DAY 1: GAUDÍ Visit the Sagrada Família in the morning — book timed entry with tower access well ahead. In the afternoon, head to Park Güell, ideally in late afternoon when the main terrace is less crowded than the morning rush, then finish at Casa Batlló or Casa Milà on the Eixample district’s Passeig de Gràcia. DAY 2: GOTHIC QUARTER AND THE WATERFRONT Spend the morning in the Gothic Quarter, including the Barcelona Cathedral and the Plaça Reial. In the afternoon, grab lunch at La Boqueria food market, then walk Las Ramblas down toward the Barceloneta waterfront. The Olympic Port area and Barceloneta beach give you a complete change of pace from the morning’s medieval streets and market. DAY 3: PICASSO AND EL BORN Visit the Picasso Museum in the morning — it traces Picasso’s formative early years in Barcelona, before his better-known Paris period, set across a series of connected medieval palaces in El Born. In the afternoon, explore El Born itself for independent shops and some of the city’s better restaurants, with Montjuïc castle offering a sunset view over the harbour if you’ve got the time and energy left. ONE THING WORTH KNOWING: Barcelona’s Metro and bus system handles everything above reliably. Walking is often your best bet through the Gothic Quarter and El Born specifically, given how interconnected and medieval their lanes are — GPS navigation tends to give up entirely in there.