The Teatre del Liceu, also known as “El Liceo” (El Liceu in Catalan) is one of the most luxurious and emblematic monuments in Barcelona. The Teatre del Liceu was inaugurated in 1847 on the Ramblas, and has displayed for more than 150 years renowned plays and singers from the entire world.

It is also known as one of the best opera venues in the whole world. Moreover, this impossible-to-miss building boasts an amazing architecture you must admire while having a walk on the Ramblas.

It is important to know that the Teatre del Liceu was marked by several incidents; it was partially destroyed and rebuilt after a first fire in 1861, and in 1994 another fire destroyed the whole auditorium and the stage. The reconstruction ended in 1999 with the aim of being as faithful as possible to the original.

To visit the theatre and learn more, it is possible to go for a guided tour. You will first discover the main entrance, in the past only for the bourgeoisie, and the stairs with the Muse of Music looking down the astonishing Hall of Mirrors, the only part of the theatre that remained after the first fire ate up the rest in flames.

The ceiling in this room is covered in paintings from famous artists’ and is used for conferences and small concerts. When you’re done admiring the beauty, walk through the majestic and prestigious auditorium.

And after the visit, do not miss the Liceu shop where you can watch a very informative documentary for free about the theatre in incredibly comfy seats. With its impressive decorations and meaningful design, the Teatre del Liceu is truly worth a guided tour, in order to fully understand the architecture and beauty that this centre of Catalan culture in Barcelona is.

If you can’t wait to see this architectural masterpiece, come have a look at our Barcelona apartments to get started!

Full of light and music, the A Casa Portuguesa is an ideal place to cuspir fininho, a Portuguese expression that means chatting indefinitely, a charming and relaxed concept conjuring images of long conversations taking you into the night. Nestled in the heart of Gracia it’s a peculiar mix of a bakery, bar, cultural centre and grocery store.

The bar’s owners, Leonor and Pedro, arrived in Barcelona to study Arts and Film, but three years later they had wound up staying in the city they describe of uniting “the cosmopolitanism of big cities with the comfort of small towns” and opening A Casa Portuguesa.

The selection on offer is vast: from green vine, oporto and ginjinha – a liqueur made from infusing ginja berries or Morello cherries in alcohol; it’s taken in shots with a small piece of fruit in the bottom of the glass -, to typical Portuguese dishes like the bacalhau à Bras and açorda – mashed bread with garlic, olive oil, coriander, water, eggs and a variety of other ingredients, like shrimp. But they do not limit themselves to food! No, Portugese culture and tradition also endures in A Casa Portguesa: they set up fado concerts, book presentations, art expositions and even inaugurations, last month they celebrated the opening of Folclore, a Portuguese fashion boutique.

Their speciality are the pastéis de Belém; little egg pastries famous in Portugal, made with cream and milk, eggs and sugar. People believe them to have been made for the first time in the XVIII century by the nuns of the Jerónimo convent. The original pastéis de Belem are now produced next to the convent, and according to popular belief, there are only three people who know the secret recipe!

When you come to stay in one of our Barcelona apartments for the holidays, be sure to take a bit of Portugal home with you too! This delightful, charming bar is one of the many places you can experience the original flavours and culture of another country, whilst still in Barcelona.

The original Escribá Bakery founded in 1906 was situated on the Gran Via, but now you can find two other branches of the Escribá bakery in Barcelona, one at the sea-front and one at the Ramblas, which fuses beautiful Art Nouveau décor with a modern, ambitiopus business.

The Escribá Bakery is now famous in the whole world and the place to go if you want the best cakes and pastries of Barcelona; if you check out their website you will feel as if you have been swallowed up into Roald Dahl’s Chocolate Factory (without Johnny Depp!) and that’s just the beginning. This must-see bakery is housed in one of the most beautiful buildings in town and you can enjoy its excellent little cakes while sitting outside the shop on the sunny terrace.

More than a simple bakery, Escribá creates fashion chocolate and sugar masterpieces like their to-die-for Candy Glam. They craft sugar into amazing wearable rings. Can you top that for an original and surprising gift? We don’t think so!

We highly recommend you the house speciality “La Rambla”, a big truffle and chocolate biscuit. Moreover – and we’re very excited about this – they make personalized cakes for birthdays or Christmas!! Decorated however you wish, from extravagant hats to handbags!

Our Barcelona apartments in the heart of the city will serve as an excellent headquarters in Barcelona whilst you roam far and wide sightseeing and enjoying treats like the Escribà cakes. Really near the centre and with gorgeous styling, everybody will be happy!

Come to discover these yummy, yummy fantasy sweets and cakes!

The London Bar was opened in 1910 by Josep Roca and used to be frequented by the likes of Picasso, Dali and Hemingway. It’s named this way because when it was inaugurated the year Tolstoy died and the bars, cafès and restaurants in Barcelona adopted cosmopolitan names such as Pétit Paris, American Bar and London Bar, like this one!

