's taken quite a long time to get to Spain! We still prefer the food in Italy for what it's worth! -Judy

Oh darn, but you're right, Enrique. We knew there were a lot of places that we were going to have to miss. We arrived late in the day and then had an early morning departure, so we really only had one full day to experience the highlights. It makes us want to return for sure. -Judy

Yes, it was ridiculously priced! Kevin didn't love it, but I really enjoyed the flavor. Thank you so much for watching! I think even that small cone of it was actually $13, which is nowhere close to the €5 that I thought he said! Thank you so much for watching! -Judy

Hi Danielle, THANK YOU for the salsa support! We were a little disappointed in the tapas because most of it was heavy and carby or fried, which aren't our favorite choices. We needed a few more vegetables thrown in at times, but we found food overall to be fairly expensive. We will need to go back because we were fascinated by Gaudì's architecture. We did not know what to expect before we arrived, but it was masterful. Thanks so much for watching. Our Madrid episode should be out next week! Safe travels to you, and thanks so much for stopping by here to say hello! -Judy

I'm fairly unapologetic at this point. Thank you so much for watching! It's a beautiful city regardless! -Judy

Hi Juan, Thank you for these recommendations. We would have loved to have spent more time in Barcelona, but it was so expensive for accommodations that we just couldn't swing it the month there that we intended. We tried to visit in 2023 as well, so when we initially couldn't spend a month this year like we had hoped, we decided to at least get a glimpse of Barcelona so we could understand what we'd be saving up for! And we're very glad we did. We did visit the Boqueria market, but the rest is on our bucket list. -Judy

Thanks so much for the suggestion, Dan. People had told us to stay in Eixample, which was very expensive. Yes, we definitely want to go back and see what we missed. Although I'd say I like seafood, I'm actually fairly picky about what I'll eat-no eyes. I mostly like peeled shrimp, crab, and filleted fish, so much of it is lost on me, especially when they want to prove how fresh it is by serving it all intact. I'm marking down these other day trip places to check out another time. We actually did go to another tapas restaurant when we were there, but we were a bit underwhelmed. There's a lot of deep fried and breaded foods that we really don't enjoy eating. Perhaps if I had been willing to eat more of the seafood, we would have had a better experience. I need to be a more adventurous eater when it comes to seafood. -Judy

@@FindingGinaMarie it’s true Catalonian tapas has lots of breaded seafood, if that’s not your thing then you should avoid local Aussie “Fish and Chip” shops, aka “Takeaway” shops down under😅 Not the healthiest type of food, that’s for sure. It sounds to me like you experienced tapas properly so I’ll stop trying to explain it🤦‍♂️ I get a real kick out of revisiting places through your travels, Barcelona is one of the best memories… I noticed you never quite made it to the statue of Columbus, although you were so close to it. It’s no Trevi Fountain, but there’s a funny story about that. They erected it to commemorate Columbus returning to the Barcelona port after discovering USA. The local tour guides tell you it’s called the “Colom Statue”, but on the actual statue, it’s spelled “Colon!” Such an awkward translation 😂🤦‍♂️

I really enjoyed your travels to Park Guell, pronounced “Gu-wee” in the local taint. Especially the challenge of getting to the top of the tortuous hill in the first place😅 I was coming off a serious injury when I visited, so we cheated with a cab to take us to the top. But we still had to walk lots uphill! But it’s so worth it, the coolest park I’ve ever seen!❤️

LOL. We've eaten "small plates" in the US, but I think what's on them is very different than what's in Spain! We actually did make it to the statue, and I'll post an image of it on Instagram today. But we didn't have a convenient place for it and when we got right up to the statue, it had a lot of netting on it. Compound that by the fact that history has revealed Columbus to not necessarily be the hero we made him out to be. We didn't know about that translation, so thank you (I think?!). 🤣 And we actually do like English fish and chips (not sure if/how they are different from the Aussie ones), and while we absolutely love them, they're a once-a-week or once-a-month food for us. We got them a few times in Broughty Ferry, Scotland (and also Paphos, Cyprus!!!) when we were there and they were super delicious, but neither of us can eat like that very often! -Judy

Interesting pronunciation. That's what we thought, but when we verified the pronunciation, it actually said "gway." It actually was harder to say that way than the more logical Gu-wee! We're very sorry to hear about your accident. We were SO bummed to have missed it. We thought that we might be able to see something/anything from the top of the park, but no such luck. -Judy

So are we, Stan. 🤣 But I'm always a fan of the extra texture. The flavor is a bonus! -Judy

Hooray, Linda! We are so excited for you and we hope you have an amazing time! 👏👏👏 We were especially disappointed to have missed the park but also the inside of the Sagrada de Familia of course. We'd love to hear what you think of them afterwards! Safe travels! -Judy

@@FindingGinaMarie Thank you! I will let you know. We are also taking the train to Madrid. We will be there a couple of days before heading home. Will your video on Madrid be out next Saturday?

