Enchanting picnicking at the Petit Palace!
Have a picnic breakfast (or just hang out) in the enchanted garden that’s the interior courtyard of the Petit Palace Opera Garden. It’s cool, shady, little-known, beautiful – and public, so don’t worry about entering through the hotel with a bag of croissants and a newspaper under your arm.
barcelonapetitpalacebcn.com
Black rice and baby squid on Badalona Beach
Go to Badalona beach, which is much less crowded and touristy than Barcelona’s, and only a 15-minute Metro ride away. There, have lunch at El Pescador, a family-run restaurant that makes some of the best paella in town (the black rice and the rice with baby squid and clams are the best ones).
Liquid lunch, Spanish style!
When it gets too hot for solid food during the day, Spaniards start taking their meals in liquid form: gazpacho and horchata (and coffee on ice cubes). Horchata is a sweet drink similar to soya milk and often made from almonds or grain. However, the original is made from chufas (tigernuts) and served at Horchateria Sirvent, which doubles as a turrón shop during winter and where people triple-park their cars to get Venti-sized cups or even water bottles filled with cold, sweet goodness.
Sunset cinema-watching
From early July to early August, an open-air cinema is set up next to Montjuïc castle with films showing Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. Go early and take your picnic basket and a bottle of wine to enjoy the pre-movie sunset. Also close to the castle and really the perfect place to watch the sunset in an East-facing city is La Caseta del Migdia, an open-air bar in the woods with views over all of Barcelona.
salamontjuic.org
Kick back, Ibiza-style at The Mellow Beach Club
The Mellow Beach Club is an Ibiza-style lounge club in the shadow of the Hotel W, and where beautiful people (often dressed in white) kick back and watch the city’s lights switch on.
mellowbeachclub.com
