When I booked our long weekend in Barcelona as a family, I wasn’t expecting to discover that Barcelona had become such an expensive city! We’d been there several times in the past and it used to be a pretty budget-friendly city. The last time we were there was for my Titpuce’s 5th birthday, so that was a while ago! Inflation has clearly happened since then, but not only that! Barcelona is a victim of its own success and tourists pay the price! Luckily, I found several ways to save money on our spending. So I’m going to share my finds with you, so that you too can visit Barcelona as a family without breaking the bank!
Children’s ages: Titpuce 14 and Ticoeur 16 Time of year: Easter, in bright sunshine and 21 degrees! And that dream weather is… free 🙂
1- Visit Barcelona on the first Sunday of the month:
Because good news! There are some great free museums!
We were in Barcelona during the first weekend of April and we were able to take advantage of free entry to several Barcelona museums, including one of Gaudí’s houses! But watch out! Even if the tickets are free, you still have to book them in advance online, and make sure you don’t get the booking timing wrong because these free tickets go very fast!
Palau Güell: free on the first Sunday of the month – to book the previous Thursday at 10am
Visiting a Gaudí work for free—believe me, it’s a miracle! Among all the things to do in Barcelona, the biggest budget item is getting into the famous Gaudí houses: Casa Batlló, Casa Milà (or La Pedrera) and Casa Vicens. Each costs €20–25 per person. Luckily, one Gaudí building offers free entry on the first Sunday of the month: Palau Güell. Thank you! This palace, located in central Barcelona just a stone’s throw from La Rambla, is one of the architect’s first commissions, made at the request of his patron, the wealthy Eusebi Güell. Palau Güell is therefore a pure example of Catalan Art Nouveau style. It’s the famous movement known as Modernism. You’ll see many characteristic details such as wrought iron and noble materials. You can already see all of Gaudí’s creativity and originality—especially his rooftop chimney style.
The visit lasts 1 hour, with an audio guide. There’s a shorter 30-minute version for children. It was very interesting and the spaces are impressive. It doesn’t have the charm and cheerfulness of Casa Batlló, but it’s clearly pure Gaudí and a wonderful architectural gem to discover.
Free tickets must be booked on the official Palau Güell website, from 10am the Thursday before the first Sunday of the month. Once again, it’s best to be online at 10am (10am Spanish time = 9am UK time)!
The Picasso Museum: free on the first Sunday of the month – to book the previous Wednesday at 10am
The Picasso Museum is in Barcelona’s Gothic Quarter, in a beautiful historic building, and displays a collection of Picasso’s works including many early drawings, paintings from his different artistic phases (including the Blue Period) and some ceramics. Free tickets can be booked on the official Picasso Museum website, from 10am the previous Wednesday. Choose “Free admission days” in the menu. These free tickets go quickly, so I advise you to log on at exactly 10am (10am Spanish time = 9am UK time)! Allow about 1 hour for the visit.
The MNAC: free on the first Sunday of the month and every Saturday from 3pm – booking required!
Perched on Montjuïc above Plaça d’Espanya, the National Art Museum of Catalonia presents a magnificent collection of paintings by Catalan artists. The building itself also has impressive spaces such as the great dome and the large oval hall. We mainly visited the Modern Art section, and that alone takes time! On the programme: works by Picasso, Miró, Dalí, Ramon Casas… and Gaudí furniture. Before leaving, we quickly went through the Romanesque section, which contains rare frescoes found in Pyrenees churches. I won’t lie: the children didn’t enjoy this museum as much as we parents did, but the advantage of a free ticket is there’s no pressure to see everything! Also, Ticoeur and Titpuce really enjoyed wandering around the MNAC rooftops, where the 360-degree view is superb! Not to be missed!
Free entry applies on Saturdays from 3pm and on the first Sunday of the month. You need to book the tickets a few days in advance, but there’s no specific timing like for the previous ones. For info, I booked our free tickets a week in advance on the MNAC official website.
There are other secondary museums that are free on the first Sunday of the month, but I’ve listed the three that seem like the real must-sees to me.
2 – Visit Barcelona as a family before your children turn 12
Most paid attractions in Barcelona are free up to age 11. This time, we travelled with our teens aged 14 and 16, so no more freebies! Barcelona isn’t the only destination where travelling with teens costs more than with younger children, but what shocked me was the pricing for teens: the price from age 12 is often the same as for adults, or only €2 cheaper! I think an effort could be made to offer a real reduced fare for minors, or to offer a family ticket as exists in several countries. Travelling to Barcelona with teens is really a blow to the budget! It almost doubles the cost of attractions! We really felt the difference compared with our previous stay, when Ticoeur and Titpuce were little.
