8 Secrets to Barcelona – a Non-touristic guide by friends (Free to Download)

5+3 Local Tips for Barcelona - Authentic Non-Marketing Tips

Enough “touristy tips”, here are the 8 local secrets to Barcelona, our home! This is your guide to the best kept secrets in Barcelona! And we only share them right here.

We live, breath, love this city!

This Mediterranean pearl offers everything from beach, stunning architecture, delicious food, mountains … the list is endless. Especially in such a touristic hot spot, you need to know the real places to experience Barcelona. We are thrilled to share with you and your travel buddies our 8 best local tips for Barcelona!

Update: We now included a full introduction to the city, including safety tips and where to stay in Barcelona.

More information for Barcelona:

We do not hold back and included all our greatest recommendations – starting from a delicious paella, our favorite Tapas places, design cafés and more!

Did we mention we are from Barcelona? So yes, we know our city inside out!

Download the 8 Local Tips for Barcelona for free:

You can only download the travel guide to Barcelona in around 1.5 seconds to your inbox.

Simply type in your name and email, and we will send you the guide right away! Enjoy Barna (Yes, this city is called Barna, not Barça!)

Why to download?

We want to keep these secrets between our community. Once you step into our favorite winery, you will see why – and you’ll be happy you downloaded this guide.

Salut!

The best kept secrets in Barcelona:

  1. The best paella in Barcelona – you need to know where to find a good one!
  2. We show you where to find at least 37 Tapas Restaurants – on budget and super tasty
  3. A Hipster Café in the heart of Barcelona for lunch, brunch, and caffeine!
  4. What’s the best beach in Barcelona? Don’t fall for Barceloneta!
  5. A beautiful and magical park for locals – still a well-hidden gem in Barcelona and one of our favorite places!
  6. How about a panoramic view? Follow our footsteps…
  7. Another top place we recently discovered for brunch & lunch!
  8. Barna is loaded with The world’s best website for events in Barcelona

We also included:

  • Where to stay in Barcelona
  • how to prepare your trip properly

When heading as well to Madrid, make sure you check out these Madrid secret tips. Enjoy the local tapas bars and more hidden gems in the Spanish capital.

Find the 3 best hostels in Madrid here.

Sights you have to book before

There are a few sights you NEED to book your tickets to before you actually go.

Park Güell

This is a must-do! In order to enter the main area of Park Güell, you have to buy a ticket with a specific time to enter.

Do not come here without a ticket. Entrance is limited and only with a valid ticket. Tickets are usually sold out 7 days before – at least.

There is no queue to line up. If you can buy a ticket, it’s most likely for the entrance in a few hours – if you are lucky.

Therefore, get your tickets to park Güell beforehand here.

Get your Park Güell Ticket here

Park Güell

Sagrada Família

For the majestic Sagrada Família, you can just come and queue up. BUT: There is always a line, typically about 2 hours. In the summer and hot days, this is not the best use of your time and quite uncomfortable. 🙁

Get the skip the line tickets online.

Just pick a time and go for it. You can skip the line, enter and enjoy instantly!

The online ticket costs around 50 cents (half a dollar) more than at the official entrance….but two hours waiting in the sun for 50 cents? No, thank you….

Get the Skip-The-Line-Ticket for Sagrada Família

Sagrada Familia

Summary tickets to buy:

That is basically it. Those are two MOST IMPORTANT tickets you have to buy beforehand! Don’t say we didn’t tell you….

Find all activities and tours with Get Your Guide. This is the website we trust always to buy our tours.

Top Hostels in Barcelona

Looking for the greatest and coolest hostels in Barcelona? Check out our guide to 3 best hostels in Barcelona.

We share the location, the vibes and what types of travelers stay here.

  1. The Central House Hostel with awesome location and great design – perfect for female solo travelers and couples.
  2. Casa Gracia – great location with cool bars around, neat design, recommended for solo-travelers and couples.
  3. YEAH Barcelona – more budget, more of the young solo traveler with great location and fun vibes for a night out.

The absolute best hostel in Barcelona for solo-travelers is Casa Gracia. We wrote a complete review here.

Casa Gracia
Casa Gracia Hostel – the 3 best hostels in Barcelona for Solo Travelers

– – –

pin it for later

Best Kept Secrets in Barcelona

We are 100% Independent: Some links on Hostelgeeks are so-called affiliate links. If you decide to book through these links, we earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. Your support allows us to keep producing high-quality, independent content free of influence from hostels or external advertisers. Learn more here. 🙏

✏️ Read our Editorial Guidelines

Our Favorite Travel Resources 2024

👏 Booking Hostels: Always find better deals for Hostels on Hostelz.com. They compare prices from Hostelworld and Booking.com.

✈️ Cheap Flights: The first websites we always check are Skyscanner and Google Flights.

🤒 Travel Insurance Simplified: We always go either with Safetywing and Hey Mondo.

🤓 Smart Travel Tools you need to know: Find a list of our favorite travel tools.

Get your Smart Packing List (Free Printable): Knowing what to pack and what not to pack is key. Get our ultimate list of smart items to bring on your trip.

Download your Free PDF Packing List

Best Hostel Packing List