Barcelona by electric bike: Explore Gaudí, the medieval neighborhoods, and the beach

Rda. de Sant Pau, 52, local 2, Barcelona

Barcelona

Take a tour of Barcelona's historic center by electric bike, pedaling among the main attractions, with views of the city and the coast. You'll pass by the Sagrada Família, Gaudí's unfinished masterpiece, and along Passeig de Gràcia, where you'll find some of Gaudí's and his contemporaries' best modernist buildings: La Pedrera, Casa Batlló, Casa Lleó Morera, and Casa Amatller. You'll also explore Barceloneta, the old fishing village, and see El Cap de Barcelona, the sculpture by American pop artist Roy Lichtenstein. Outside the usual tourist route, you'll discover some surprises.

The place where you will meet your guide and collect your...

The site where the guide meets and where the bicycles are collected. The tour starts right outside Plaça Reial. There, you're greeted by the first work of the master in Barcelona: the street lamps, made with motifs from Roman mythology. And, by the way, they caused quite a scandal in the city.

Placa Reial

One of the most beautiful squares in Barcelona is just a short walk from Las Ramblas, in the heart of the Gothic Quarter. It's called Plaça Reial, which means "Royal Square." It gets its name from the Catholic Monarchs, Isabella and Ferdinand, and its appearance lives up to the name.

Plaça de Sant Jaume

The next stop is Plaça de Sant Jaume. Today, it houses several administrative buildings in the city, including the seat of the government. The square, located in the historic center, took its name from the medieval church that was once here and which was demolished in 1823. Many important events of medieval Barcelona took place in this space, and here began the plague epidemic that almost emptied the city.

La Barceloneta

Next, we visit Barceloneta beach, which today serves as a prime example: it has a Blue Flag certification for the cleanliness of its waters. It's the city's oldest public beach and has become a favorite with both locals and visitors over the years. It's one of the most well-known urban beaches in the world.

Playa de La Barceloneta

Barceloneta is Barcelona's oldest, most popular, and liveliest beach.

Then we will reach the triumphal arch

The route then reaches the Arc de Triomf, at the intersection of Passeig de Lluís Companys and Passeig de Sant Joan. Unlike the arches of Paris or Moscow, L'Arc de Triomf is entirely made of red brick. It was designed by Josep Vilaseca i Casanovas, a modernist architect, and was inaugurated for the Universal Exposition of 1888. It is built in the Neo-Mudéjar style, which was very popular at the time. It is topped by the coat of arms of Spain, and along the arch, on both facades, are the coats of arms of the different Spanish provinces. The Arc de Triomf is located about a mile and a half from Plaça Catalunya and the Sagrada Família, which is the next stop.

Basílica de la Sagrada Familia

The Sagrada Família is an architectural marvel unlike any other: a building that has spanned generations and eras, and which allows us not only to look at history, but to witness it being made. It has been under construction for over a century and a half, constantly evolving and changing along the way.

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Passeig de Gràcia

Passeig de Gràcia is the main street in Barcelona. It's home to architectural masterpieces from the early 20th century (Casa Milà, Casa Lleó Morera, Casa Batlló), which offer a better understanding of Spain and what life was like here at that time. The avenue also features fashion boutiques and shopping centers.

La Pedrera - Casa Mila

Then, La Pedrera. The people of Barcelona gave it that name, which means "quarry," because the facade seemed so irregular and heavy to them. It was the pinnacle of Gaudí's work as an engineer: here, he carried out his most daring ideas about the architecture of the future. At first, the neighbors didn't speak very highly of it. Today, Casa Milà is a recognized work everywhere, and few people leave Barcelona without a photo in front of it.

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Casa Batlló

The Casa Batlló is the second major building by Antoni Gaudí on Passeig de Gràcia. From the outside, the facade appears to be made of skulls and bones. The skulls are actually the balconies, and the bones are the columns. For this building, Gaudí was inspired by the colors and shapes of marine life. It is perhaps the strangest house in Barcelona: balconies that resemble skulls, columns like bones, and a facade that evokes a dragon. Inside, there isn't a single right angle, and the interior designed by Gaudí looks more like a science fiction movie set than a home.

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Las Ramblas

Finally, La Rambla. It appears to be a single street, but in reality, it consists of five sections, each with its own name. In recent years, there has been talk of a sixth: the pedestrian walkway built for the 1992 Olympics, which starts at Portal de la Pau and leads to the Maremagnum shopping center. La Rambla is one of the places that define Barcelona. Here, local bohemians, young people, and visitors mingle, and architecture, fashion stores, and the best cafes coexist. It's hard to find someone who comes to Barcelona and doesn't walk down it: for years, it has been the city's favorite pedestrian street, and walking along it has become a ritual.