Barcelona itinerary - please critique

I am travelling with my family (partner and two children aged 12 and 9) to Barcelona next week.

This is the intinerary I am planning - does anyone have any tips or comments to improve it or of things to add (suitable for children ages 12 and 9)

Day 1 (arrive at lunch)

Picasso museum
Wander around Parc de Cuitadella (close to our accommodation)
Eating out

Day 2:

Parc Guell (early)
Lunch in Gracia
Sagrada Family
Dinner somewhere

Day 3:

Gothic Quarter area / shops
Guadi sites Casa Batllo and Casa Amattler
Las Ramblas and the market

Day 4

Montjuac (by cable car)
Beach?

Are here any other fun things to see and do that I have missed? Or should I rearrange the days in a different way? Also is Montjuac interesting to kids (other than the cable car bit?)

Thanks

We did Barcelona with our kids in 2016, so some things may have changed. All I can say about your itinerary is that it is a little unambitious. You could probably do more in a day than Parc Guell and Sagrada Familia. I found Montjuic and Poble Espanyol a little underwhelming but Tibidado was very worthwhile. Barceloneta is a great area to explore. If your kids are into science museums CosmoCaixa is a decent one.

my Barcelona blog is here

[ Edit: Edited on 11 Feb 2024, 04:13 GMT by zzlangerhans ]

Quoting K4ti1982

Are here any other fun things to see and do that I have missed? Or should I rearrange the days in a different way? Also is Montjuac interesting to kids (other than the cable car bit?)

I didn't find Montjuïc particularly interesting, even as an adult. There are some nice spots (I liked the botanic garden), but overall the area is very much set up for Olympic events, which means wide and empty. The views are decent, but overall forgettable. I suspect your kids will be quite bored, unless they're particularly taken by the concept of the Olympic stadium or anything like that.

As an alternative, consider taking the funicular up to Vallvidrera, for better views, and very nice hiking (as short or long as you want) through the forested hills to the north of there. You could also hike from there to Mt. Tibidabo, which comes with its own small-ish theme park). I see there's a new funicular operating that connects directly to Tibidabo, but I don't know how nice that ride is, nor how well it connects to the rest of the public transport network, while I know for certain that both those things are excellent for the one to Vallvidrera. (Still, it offers possibilities of a loop, so worth researching further.)

[ Edit: Edited on 11 Feb 2024, 09:29 GMT by Sander ]

Just a couple of comments - definitely pre-book arrival time for Sagrada Familia and try to go as early as possible. It gets very crowded but is well worth it. Also, you may want to consider a 1/2 day trip to Montserrat - you will not be disappointed. The mountains are said to have been part of the inspiration for Gaudi for the Sagrada Familia. Was just in Barcelona for five days in October and absolutely Loved it!

Quoting Helenbb

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Ok . Thank you for your advice .

If football's your thing, Barcelona have home league games on both Saturday 17 February v Celta Vigo and on Saturday 24 February v Getafe. It should be possible to buy family tickets for either of these games; they're unlikely to be sold out. It'd be a great experience for all of you.

the guided tour through hospital sant pau is amazing, may have been the highlight of our visit.
short walk from sagrada familia.

montjuic -- make sure you go in the right direction from the cable car.
several great museums along the way - every one is worth a stop
the art museum at the bottom has both classical art and modern (relatively) art

park guell is also of course amazing, but somewhat inconvenient with a limited number of days