City break by the sea

This was a February half term break for me so with family in tow and only 4 nights to spare, it needed to be reached easily. And whilst I generally have a bit of a rule of '5 nights is a maximum for a city break', being by the coast adds a different dimension. There is so much to do in Barcelona, you could easily be entertained for a week.

Access wise it's very straightforward to get around.

We took a metro from the airport, direct to Plaza de Catalunya, for €2.40 and were right in the heart of the city in 20 mins. The metro is a great way to get around, look out for 2 day passes (€16) and 10 journey tickets (€12). On top of that we hired bikes for a day (€10) and electric scooters for a couple of hours for the same price, great fun, especially as there are bike lanes and a vast promenade.

We took in La Rambla and the Mercato de la Boqueria, the children loved the pots of fresh fruit (and churros and crepes to follow)! My travels are without a doubt culinary journeys too, and I'd highly recommend our Italian, Lebanese and Japanese choices. We also headed out of town for Tapas, worth the €10 taxi fare to get out where the locals dine, seemingly well! I have all the restaurants well noted for you. Coffee is good, and combined with a pastry is often a bargain and a great quality self catering breakfast. There are also supermarkets a plenty.

We stayed near the Arc de Triomphe so extremely central to explore key sights and back street gems. At the most we were a 20 minute walk to the beach. Our of town, during March and December you can visit the amusement park via metro, an uphill climb and the funicular, I am told it's a great family day out.

To me, your visit isn't complete without a visit to Sagrada Familia. This 'work in progress' Gaudi masterpiece will blow your mind inside and out. If you're going in, take the audio tour too.

There's many a building to showcase his architecture around the city too, so keep your eyes peeled and cameras close to hand to capture these when you least expect it.

The Barcelona bonus, just over a 2 hour flight gets you here from the UK, and with low cost options from main and regional airports, what are you waiting' for?