Last summer our family spent two weeks in beautiful Barcelona. We lived in a local home which we exchanged via Behomm. If you are not familiar with Behomm, it’s a Home Exchange Community for Creatives and Design Lovers. Staying at local place gives you such a different experience while being on holidays. After few days you feel it’s your own place, while you need to water plans, hang laundry and say hello to neighbours.

During our travels, we try to stay away from tourist attractions and look for more authentic experience. People told us – be aware – Barcelona it’s going to be HOT and very touristy during Summer. Well, it’s true, but it’s easy to stay away from the crowds and cool down in the sea, swimming pools and parks. This city has a great cost line and it is such a bonus to have contact with water during the hot urban days. We planned activities with kids according to the temperature, so no running around in the middle of the day from 11-14. The perfect for us was morning swim in the sea and city trips during the evening.

I would like to share with you a few of our favourites :

Mercado de Santa Caterina – local market perfect not only to make your grocery shopping but also try local snacks or eat your lunch. We liked this market much more than the famous one at the Rambla. It’s less touristy. There is few places where you can eat inside between local people and try the daily specialties!  Can be busy in the lunch time.

We loved to walk around the charming streets of Barri Gotic. Get lost, discover unique places. Sometimes you will notice that you walk the same street again and again. That’s the beauty of discovering the atmosphere, isn’t ? And maybe you would discover many more places like Yurbbanpassage ?

Barcelona on Bike. You can rent a bike or scooter, the electric ones are even more fun! Barcelona has busy streets with a lot of traffic, so we preferred not to go there too much with kids. The beach, La Barceloneta has a great cycling route  – we went from Plaja de la Barcelona till Parque del Forum. You can always stop along the way for a refreshing swim or ice creams!

Boxbarcelona was the closest spot to get ice creams while getting our morning swim. Boys liked Pistachio and Mango flavours, mine favourite was coffee. Just next to the Boxbarcelona is Surfhousebarcelona. We had lunch here a few times and it was perfect.  Favourite of our boys were Pancakes, Waffles and Lemon Water, so refreshing!

Close by one of the narrow streets Carrer Gombau 5 you can find great Italian spot –  Nap. We took our pizza on the beach sometimes. Good tip for kids which are not big fans of trying new dishes each day.

Olympic Swimming Pool – Piscines Municipals de Montjuïc. It’s the most photogenic place ever with a beautiful view over entire Barcelona. Unfortunately, the place is not very well cared for, but worth the visit.  A good tip – bring your food and drinks if you would like to stay for longer, the small bar is very poor.

Fundacio Joan Miro is the best in the evening, calm and with hardly any tourists. We went there on Wednesday evening around 17. It was very relaxed, and we could easily see all the Miro work. The museum is beautiful itself with a view of the city, greenery around. Our kids loved it! After time in the museum, we went for a walk through the parks around the hill and finished at Placa de Les Cascades, with a short look at The Barcelona Pavilion designed by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe.

We discovered Green Spot on Pinterest. The interior of this restaurant was created by Brazilian architect Isay Weifeld. The place is beautiful but at the same time cozy and relaxed.  After our vegan dinner we grabbed a drink and stay on the sofas for the entire evening ( with no kids)  There are days with live music too.

We are city lovers, and at the begging, we found it a bit difficult to enjoy Barcelona as much with two kids demanding a swimming pool or beach all the time. But as days passed we noticed that they were getting more and more into it, and it’s important not to give up! If they want one day on the beach is fine, but the other day we would all go to a fancy restaurant or museum and everyone is happy.