@@lindab5789 Yes, it will. Have a great time in Spain! -Judy

Wonderful. Can't wait to see it!

@@FindingGinaMarie Just wanted to let you know that we had a wonderful time in our 4 days in Barcelona. You really must go back to see the inside of the Sagrada de Familia. We have seen many churches all over Europe, but there is really nothing like the Sagrada de Familia. It defies description and our photos just do not do it justice. We did pay extra for a skip the line tour, which we thought was totally worth it. We also visited Park Guell, but outside of the incredible view of the city, we were not that impressed. It was ok, but I wouldn't necessarily go back.

We would have loved to see it and the Picasso Museum, too! -Judy

Oh wow. I wonder how many of those people were churchgoers versus lookie Lous. We were not there over a weekend, unfortunately. But that's incredibly early to not be able to get into an 8pm Mass. We would return just to see inside some of the places we missed. Great to hear from you, Tim! -Judy

Finished watching the video and had to laugh hearing Kevin talk about the trek to Park Guell. My GF really wanted to see this and bought tickets in advance, but we missed the escalators and walked up, up, and up some more from the metro station. It was exhausting and I went through quite a bit of water. Overall it was interesting with some great views of Barcelona, but TBH I did not get the attraction. We walked around quite a bit in the evening and the Gaudi houses attract a large crowd since they are lit up and colorful. IMO more interesting at night than during the day if you cannot go inside. Guessing that you may be onward from Spain, but I think that you should try the tortilla (Spanish omelet) again. Good ones are really good, but many are sort of meh. Tapas in general was how we ate across Spain and had our fill of sardines and octopus (something I never eat). Did you try any vermut? Many bars have this on tap, often a special house blend, and it has become one of my favorite pre-meal drinks.

​ @tkozikow Thanks so much for these additional insights. So sorry you missed the escalators. What a bummer. I wish we would have thought to try to see the Gaudì homes in the evening, even from the outside. Never gave that a thought, unfortunately. We actually didn't mind the tortilla. We thought it was flavorful, but it was a bit heavy, especially on top of the other foods we ate. We will eat sardines, but they're not our favorite. Ditto for octopus, so bravo to you! We didn't actually do aperitivi in Spain because we found them to be expensive on top of already expensive meals. For whatever reason, we weren't really fans of the tapas culture. We do enjoy "small plates" in the US, but we needed some more fresh foods than the carb heavy and fried foods that were so much a part of what we were seeing. Now it's possible that some of the seafood dishes wouldn't have had that, but we weren't seeing menu items that looked particularly appealing to us. SIGH. Now I'm wishing we'd tried vermut. -Judy

Hi Ted, Thank you so much for sharing your memories with us and also for your kind words. Yes, we weren't prepared for the Spanish tortilla. In some ways, we actually enjoyed the surprise versus knowing everything beforehand. Thank you so much for watching. We are very grateful to have you along with us on the ride! Ciao! -Judy

The remaining construction was partly constrained by insufficient funds.

@@michaels3003 You're right. We read that, too. Thanks for including that info! -Judy

@@FindingGinaMarie , de nada 🙂. I was there at the end of May for only a couple of days. You did a better job than I did, but that's not a surprise. We had advance tickets to the cathedral in early evening when the stained glass was illuminated at a lower angle (they close way ahead of the sunsets). The sun will be at different angles depending on the month. It's also worth knowing that Spain is on a permanent summer time (+1 hour from their geographic time).

