If you visit Barcelona for the holidays, you will enjoy like a kid the many activities this city offers to make you believe in the magic of Christmas once again. Read on to find out which are the must-do activities to do this Christmas in Barcelona.
Visit a Christmas Market
Want to buy Christmas decorations, typical sweets, or even some gifts? A Christmas market is the best option to spend a fun and very holy afternoon. Barcelona´s markets are some of the best all-around Spain.
- Santa Llùcia Fair: this fair has been going for 236 years, which makes it, without a doubt, the signature Christmas market in Barcelona. Don’t miss out on wandering around its 175 stalls, set up on Cathedral Avenue, featuring tons of Christmas decorations. Also don’t miss the chance to ask the giant Christmas log of the fair for some presents.
- Holy Family Christmas Market: it was born to accommodate the stalls that did not fit in the Fair of Santa Llùcia when it was completely filled and, since then, it has become a benchmark, not only because it offers more than 50 stalls of crafts and food products typical of the holidays, but also for the workshops and activities organized for the little ones as well as the grown-ups. Take advantage of this visit to see the giant Tió and giant Caganer that are set up in the square.
- Port Vell Fair: featuring a Christmas tree of around 101 feet, this special fair invites you to taste typical Christmas food products with a view of the sea, while enjoying the light and music shows that bring the place to life.
Take Advantage of the Christmas Festival at Catalonia Park
Concerts, workshops, shows… Christmas lovers of all ages will gather at Catalonia Park between December 17th and 30th to enjoy this Christmas festival´s many scheduled activities that will delight young and old.
In addition, the festival takes to the University Park a forest of screens with the project of five digital artists to reflect on the solstice, a proposal of OFFF Barcelona that aims to give Christmas a more critical and avant-garde spirit.
Snack on Hot Cocoa and Churros
Or, as it is called in Barcelona, “un suizo“, which translates as “a Swiss“: hot cocoa with cream and churros… A perfect snack to warm up after an afternoon strolling around the city enjoying the atmosphere and the lights.
You will find chocolate shops all over the city, but if you want to go to one of the more typical places, you can’t miss out on:
- Granja Pallaresa (Petritxol Street No 11), open since 1947.
- Granja Dulcinea (Petritxol Street No 2), with a modernist style and more than 80 years of history.
- Xocoa (Petritxol Street No 13), which in addition to snacks offers chocolates and chocolate bars to take away.
- Granja Viader (Xuclà Street No 4), famous for being the creator of the Cacaolat.
Enjoy the Barcelona Christmas Tour
Undoubtedly, the easiest and most comfortable way to enjoy the lights of the city: a Tourist Bus that wanders around for an hour and a half during which you will visit Catalonia Park, Paseo de Gracia, Gran Via, Parallel Avenue, the Cathedral market and the Christmas lighting of the most important modernist buildings in the city, such as the Holy Family, Casa Batllo or the Modernist Site of Sant Pau.
Living Christmas to the Fullest at Käthe Wohlfahrt
Do you want to soak up the German Christmas spirit? If there is a country that lives Christmas to the fullest, it is our German neighbors. In the Kathë Wohlfahrt store, you will discover why without having to take a plane.
Dedicated to Christmas all year long, it is a must-visit at this time of the year: you will find Bavarian handicrafts, typical Christmas and Advent ornaments, and the best decoration ideas. Also, you will soak up a Christmas spirit that will immediately take you back to your childhood.
Giving the Letter to Santa Claus and the Three Wise Men in Poble Espanyol
If you haven’t been to Poble Espanyol yet, Christmas is the perfect excuse to visit it: it is an open-air architectural museum that allows you to discover a mosque, a typical Andalusian neighborhood or a Romanesque monastery without leaving the center of Barcelona.
During the holidays, its streets are filled with lights and decorated to celebrate the holidays holding blues and gospel concerts and Christmas shows for the whole family, and, most importantly, hosting Santa Claus and the Three Wise Men!
Round up the Holidays With a Flamenco Show
Christmas vacations are the perfect time to enjoy all those activities that you would like to do but lack the time to: if you still haven’t been to an authentic flamenco show in Barcelona, this is your chance.
Book your tickets now to enjoy Gran Gala Flamenco at one of the shows the company offers either at the Palau de la Música Catalana or the Poliorama theater: it is the perfect excuse to enjoy a wonderful show while getting to know one of the two great pillars of Catalan culture and performing arts. Besides, even better, decked out for Christmas – an opportunity worth taking advantage of.
Do you want to enjoy a very “flamenco Christmas”? Visit us in any of the two shows we have planned during the Holidays:
- December 24, Christmas Eve: enjoy our show at 7pm in Palau de la Música Catalana.
- January 1st, New Year’s Eve: tickets are now on sale for the 5pm show at the Palau de la Música Catalana.
¡Bon Nadal a tots!