As one of the oldest bar in Barcelona, the London Bar is decorated like a traditional English pub, and the old school glamour décor has been kept the same from the first opening. The atmosphere will take you to another century: when you enter, you will be surprised by all the mirrors all around the bar, and do not forget to have a look at the drawings on the wall while enjoying your drink. With a stage right at the back of the bar, the London Bar is also a venue for live music every night, from jazz to Brit rock bands. And with no cover charges; it is the perfect place to start your night before going to night clubs… or, in fact, to spend the whole night in: the London bar is one the few bars open until 5 am.

The bar is a popular meeting place for many locals and tourists so just walk through to the back and try to find a seat to listen to the live music, and enjoy! The atmosphere is really friendly, and it’s a great place to just drink a few beers, sip cocktails… or absinthe for the most reckless!

The London Bar is situated in the Raval quarter, just a few steps away from the famous Las Ramblas, near the metro station Liceu (Green line, L3).

To enjoy the most of the city, we recommend you choose one of our Barcelona apartments in the center, where you will be close to many of the city’s attractions and to this not-to-be-missed traditional English pub!

At the end of Paseo San Juan stands the beautiful Arc de Triunf, and beyond it the Passeig dels Til·lers; a huge avenue lined with linden trees and flower beds that leads down to the Ciutadella Park. Standing underneath the Arc de Triunf, staring down the Passeig, one see Barcelona’s two tallest buildings, the Mapfre Tower and the Arts Hotel. It’s a truly breathtaking sight.

The park was conceived in 1872 to be one of the main green spaces in Barcelona. But the development for this central urban park was very, very slow, and it wasn’t until 1885 that the speed with which it was being built accelerated so as to make it the site of the 1888 Universal Exhibition. And this is not the only link the park has to Barcelona’s history: the Ciutadella Park is also where the King Felipe V built his citadel in 1714 after winning the War of Succession; actually destroying the walls of the south of the city and over 1000 houses to make more room for his gardens.

Nowadays it’s one of the most loved parks in Barcelona: its eclectic, with winding paths that lead to a lake in the middle. Sitting on the grass watching couples rowing around the lake in small, colourful boats and listening to people playing the drums or the Spanish guitar, is one of the most relaxing experiences one can have in the centre of bustling Barcelona.

Down one of the winding tracks there’s a mammoth that was put there by geologist and writer Norbert Font i Sagué. The idea was to make stone statues out of all great extinct species, but after the mammoth was erected the initiative dissolved.

The Castle of the Three Dragons was built to look like a medieval castle and doubled as a restaurant during the Expo. Now it holds the zoological and geology collections of the Natural Science Museum. Nearby there’s also the Cascada; a waterfall and fountain, whose spray creates rainbows over the park. This baroque, ornate monument was designed to resemble the Trevi Fountain in Rome. In fact, the assistant architect was Gaudí who at the time was still in university!

If you come to Barcelona during the balmy spring or autumn weather, be sure to come and relax on the grass. The park is next to the Born neighbourhood, where several of our Barcelona apartments stand, as well as minutes away from the beach, Barceloneta and the Olympic Village.

The Camp Nou is the Barcelona football stadium, one of the biggest and most famous in the world. With a capacity of 110,000 people it is almost full for every single match! So footballs addict or not, seize the opportunity to see the football ground, visit the museum and go for a memorable self-guided tour in the stadium.

The FC Barcelona offers you the possibility of visiting its premises, beginning with the team locker room of the stadium. From there, you will reach the ground like famous FC Barcelona players do and walk on the grass … great thrill guaranteed!

It is even possible for you to sit in the player’s benches and the VIP seats -the best seats in the stadium. And with a stroke of luck you may attend a training session and look up to the champions!

You can also visit the press room, the presidential box, the Chapel… and last but not least, do not miss the opportunity to rise the European Champions Cup with your own hands!

Then, go to the not-to-be-missed museum paying tribute to football and lounge around the impressing gallery of many trophies, pictures and press articles detailing the successes of the Barcelona Football club.

To enjoy the best of Camp Nou, we offer you our apartments in Barcelona, a few steps away from this emblematic stadium, where you will admire the magnificence of the Stadium, know more about the club’s history at the museum and share the passion of football with the Catalan people!

Barcelona’s Maritime Museum is located at the end of La Rambla, in the building used as a military dockyard. Its extensive collection of maritime artifacts covers a period from 1750 to 1850, and tells the story of the Catalans with the sea throughout the history.

Thanks to the generosity of many organizations and people, the museum boasts an impressive collection of navigation instruments, cross-staffs, quadrants, glasses for long-distance, depth finders, and much more.

Most of the objects were manufactured between the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries and have been donated to the museum by descendants of mariners and sailors.

An important collection of ex-voto is displayed, small wood board on which sailors used to paint and express their gratitude to God, the Virgin or Saints.

