Hotel Actual

Activities

• Passeig de Gràcia - Barcelona’s premier shopping street - is 30 paces from the front door. You’ll find designer labels and high street chains coming out of your ears. For smaller boho boutiques head for the narrow streets of the historic Born district
  
  
• Three Gaudí buildings lie within a 10-minute walk. The curvacious stone facade and undulating roof of La Pedrera (formally known as Casa Milà) is only a block away, the ornate and blue-tiled Casa Batlló is a couple of blocks south, and the soaring Sagrada Familia is a short walk (or metro ride) to the west
  
  
• Another Gaudí masterpiece, the vast Park Güell, lies to the north (you'll need to take the metro and a bus to get there). Among its trees and flowerbeds you'll come across colourful mosiac sculptures, other-worldly grottos, gingerbread-style houses and the elegant villa where Gaudí lived
  
  
• Barcelona's small but interesting Egyptian Museum, complete with mummies, is just a short stroll away, as is the art-filled Fundació Antoní Tàpies
  
  
• The football-obsessed can head to Nou Camp for a tour of FC Barcelona’s stadium - you may even see the players in training sessions. A cab will get you there in 10 minutes, but you can take the metro, too
  
  
• Head south to the beach (about 30 minutes by foot or 10 by cab). On your way, stop at the magnificent La Seu, Barcelona's gothic cathedral, with its stone-laced facade, gargoyles and gaggles of geese guarding the leafy cloister
  
  
• Stroll down the city’s most famous avenue, the lively tree-lined boulevard of La Rambla (15 minutes' walk or 3 metro stops along line 3), thronged with tourists, artists, musicians and all sorts of stalls, selling everything from flowers to caged birds. It's pickpocket heaven, though, so keep a close eye on your valuables