So, if you’re planning to visit Barcelona as a family, do it before your children turn 12!
3 – Make the most of free activities in Barcelona:
The Magic Fountain of Montjuïc
A free fountain show takes place on Thursday, Friday and Saturday evenings at the foot of Montjuïc hill, in front of the MNAC. The sound, water and light show is at 8pm and 8.30pm, or at 9pm and 9.30pm during summer time. To check the times and make sure the show will take place (in summer it can be cancelled in the event of a heatwave), see the tourist office website. However, even on the site there can be errors! For us, it said 8pm and 8.30pm, when in fact that Easter weekend they had switched to 9pm and 9.30pm. All the tourists were there for 8pm! I guess it was the changeover weekend! The show lasts about 20 minutes. It’s nice.
360° views over Barcelona from the Bunkers del Carmel
After visiting the Hospital de Sant Pau, we went up to the Bunkers del Carmel in Parc del Guinardó for a panoramic view over Barcelona: it’s a climb! Up there, there are lots of people, especially late afternoon or at sunset. It has to be said, it’s a beautiful viewpoint, with the Sagrada Família right in front of you, the sea and the surrounding hills. Despite the crowds, the atmosphere is pleasant and friendly!
The Ruta del Modernisme:
The Modernisme route is a trail that takes you past the great architectural works of the major masters of the Modernisme movement, including Gaudí, Domènech i Montaner and Puig i Cadafalch.
Most of these buildings are in the chic Eixample neighbourhood. The best is to start at Plaça de Catalunya. Under the square is the tourist office where you can pick up the free map for this route (it isn’t on display—you have to ask for it). You’ll see: there are far too many buildings! The idea isn’t to see everything, but the map helps you get your bearings and discover lesser-known houses too. To admire the most famous buildings, just walk up Passeig de Gràcia, where you’ll find Casa Batlló, Casa Amatller and La Pedrera, among others.
Strolling through Barcelona neighbourhoods
I could almost have started with this: Barcelona’s soul is in its streets, in its neighbourhoods! Taking the pulse of the city is, thankfully, free! Even without visiting anything, Barcelona is experienced through different atmospheres. Beyond the Gothic Quarter, you need to get lost in the El Born area of the historic centre. We also love the very local atmosphere of the Gràcia neighbourhood, less visited by tourists and yet very pleasant, with lots of squares, terraces and independent shops. And also: El Raval (around the contemporary art museum—MACBA), Eixample for its architecture. In Poble Sec, we loved having dinner in small, very local tapas bars on our way back from Montjuïc. We liked Poblenou less. But it doesn’t matter! There are neighbourhoods for every taste! Finally, let’s not forget that Barcelona has lots of beaches! We took a long walk along the seafront promenade starting from Barceloneta.
During our walks, we also came across some street art, but I didn’t feel it was on the level of Shoreditch in London or Bristol. My only favourite is El Beso (The Kiss) by Joan Fontcuberta: a mosaic made with 4,000 photos. It’s in the Gothic Quarter near the cathedral, on Plaça d’Isidre Nonell:
La Seu Cathedral and the Basilica of Santa Maria del Mar
To see these two magnificent religious buildings, it’s free if you go at certain times:
- La Seu Cathedral: you can admire the cloister and the main interior for free on Sunday mornings outside Mass times. That said, even during Mass, the cloister is accessible, and it’s the most beautiful part, I think! This 14th-century cloister has lots of charm with its palm trees!
- Basilica of Santa Maria del Mar: it’s free on Sunday mornings. Arrive before the midday Mass. I really recommend visiting it because its Gothic nave is monumental!
4 – Choose your paid visits wisely
Be wary of the many city passes!
When I saw that paid attractions were really expensive in Barcelona, I looked into city passes because we’d had good experiences in other cities, like Rome or Naples. What a surprise with Barcelona! First, there are loads of offers (too many!), enough to overwhelm the customer, and on top of that, I don’t think they’re worth it! After visiting Barcelona 7 times, I think I have a good idea of what the city’s must-sees are. And based on my calculations, no pass lets you enjoy those must-sees at a good price! So I invite you to list the places that interest you and compare the prices between buying separate tickets and buying one of these passes. None of the visit combinations I tried were worth it!
To help you with your calculations, I listed the 12 visits that seem like the best things to do in Barcelona. I’ve done them all, but over 7 trips, so the idea is simply to make your own selection and do your sums to compare with the different passes:
I listed Park Güell, but personally I boycott it because it’s a park I always knew as free in the past, and I prefer to remember it that way. I don’t want to experience this park as if it were a museum. There are other Gaudí works in the city and other very beautiful views.