@@michaels3003 Wow. I didn't think about seeing it in the evening for the purpose to catch different lighting. That sounds like a great idea! I think a clearer way (???!!) to say it is that mainland Spain follows the time zone of Italy versus the UK, even though Spain is geographically aligned with London. It does shift between CEST (Central European SUMMER Time) and CET (Central European Time) when the clocks change for daylight saving time. EXCEPT that the Canary Islands follow UK time. Interesting fact we did not know: Dictator Francisco Franco moved Spain to the time zone it uses today to better align with German-occupied Europe. What's equally weird is that because they assumed it would eventually revert back, Spaniards did not adjust what they did to suit the new time zone. So if "Spaniards once had their lunch at 1pm, they continued to eat at the same time of day, even though the clock now said 2pm." That is information I did not know. Fascinating! Thanks for making us aware of this! -Judy

Yes, completely just the tip of the iceberg, unfortunately. Thanks for these great suggestions, including the day trip to Montserrat. We definitely want to return, but we'll need to budget a little more carefully for it. It was a very last-minute pivot, so we actually had double booked ourselves for our first two nights in Madrid. We're glad to have at least seen what we did to understand that it is worth a return visit. -Judy

@@FindingGinaMarie ouch on the double booking! Glad you got enough of a visit to want to go back. Safe travels!

The upside of booking an Airbnb in Madrid for a month is that you get a decent price break. We wouldn't do it otherwise, but it's still a hit. However, we also have to balance Schengen days. -Judy

Hi Jenny, Your plan sounds wonderful. And yes, the offseason make a lot of sense. I think October might also be fewer crowds. Our decision to squeeze in Barcelona was very last minute and on the heels of some very fast travel with our daughter, so we didn't do nearly enough planning to understand what we should do to maximize our time there. In fact, we were pretty worn out when we arrived, so we were proud of ourselves for making time for Barcelona in the first place. We would have loved to take a bike ride while we were there! -Judy

We saw your last comment, but it disappeared. Fortunately for our trip we did stay in a hotel, although we typically are in Airbnbs. We try to respect areas where Airbnb isn't welcome and use hotels in those instances. We were in Madrid when the "squirt gun" incidents were happening in Barcelona. I'll need to check alternate times of year, but our hotel was quite expensive and we weren't in the most popular parts of town, either. We appreciate you and all your support and comments. It's always a pleasure for us to get to know our viewers! -Judy

Hi Mike, always great to hear from you and hear your stories! Unfortunately we missed Toledo (and these ruins). Our biggest disappointment was that Spain was between fast travel with our daughter that put us behind and leaving for the US where we knew we'd have to get ahead of our work, which created a squeeze while we were in Madrid (even the Barcelona days in retrospect made things harder because we really needed to slow down. Our daughter wore us out! Madrid in mid June to mid July was also oppressingly hot and also quite expensive. We ended up cooking a lot of our dinners. We did okay with eating earlier, but we understand where you are coming from. Definitely there were places that weren't open at certain times and that did make it hard. Regardless of cultural norms, eating so late is hard for us. We ate at the oldest restaurant in the world (Botìn) but originally they only had an 11:15pm slot available. Who can eat a heavy meal at that time of night?! Definitely not us! This is one of the reasons we are grateful to travel full time-more opportunities to return. We definitely have more of Madrid and Spain to explore. We had tried to get to the Basque city of Bilbao, but it was so expensive for us. We need to save up more to squeeze it in. -Judy

Hi Alison, Thank you so much for telling us! It was probably good for us to walk, but that hill was no joke! Did you think it was worth the price of admission? We were bummed to have missed it. -Judy

@@FindingGinaMarie oh definitely. Put it on your list for next time. And you will do PLENTY of gently inclined walking within the park, so save your steps by taking the bus there!

@@alisonarthurs4317 Thanks so much for the tip. We appreciate it! We're excited to bring you with us to Madrid in our episode coming out later today. Have you been there? -Judy

@@FindingGinaMarie no, not yet! In June of this year my fella had a conference in Valencia, so we added Barcelona and Lisbon to the front and back of that trip. We considered Madrid, but my sister had been to both and said if you have to choose one, do Barcelona. 😊

We actually really enjoyed Madrid a lot. It doesn't have the harbor like Barcelona, but we quite enjoyed all the history and beauty and things to do. We would have loved a day trip to Toledo while we were there, but we had catch-up from our fast travel in Italy and then were having to get ahead of ourselves in anticipation of being in the US immediately afterwards. What did you think of Valencia? -Judy

We had the good sense not to ask for it, you'll be pleased to know! Love, love, love all this information you're sending our way! We love learning new things! -Judy

@@FindingGinaMarie , it would have been great to accidentally meet both of you while in Barcelona... I admire your courage and perseverance. We also visited Rome (after a Mediterranean cruise). It was too hot and very crowded. I expected the crowds, but not the heat (Barcelona was comfortable). I am hoping to visit Rome again, but out of season.