The figureheads of the museum are authentic 19th-century Catalan sailboats and the “Negre de la Riba” (Black man of Riba), figure representing a warrior from the native tribes of North America. The diversity of the Maritime Museum collection will delight all the family.

After visiting this surprising museum, do not miss Colon, a giant statue in honour of Christopher Columbus, and appreciate a walk across the marina. The neighborhood is charming and offers a full range of restaurants and cafes.

The Maritime Museum in Barcelona is definitely one of the best in the whole world, and the ideal location and the richness of the collections make it a not-to-be-missed monument in Barcelona. To thoroughly it and make the most of this amazing city, our chic Barcelona apartments will serve as an excellent home away, really close to the heart of the city and with gorgeous styling!

Panellets – which literally mean “little breads” in Catalan – are one of Catalonia’s best-loved traditional food stuffs; they are little cakes made out of marzipan and served on All Saint’s day.

Their history dates back to the XVIII century when they were cooked to be shared as blessed food. On All Saints Day, the person in charge of ringing the church bells had to stay up all night clanging on them so that nobody forgot to pray for the souls of the dead. At midnight, the villagers would walk to church and share dry fruits, biscuits, sweets and desert wine with them. This is the origin of “La Castanyada”, the Catalan version of All Saint’s Day: the coming together in the House of God to offer panellets and roasted chestnuts to each other and bell ringers.

The marzipan to make the panellets is traditionally made from almonds and sugar only. But because this makes the price of them rise even more (in Barcelona, they can get really pricy, at over 1,25€ per panellet!), boiled potatoes are also added, with no change to the delicious result. Lemon peel is added, and pine nuts, to make the most famous of panellets: the panellet de pinyons or pinenut panellet.

It’s typical for children to make them at school too, so as to charm their parents with a small selection of their less than perfect panellets. Because the recipe is relatively simple, and simply involves mixing the ingredients together and rolling them into balls before covering them with pine nuts, it’s the perfect recipe choice for little kids and great results!

One of the best places to buy panellets is the Ca n’Escribà bakery, in La Rambla de les Flors. Our suggestion is that, if you’re here staying in one of our Barcelona apartments in early November, you rid yourself of the winter cold by walking down to one of the many stalls that sell roasted chestnuts and sweet potatoes, buying a selection of panellets at the Ca n’Escribà bakery and washing it all down with some desert wine, to celebrate All Saint’s Day.

This restaurant in the Born neighbourhood is a meeting of experiences, flavours and styles between the East and the West: the Ikibana concept is cosmopolitan, contemporary and unique. Near it we also have an extensive selection of Barcelona apartments for you to enjoy (it’s as extensive as their menu!).

All the passion and exotic-ness of Brazil and the assorted sashimis and tempuras from Japan make this fusion cuisine a must-go-to in Barcelona; and don’t forget the makis with a tropical touch, or the gunkans with spicy textures, or…

For starters, you can choose delicious Japanese seaweed salads, traditional miso soup, soya beans with salt, vegetables in breadcrumbs and ceviche. The sobas are incredible; fine tasty noodles made from whole-gran flour and served warm as soups or as main courses with assorted ingredients. The tempuras are very well-known: expertly presented, our tempuras can be made of prawns, vegetables or fish, battered in a breadcrumb mix, deepfried and served with a soy dupping souce and daikon garnish (grated white radish).

And it’s not just the food that’s exquisite: in this Tokyo meets São Paulo restaurant, eating is one of many experiences intended to stimulate the senses. Colours, textures, mural art, mosaics, video projections; all of these will make eating at the Barcelona Ikibana a very special event.

We strongly recommend you check this restaurant out when your on holiday, here in Barcelona (or here to stay!); it’s hard to describe how delicious it is because it’s so unique!

The Joan Miró Foundation was born in 1975 on the 10^th of June with its humble beginnings in an art exposition shown in the Santa Creu Hospital, in Barcelona.

It is now a modern art museum, honoring Joan Miró and housing excellent collections, like the new “Mural” Collection which will feature an exhibition of works of art by artists who paint directly onto walls and how hail from the four corners of the earth.

The Miró Museum has a space called “Espai 13” which is used to promote the work of young artists who experiment and innovate with art and new techniques. Right now the exhibition is about silence: silence is a state which is constant in contemporary art. Artists such as Kasimir Malevich and Marcel Duchamp have created incredible masterpieces to demonstrate this state by reducing it, pausing it or analyzing its absence, non-action and emptiness. Another exhibition named Electrocosmos, was based around a labyrinth of fluorescent lights that reflected the structure of celestial constellations.

The building itself was built towards the end of the 60s by the architect Josep Lluís Sert. It was to be the first museum of contemporary art in Barcelona and proved to be a proud moment for the city to pioneer in this field. The museum has been expanded twice to house the impressive collection.

Come to visit this spectacular building and its contents! Nestling on Montjuic Mountain, we recommend you choose one of our Barcelona apartments in the Port Vell, where you will be close to many of the city’s museums, and have amazing sea views too!