Barcelona, September 2025, a photo diary

I visited Barcelona at the start of September 2025 with my mum and Chanaé, my daughter. Chanaé and I visited Barcelona together in 2018, and in 2017, I went for the first time, for a stag weekend. My mum has visited a couple of times as well so when we were planning the trip the challenge was to try and see new things, as well as check up on some places we'd seen before. I think we did a very good job of it... but then I would!

Thursday 4th September - Birmingham to Barcelona

Chanaé and I met my mum at an almost deserted Birmingham airport, and flew to the sunshine from rainy England. We checked in to the very cool Melia INNSiDE Barcelona Apolo, had a snooze, and then headed to La Selva for dinner. Chanaé had seen La Selva on TikTok which isn't surprising - it was very trendy with a rainforest theme, swing chairs and steak that you seared yourselves on a hotplate at your table... a great start.

Friday 5th September - discovering Barcelona by foot, boat and helicopter

This was a busy and very exciting morning. I booked us on to a Barcelona Helicopter, Sailboat, and Old Town Walking Tour through Viator. The walking tour took in many of the famous sights in Barcelona including the 'Block of Discord', the Gothic Quarter, Plaça de Sant Jaume and Las Ramblas.

Next up was a boat trip across the port to take us to the heliport where we boarded a helicopter for some aerial views of the city.

The boat took us back to the end of Las Ramblas where our tour concluded. After some lunch on Las Ramblas, we went to Mercat de la Boqueria where Chanaé got stuck in to the biggest, most colourful selection of pick and mix sweets (this was also something that she'd seen on TikTok). Our next stop was another TikTok find - the Sephora store that can be entered by a slide (or an escalator for me and my mum!) After a snooze at the hotel we went to a lovely restaurant called Arome for dinner.

Saturday 6th September - Montserrat, a vineyard, Sagrada Familia and tapas

Another day, another Viator trip! We boarded a coach at Barcelona North Bus Station and went out into the countryside. The jagged peaks of the mountains were incredible, and like nothing I had ever seen before. After getting a train up to the monastery at Monserrat we went even higher in a funicular before boarding a coach to go to the vineyard where we sampled wine and a small selection of tapas.

Back in the city we got changed at the hotel before going to see the Sagrada Familia. We had all visited here on previous trips but it was great to see how much progress had been made. It is the most incredible building, and it is looking closer and closer to being finished! We took pictures from every possible angle then found a tapas bar for dinner.

Sunday 7th September - brunch, cable cars, parakeets and a boat trip

We started Sunday meeting my cousin and his partner for brunch - they live in Barcelona and it was a real treat to see them both. We got on the cable car after a walk through Montjuic Park and heard what sounded like a lot of of parakeets down by the water in the La Barceloneta area. Next up was Parc de la Cuitadella where we then saw some parakeets. Later, I even posed for a photo with some on the way to the Arc de Triomf.

We walked through the beautiful narrow streets of Ciutat Vella where we had tapas for lunch, then headed back to the park and on to the port again. We spent the rest of the afternoon in the port area, riding the big wheel and then eating at a restaurant called Mana 75 before our final activity of the day - a sunset boat trip that Chanaé had treated me and my mum to for our birthdays. This was a great way to finish a fabulous trip.

Monday 8th September - Barcelona to Birmingham, then home

The flight home was made more exciting by flying over London - I love London, and seeing it from above is always so exciting when you can pick out the places that you knew while growing up.

We had a great time in Barcelona, and we all enjoyed finding new things to see, as well as revisiting old favourites. Barcelona is a relatively cheap 'major city', getting around (even by taxi) wasn't ridiculously expensive, and even popular 'Instagramable' restaurants weren't prohibitively expensive. I say this about every trip - I'm sure there are cheaper ways to see the city, but we had just the right mix of comfort vs cost.