Tour of Barcelona, Spain

Barcelona is a major economic centre with one of Europe's principal Mediterranean ports. The port area also has an attractive marina and attracts some of the worlds largest cruise ships.

Barcelona has seven beaches, totaling 4.5 km (2.8 mi) of coastline. Sant Sebastià and Barceloneta beaches, both 1,100 m (3,610 ft) in length, are the largest, oldest and the most frequented beaches in Barcelona.

The Olympic port separates them from the other city beaches: Nova Icària, Bogatell, Mar Bella, Nova Mar Bella and Llevant.

The Columbus Monument is a 60 m (197 ft) tall monument for Christopher Columbus at the lower end of the main tourist street named La Rambla. It is located at the site where Columbus returned to Spain after his first voyage to the Americas. The monument serves as a reminder that Barcelona is where Christopher Columbus reported to Queen Isabella and Ferdinand after his most famous trip.

La Rambla is a street in central Barcelona, popular with both tourists and locals alike. It is a 1.2 kilometer-long tree-lined pedestrian mall in the that connects Plaça Catalunya in the center with the Christopher Columbus monument at Port Vell. It is usually full of street theatre, cafés and market stalls.

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The Cathedral of Santa Eulalia is the Gothic cathedral seat of the Archbishop of Barcelona. (Though sometimes inaccurately so called, the famous Sagrada Família is not actually a cathedral).

The church was constructed throughout the 13th to 15th centuries on top of a former Visigothic church. The neo-Gothic facade is from the 19th century.

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The Temple Expiatori de la Sagrada Família, often simply called the Sagrada Família, is a massive Roman Catholic church under construction in Barcelona. Construction began in 1882 and continues to this day.

The Sagrada Familia was designed by Antoni Gaudí (1852–1926), who worked on the project for over 40 years. Gaudi devoted the last 15 years of his life entirely to the endeavor. The project is scheduled to be completed in 2026.

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The Arc de Triomf (Triumphal Arch) is an archway structure built for the 1888 Universal exhibition, as its main access gate.

The arch is built in reddish brickwork in the Moorish Revival style. The top of the arch is decorated with the Barcelona coat of arms as well as a representation of all 49 other Spanish province.

The arch is located between Passeig de Lluís Companys and Passeig de Sant Joan, at the end of a wide promenade connecting with the Park of the Ciutadella.

The National Art Museum of Catalonia, is a museum of Catalan visual art located in Barcelona. It is housed in the Palau Nacional, built for the 1929 World's Fair. Situated on the Montjuïc hill at the end of Avinguda de la Reina Maria Cristina, overlooking the harbour.

The museum was created in 1990, when the Catalonian Museum Law reunited the collections of the former Catalonian Art Museum and the Modern Art Museum, and declared it the national museum.

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Casa Mila is a building designed by the Catalan architect, Antoni Gaudí, and built during the years 1906–1910, being considered officially completed in 1912.

It is located at 92, Passeig de Gràcia in the Eixample district of Barcelona.

It was built for the married couple, Rosario Segimon and Pere Milà. Rosario Segimon was the wealthy widow of José Guardiola, an Indiano, a term applied locally to Catalans returning from the American colonies with tremendous wealth.

Antonio Gaudí designed some of the most famous buildings in Barcelona. The name Gaudi is now associated with designs that are a bit over the top and controversial. More Information.

Montjuic Castle is an imposing castle built in 1640. It was primarily used to repress the people during two centuries. Repression of the anarchists in the XIX century and prison for political prisoners under Franco.

In 1940, Lluis Companys was executed here. He was the president of the Generalitat of Catalonia. Nowadays, it is the only place of the city where you can see a statue of Franco. It also shelters a military museum.

You can walk up to the castle from the city or take a cabel car, for the best views over the city and harbour.

A popular day tour from Barcelona is to Sitges, a small city about 35 kilometres southwest of Barcelona, renowned worldwide for its Film Festival and Carnival.

Situated between the hills and the sea, it is known for its much-frequented beaches, nightspots, and historical sites.

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Another popular day tour from Barcelona is to Montserrat, a mountain near Barcelona, that is the site of a Benedictine abbey, Santa Maria de Montserrat, which hosts the Virgin of Montserrat sanctuary and which is identified by some, with the location of the Holy Grail in Arthurian myth.

The abbey can be reached by road, or by the Aeri de Montserrat cable car, or by the Montserrat Rack Railway.

Another popular day tour from Barcelona is to the Dalí museum in the town of Figueres, 73 miles north, one of the most interesting and popular museums in Northern Spain.

Salvador Dalí is an artist best known for the striking and bizarre images in his surrealist work.

Figueres was Dalí's home town and the museum is home to one of the largest collections of his work.

For more information on Barcelona, visit: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barcelona.