Barcelona

Barcelona's medieval core, Gaudí's Eixample and the hills in three days

Three full days cover Barcelona's main sights, and a fourth adds Montserrat or a stretch of coast. The city sorts itself into layers: the medieval core by the port, the Eixample grid above it where most of Gaudí's work stands, and the hills on the edges. Plan each day around one layer and you spend far less time underground.

• Day one, the Eixample: the Sagrada Família at your booked slot, then a walk down Passeig de Gràcia past Casa Batlló and Casa Milà (La Pedrera), ending at the Hospital de Sant Pau or over a late lunch in Gràcia.
• Day two, Ciutat Vella: the cathedral and Plaça Reial in the Barri Gòtic, the Palau de la Música Catalana, then El Born for the Picasso Museum. Pass the Boqueria towards its 20:00 close, when stallholders start cutting prices.
• Day three, the heights: Park Güell early, then across town to Montjuïc. Ride the old harbour cable car down from Miramar to Barceloneta, since queues are shorter at the Montjuïc end, and finish the day by the sea.
• Day four: the monastery mountain of Montserrat, 50 km out. The alternative is a beach and old-town day in Sitges, Girona or Tarragona.

The Sagrada Família, Park Güell and Casa Batlló run timed tickets, and same-day slots often sell out, so buy them as soon as your dates are firm. The facades along Passeig de Gràcia cost nothing to admire. Mobile World Congress at the Fira makes rooms scarce and dear for its week, so check the trade-fair calendar before you book hotels.

Leave the car alone until you head up the Costa Brava, then hire one on your way out of town.

Comfortable months in Barcelona and its sticky August nights

May, June and the weeks from late August into October are the most comfortable time for Barcelona, with highs of 19 to 23°C. The sea keeps winters soft and summers sticky. August averages 29°C by day, nights hold near 21°C, and the damp air makes it feel hotter still.

August is an odd month here. Many residents leave. Plenty of family-run shops and restaurants shut from early August to early September, yet hotel rates peak regardless. The water is at its warmest, about 26°C, so it suits beach days more than city walking. September and October are the wettest months of the year (86 mm and 82 mm), though that tends to arrive in short downpours.

Winter gets overlooked. January averages 14°C highs and 41 mm of rain, frost is rare, and the Gaudí queues shrink. It is not the south, though: bring a proper jacket for the evenings, and expect some grey days between November and April.

Street festivals reshape the city more than the weather does. On Sant Jordi (23 April) the pavements fill with stalls selling roses and books. Sant Joan, on the night of 23 June, is a midsummer party of fireworks that go on until dawn, so light sleepers should choose a quiet room. Gràcia holds its Festa Major around 15 August, and La Mercè, around 24 September, is the year's biggest festival.

Pa amb tomàquet, escalivada and other Catalan dishes to order

Order Catalan dishes. Pa amb tomàquet, bread rubbed with tomato, olive oil and salt, comes with almost everything. Look for escalivada (cold roast aubergine and peppers), botifarra amb mongetes (sausage with white beans and all-i-oli), noodle-based fideuà and crema catalana. From Christmas to mid-April, restaurants serve the calçotada, a meal of grilled young onions dipped in sauce.

Gràcia has the best run of good-value Catalan kitchens, the Eixample the places for a splurge. In Barceloneta, skip the seafront cocktail terraces and walk a couple of streets back to the old bars. The weekday bargain is lunch: the menú del migdia gives three courses with a drink, and some smart restaurants run cut-price lunch menus from 14:00 to 16:00.

Before lunch, locals fer el vermut: a glass of vermouth with olives and crisps. Catalan comes first on signs and menus.