In the end, we found it was better to be selective with our visits. Do fewer, but choose them well, and don’t break the bank with passes that clearly weren’t worth it for us! So here’s the rest of our advice on paid visits…
Only one paid visit? Then the Sagrada Família!
For us, there’s no question: if you only want to do one paid visit in Barcelona, then without hesitation you should discover or rediscover the Sagrada Família by the famous Gaudí! We’ve visited it several times and we’re blown away every time! The children were also very impressed. It was their favourite visit in Barcelona! My Titpuce took 47 photos just of the stained glass! In short: a masterpiece, madness, a moving place that I’ve watched being built over the years. Recently, the Tower of Jesus Christ was completed; it’s the central tower, reaching 163m. So, in 2026, the Sagrada Família becomes the tallest church in the world, on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of Gaudí’s death!
Book on the official Sagrada Família website at least 3 weeks to 1 month before your trip!!! In 2026: tickets are €26 for adults, €24 for under-30s, and free up to age 11. This is the basic ticket that I recommend. It includes access to an excellent 45-minute audio guide (bring your headphones). All in all, we spent 2 hours there between the exterior, the interior and the museum.
The combined ticket: Palau de la Música + Hospital de Sant Pau
It’s not only Gaudí in Barcelona! Another very famous Modernisme architect is Domènech i Montaner. To discover his two major masterpieces, there’s a combined ticket: Palau de la Música + Hospital de Sant Pau. The combined ticket costs €32 per person (in 2026), whereas separately, the tickets cost €20 for the Palau de la Música and €17 for Sant Pau. That’s still €5 saved per adult ticket. Note that visits are free for under-12s. Small downside: the combined ticket doesn’t include audio guides, which is rather mean!
The Palau de la Música is a jewel of Catalan Art Nouveau. You mainly see just two places: the concert hall and the magnificent columned balcony. It isn’t much, but it’s truly very beautiful! The best is to take your time—sit in the main hall to soak it all in, and listen to the organ that the guides start up regularly. This was the children’s 2nd favourite visit in Barcelona.
In the former Hospital de Sant Pau, there are more spaces to explore, as well as the garden. That interested us parents more than our children.
5 – Try home swapping:
In Barcelona, we did a home swap via HomeExchange—and luckily! Accommodation has become very expensive in Barcelona! On a par with London, I’d say!
I’d looked for accommodation on Booking and found nothing we liked within our budget. There was also very little choice for under €200 a night. But do look just in case! Here’s, on Booking, a preselection of accommodation for 4 people under €200 per night, with good reviews: there aren’t many!
Not paying for our accommodation was a real windfall! Accommodation has become even more expensive in Barcelona because since 1 April 2026, you have to pay a tourist tax (between €10 and €15 per person, per night!), on top of the nightly rates in hotels, B&Bs, Airbnb, Booking… This doesn’t apply to home swapping since there are no monetary transactions. It’s like having friends to stay!
Annual membership on the HomeExchange platform costs €175. And after that, you don’t pay for your stays. With just one night in Barcelona, it pays for itself! If you’re interested and have questions, don’t hesitate to contact me. And if you’d like to sign up to HomeExchange, here is my referral code, which will give points to you and to us:
6 – Transport money-saving tips:
No surprise: walking is the most economical option! We walked 20 km every day! But don’t worry if you don’t want to walk that much, because there are good transport deals:
The metro in Barcelona:
By buying a card with 10 journeys, it costs only €13. At €1.30 per trip, I think that’s pretty good value for a big city like Barcelona! And above all, it’s worth it compared to the single ticket, which is €2.90. Over 4 days, we each used a 10-journey card. If you don’t walk as much as we did, you might need to top up with another 10 journeys.
The journey to the airport:
We also took the metro. Tickets are €5.90 per journey. That’s cheaper than the bus option (Aerobus).
7 – Long live the little tapas bars
Here’s a pleasant surprise from this last stay in Barcelona: unlike the prices of attractions and accommodation, we found it was still good value to eat in little tapas bars in Barcelona and to sit down for a drink without breaking the bank! It’s cheaper than in quite a few European cities. Of course, you have to be careful because all budgets exist, and so do tourist traps, but we easily found tapas bars frequented by locals, offering simple tapas with a very friendly welcome! The children were also amused by pintxos bars: mini Basque tapas on bread with a toothpick (you pay by the number of toothpicks). In short, having a glass of good Spanish wine for €4, or a vermouth like the locals for €3.50, with tapas under €7 and pintxos at €2–3, was a real pleasure for enjoying terraces in the sunshine while soaking up the atmosphere of this city that, in the end, we still like just as much!
Hasta luego, Barcelona!