Spanning from Plaça Catalunya all the way to the neighbourhood of Gràcia, it is one of the city’s premiere shopping destinations, comparable to the Champs Élysées in Paris or Unter den Linden in Berlin.
Here you’ll find the most exclusive shops by prestigious brand names such as Montblanc, Bulgari, Camper, Armand Basi, Desigual, Diesel, Furest, Lacoste, Loewe, Louis Vuitton, Mango, Max Mara, Marina Rinaldi, Podivm, Santa Eulalia, Tascón, the jewelers Bagués and Rabat, Nespresso, design shops such as Vinçon, art object shops such as Lladró, as well as shopping centers and galleries gathering together small shops with a unique selection. It’s also a good place to sit on a terrace and enjoy a well-deserved rest while sampling tapas at bars like Tapa Tapa, Divinus, Qu Qu, Txapela, or Navarra.
The benches, designed by the prestigious Catalan architect Antoni Gaudí, adorn the central promenade and make good photographic subjects, as do the diverse modernist buildings, some designed by Gaudí and listed as UNESCO World Heritage Sites.
Must-see
La Pedrera
La Casa Milà, popularly known as “La Pedrera” because of its stony exterior, was designed by Gaudí in 1905 and built between 1906 and 1910. It has an impressive, undulating stone façade, with iron also playing a big role.
Currently a visit to La Pedrera includes two areas of the building: the Espai Gaudí, and The Flat, which recreates a bourgeois apartment from the time of construction.
The spaces inside are adapted for exhibitions and concerts. There are guided visits, and the roof is straight out of a lush fantasy.
During the summer months, open-air concerts are held here.
Address: Provença, 261-265 (corner of Passeig de Gràcia).
Phone: 934 845 900
Site: www.catalunyacaixa.com/obrasocial
Metro: Diagonal (L3 and L5)
Bus: 7,16,17,22,24 and 28.
Barcelona Bus Turístic: Pg. de Gràcia-La Pedrera.
Event dates: From March to October, 9am- 8pm daily.
Services: Audio guide, bookstore, and shop on the ground floor with interesting design objects for a unique gift.
Casa Batlló
One of Antoni Gaudí’s masterpieces and an architectural jewel, this house was built between 1904 and 1906. Popularly known as “The carnival” or the “House of Bones” its exterior combines filigree in stone with colourful ceramics, glass, and iron balconies that take on a special charm at night with their perfect lighting. Behind the modernist façade, the interior spaces are a succession of artistic and architectural details designed by Gaudí with the utmost creativity and carried out by the period’s best artists and professionals.
Address: Passeig de Gràcia, 43 (corner of Aragó).
Phone: 932 160 306
Metro: Passeig de Gràcia (L3)
Opening hours: 9am-8pm (last entry) daily. This schedule is subject to change when rooms are reserved for events and conventions.
Other emblematic buildings
Casa Amatller
This house takes its name from a chocolate manufacturer who acquired it in 1898 and hired the brilliant architect Josep Puig i Cadafalch to remodel it. It’s located right next to Casa Batlló and it’s an urban palace whose modernist façade includes details from the Catalan Gothic and flemish styles.
Address: Passeig de Gràcia, 41
Casa Lleó i Morera
A work by the well-known modernist architect Lluís Domènech i Montaner, located on Passeig de Gràcia, on the same block as Casa Batlló and Casa Ametller, at the corner of Carrer Consell de Cent.
The decoration of the façade invokes certain traces of Wagner, very typical of the era in which the building was constructed (1902).
Address: Passeig de Gràcia, 35
A touch of art
Without leaving the city centre, you can visit four museums that differ both in terms of the art they exhibit and the buildings that house them.
Fundació Antoni Tàpies
A magnificent, specifically remodeled building gathering a collection of this well-known Catalan artist’s works.
Address: Aragó, 255.
Phone: 934 870 315
Site: www.fundaciotapies.org
Fundació Suñol
More than 1,200 works of contemporary art, including works by Warhol, Picasso, Miró, Dalí, Tàpies, Man Ray, Gargallo, etc.
Address: Passeig de Gràcia 98.
Phone: 934 961 032
www.fundaciosunol.org
Museu del Modernisme
350 works from the most representative artists of Catalan Modernism, including Antoni Gaudí.
Address: Balmes, 48.
Phone: 932 722 896
Site: www.mmcat.cat
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