Yes, if you are ever in a part of the world that you hear we're in, we'd love to meet up (and if you give us enough notice, we sometimes can detour there if it's not already in our plans). We love Rome for many things, but the heat can be oppressive in summer. But there are some top tier museums to cool off in! Barcelona was hot, but nowhere near as hot as Madrid. 🥵 We generally like to avoid crowds and heat whenever we can! Thanks for your kind words. -Judy

@@FindingGinaMarie , you are very kind. Unfortunately, I still work full time and my time off is extremely limited. I am still waiting for that very important email from my State's lottery company to make the change. 🙂

@@michaels3003 We hear you on that one, but we gave up and retired anyway! You might not be ready, but I'm sending you these links to watch and think about if you haven't seen them. -Judy 🎥 Health versus Wealth: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-6avQGFbXa2I.html 🎥 Life is Short...An Emotional Pause: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-YiEFHz1WWHI.html 🎥 How we thought unconventionally to retire early: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-ttyh4NXrbfs.html

LOL. Great catch, Matthew. We actually discussed whether any of our viewers would notice. 😉 The tapas restaurant was actually our dinner when we first arrived, but we didn't want to open our video about beautiful Barcelona by first sitting down to a meal when people probably want to see us walk around and show off some of the city. Our dinner after that full day wasn't someplace we'd recommend, so rather than showcase a bunch of mediocre food, we opted to give you the best of the food we ate. People have told us at times that we share too much food, so we hoped this struck the right balance by also skipping our coffee and gelato. Thanks so much for watching! -Judy

@@FindingGinaMarie we're a few months from starting our journey & have been researching & ordering stuff-especially bags!! We have 10 right now we're going to choose from, including the exact models you guys use. We CANNOT get under 25 lbs & we're literally down to less than 20 pieces of all clothing(most of it expensive Merino Wool!)& absolute bare minimum in other items, which has been WAY more painful than I anticipated. It's ridiculous! All that said to ask this: how often are you flagged for overweight or oversized carry-on luggage? We can't figure out how to be under on both. We've traveled extensively overseas & have always taken too much to the point that this time, we are determined not to. I'm getting to the point in this process where I'm going to rely mostly on buying local clothing & leaving most of it up on departure. In my mind, Kevin has an entire wardrobe in one small piece of luggage & I can hardly fit one outfit!

Our rolling suitcases are about 15kg apiece. We found it much easier in 2023 to fly airlines that did not weigh luggage than we have in 2024 (partly due to the number of Asian countries that have low-cost airlines that weigh suitcases). We tend to err on the side of caution to avoid extra fees at the gate, but I know several people who take the chance that they won't be asked to put their bags on the scale. His backpack is exclusively camera equipment and his 16" laptop, so if you aren't carrying the same amount of kit, could you put any items into your backpack, which should give you a ton of extra room (or aren't you carrying one)? There are some items Kevin carries that he could drop to get rid of weight-our body scale, beach/picnic towel, Apple TV, wool blanket. He carries his own toiletries bag, but the only liquid he uses is toothpaste, which I carry (I also carry the bar soap, shampoo, and laundry sheets). For us, not having to do laundry as often is a huge win. We're willing to carry a bit more and occasionally have to check a bag to have a few of our luxury items. Does this help at all? -Judy 3 short-sleeve button downs (wool) 3 t-shirts (wool) 2 pairs shorts (1 wool) 2 pairs long pants 7 pairs underwear (wool) 2 long-sleeve button down (wool) 2 pairs dress socks 8 pairs short socks ( wool) 1 bathing suit 1 pair sleeping shorts 1 wool sweater jacket 1 pair sandals 1 pair sneakers

@@FindingGinaMarie perfect! Thank you! We're toggling back & forth with the exact same issues. My plan is to wear underwear & a tank top with flip-flops on the plane & scale down to my carry-on being an empty Ziploc bag & my personal item being a nose spray.... I'll buy the rest upon arrival!

