I don’t know about anyone else, but when I first arrived in Barcelona, I immediately wanted to explore every part of the city, country, and continent at that moment. With just one month in Barcelona, I was super antsy to start planning trips and exploring the city. I definitely put myself through some unnecessary pressure in the first week to adequately plan out how I would travel and explore throughout my time. Hopefully I can curb some of that stress for future students by sharing some tricks and tips that helped me adapt a go-with-the-flow mindset while also planning some fun trips!
1. Take the first week to adjust to life in Barcelona. After classes, I would drop my bookbag off at my homestay and then set off on a walk to wherever my heart desired. Sometimes I had an end destination (like a coffee shop or cute park) and sometimes I didn’t. This let me get my bearings in the city while also feeling like I was starting to explore. Also, there are endless opportunities for what to do on the weekends. I was overwhelmed by the number of vintage markets, food festivals, and museums I could go see. I made it a goal to try to see 1-2 attractions a day. This encouraged me to find interesting activities without wearing myself out. That first Sunday, I visited the Palo Market Fest for lunch and then continued on to the Picasso Museum (featured photo at the top is from there). Use the Weekly Cultural Agenda email to find some of the featured activities or even just google events going on in Barcelona, and you can’t go wrong.2. Go to at least the first program trip. The first Friday that all of us students arrived, Barcelona SAE invited us on a day trip to Tarragona, a nearby coastal city filled with Roman ruins. It was nice to stick around in Catalunya (the region of Spain that Barcelona is in) while also getting to know the other students on my program. We got a tour of the Roman ruins, ate some gelato, and swam in the Mediterranean for the first time. I made some friends that I went on to travel with the following weekend!3. Utilize the Barcelona Student Guide for your travels (and pretty much everything else). When I was trying to figure out where to go on my weekends, I brainstormed some cities that I was interested in visiting. My pockets were not as deep as all of the trips I was planning to go on would’ve cost. So then I consulted the Barcelona Student Guide (the most helpful piece of information you will receive). It helped me look into budget-friendly trips to amazing cities that were relatively close. It provides advice for how to travel to places like Madrid, Valencia, Northern Spain, and Southern France. From this, I was able to plan a weekend to Madrid to explore the Spanish capital! I also really wanted to take a solo-trip to Lisbon, and this was the perfect tool to help me. It helped me find a more inexpensive means of transportation and also how to find a hostel (which I had never done before). Definitely when in doubt, check the Barcelona Student Guide.4. Try to book transportation ahead of time. The most success I found when trying to keep trips inexpensive was when I booked my transportation about 2 weeks ahead of time. Planning things super last minute (like days before) meant train ticket prices went way up. Save your money and try to book ahead of time. Also, a cool website that helps you find inexpensive travel destinations is omio.com. If you scroll down on their main page, there is a section titled “popular destinations right now.” The tickets are normally for a few weeks out but provide great locations at incredible prices.
The possibilities really are endless. Try not to be too overwhelmed by all of them because it definitely caused me some unnecessary stress for my first week and a half. Sit back, adjust to Barcelona, and naturally you will find time to plan places to see in Barcelona and other areas. Trust the process and enjoy Catalunya while you’re here!
