GaudíBarcelona.

The Gothic Quarter (Barri Gòtic) is Barcelona's medieval core — but much of it is a 19th and 20th-century reconstruction built over the actual Roman and medieval city. The Cathedral (14th–15th century) has 13 white geese in the cloister (in honour of Sant Eulàlia, martyred aged 13). The Roman walls are scattered throughout the quarter and occasionally visible through ground-level glass panels.

The most important collection of Picasso's early work — covering his formative years in Barcelona (1895–1904) before he moved to Paris. Five interconnected 15th-century Gothic palaces. The Las Meninas series (1957) — 58 variations on Velázquez's masterpiece — is the most important body of work here. The Carrer de Montcada setting is the most beautiful medieval street in Barcelona.

The most concentrated bar and restaurant neighbourhood in Barcelona — Passeig del Born is a wide tree-lined boulevard surrounded by natural wine bars, vermut (vermouth) spots, craft cocktail bars and restaurants at every price point. This is where Barcelona's creative and culinary class eats and drinks. The Born Market building (El Mercat del Born, 1876) now covers the excavated ruins of the 1714 siege neighbourhood.

Barcelona only got its beach back in 1992 — the seafront was an industrial port zone until the Olympic Games regeneration. Barceloneta is the old fishermen's quarter, now the most energetic beach in Europe. Frank Gehry's copper Fish sculpture marks the Olympic Port. The chiringuitos (beach bars) serve cold beer and fresh seafood from midday. Evening here with the Mediterranean light is one of Europe's great free pleasures.

The most famous market in Spain — a 19th-century covered iron market hall off Las Ramblas with 300 stalls of fresh produce, seafood, cured meats, cheese and prepared foods. The tourist stalls near the entrance charge double — walk to the back and centre for the actual market where locals shop. The best time is 08:00–09:00 before the crowds arrive. Do not buy cut fruit from the entrance stalls.

The finest collection of Romanesque art in the world — 11th–13th century frescoes, panel paintings and sculpture removed from Catalan Pyrenean churches for safekeeping. Also: major Gothic, Renaissance, Baroque and Modernisme collections, and photographs by Man Ray, Cartier-Bresson and others. The building (1929 National Palace) has a rooftop with the best 180° view of Barcelona, the sea and the Eixample grid.