Build your Barcelona trip

Gaudí’s basilica, still unfinished. The interior light through the stained glass is the reason to go inside, not just photograph it.

The famous market off La Rambla. Go to the back stalls where locals shop, not the smoothie wall at the front. Counter breakfast at El Quim.

A tiled, century-old cava-and-tapas bar near the Picasso Museum. Stand at the bar, point at the conserves, drink the house fizz.

Order: Anchovies, the house cava, whatever’s on the marble.

Gaudí’s mosaic park on the hill. The monumental zone is ticketed; the surrounding park is free and has the better quiet corners.

Modern tapas done seriously in a vaulted Born room. The kind of dinner that makes you reconsider what tapas can be.

Order: Ibérico ham, the slow-cooked egg, oxtail.

Tiny specialty-coffee bar tucked off Passeig del Born. The espresso that the rest of the city’s good cafés are chasing.

Old civil-war anti-aircraft bunkers on a hilltop, now the city’s best 360° sunset spot. Bring something to drink and climb up early.

The early work — proof he could paint like a master before he broke the rules. Strongest on his Barcelona and Blue Period years.

A standing-room bodega stacked to the ceiling with bottles. Montaditos built to order from tinned seafood — small, perfect, washed down with vermut.

Order: Salmon-yogurt-honey montadito; a glass of vermut.

Medieval lanes that open onto sudden squares. Skip the guided herd; just get lost between the cathedral and Plaça Sant Felip Neri.

The city beach — crowded and touristy at the boardwalk end, calmer the further northeast you walk. A swim resets a sightseeing day.