@@matthewgarrett1964 LOL. 🤣That is sometimes what it feels like! I know I could cut down on some clothes and some luxury items, but will I be more or less happy? I don't want to feel like I'm in deprivation mode, either. You have to weigh it for yourself and see what feels right (for what it's worth, I still miss my flat cheese grater!). -Judy

There were a lot of tourists in Barcelona, and I'm sure August will be very crowded. It's also fairly expensive. Gaudì's work isn't for everyone, but you're right, we found his work to be incredibly unique and appreciate the courage it takes to be so different. There's more of Spain we'd like to see, but so far, we prefer Italy. -Judy

The solar eclipse is going to be on August the 12th, 2026 in Spain. But you´re going to get lucky because it´s going to be on the Northern part of Spain but not even Barcelona included or Madrid. The best city to see the total eclipse is going to be Oviedo which it´s a beautiful walkable city, which it´s the cleanest of all Spain, you´ll love it. Oviedo is in Asturias which has an amazing and beautiful landscape and it´s not hot even during the thick of the summer. You can also do the Santiago´s Trail from San Sebastián ( called in Basque Donosti), which it´s beautiful and not even too hot in the thick of the summer. The Northern part of Spain is green, lush and with lots of mountains. It rains a lot and it´s not really hot in summer. The food is amazing. The landscape is breathtaking and it´s not really expensive. Please don´t eat there the typical tapas which are not healthy, eat good , healthy food like fish or vegetables. You have plenty time to book unexpensive places and to do your own research. One of the most beautiful city in Spain is San Sebastián-Donosti ( but you can´t see the solar eclipse from that city, but you can see it close by ) in the Basque Country, where you´ll eat amazing healthy food but it´s not unexpensive. The unexpensive food you´ll eat it in Galicia or in Asturias, both in the Northern part of Spain and in both places you´ll can see the eclipse. You can also see the eclipse from Valencia, which it´s the third largest city of Spain, and if you´re an architect you´ll love it, but for sure it´s going to be packed and it´s the typical Spain you didn´t come before. Lots of tourits there , unhealthy tapas, expensive with medium quality of food and of everything but you can have beaches ( not as beautiful like the Northern ones ) with no cold water. Try to avoid the tourists traps. Enjoy and be welcome. Cheers.

@fletcherchristian6411 Thanks for all this information! We've been trying to get to Basque Country, but you are right; it's an expensive area. -Judy

@@FindingGinaMarie Thanks to you. You´re both adorable and your videos are out of this world. They look like the ones on Tv, your voice is just so clear and sounds so well. Thanks a lot for coming to Spain to visit us. You´re both superwelcome. Everyone is happy to welcome people. But Spain can be also very unexpensive. I´m so sorry that you found Madrid expensive, but you were spot on in one of the old gates to the old wall of Madrid. Puerta Cerrada, means Locked Gate. The North of Spain is so beautiful and different. But you´re right if you don´t go in Summer can be rainy. In Galicia for certain it´s going to be raining but it´s beautiful, Alex Polizzi ( the famous English businesswoman) said Galicia was Spanish hidden gem .You can see on RU-vid her videos. Even in Madrid you have lots of places which are unexpensive. By the way, I´m glad that you didn´t like the tapas you ate. Tapas usually were for free and they were famous that if you asked for something to drink , you got a free tapa. but not anymore and even they are not really healthy. In Spain we eat superhealthy food, the usual tapas they serve in lots of places in Madrid and in Barcelona aren´t so healthy. It´s like churros ( that I read your respond about going to San Ginés, which it´s open 24x7). Churros used to be not so greasy, but right now churros are not so healthy,but the chocolate it´s great. You were here in Madrid almost a month. It´s a pity that you didn´t find unexpensive places and great unexpensive markets, not like Lidl, I mean with great quality of produce. Spain is a beautiful country but there are lots of beautiful great countries. The main thing of Spain is the way of living, it´s a social country, but the people from the USA are also really social people and adorable. After China, Spain is the country with most miles of fast train and can be really unexpensive if you get the tickets in advance. And the health system used to be amazing, you´re going to become an EU citizen, that´s a great advantage for your future. I want to recall you than in the USA people over 80 years young are usually forgotten, not in Spain as you probably saw when you were going to eat close to Serrano ( Columela´s street ). Kind regards to both of you, enjoy life and stay healthy. Cheers.

Thank you, @fletcherchristian6411, for your kind note and for all your insights about Spain. We do appreciate the train system there; it will make visiting again much easier. -Judy