A Stopover Walk Through Barcelona

The clear drawback was that I wouldn’t have any protection in case of a delay since my second flight from Barcelona to Morocco was booked separately with a different airline than my initial flight from Bucharest to Barcelona.

However, considering that there was a 10-hour gap between the arrival of my first flight in Barcelona and the departure of my second flight to Casablanca, I believed that there was a big enough cushion to accommodate any potential delay.

Besides, having 10 hours in Barcelona between my flights was hardly a crime as I could easily travel from the airport into the city centre and do something fun to kill the time.

Bucharest (OTP) to Barcelona (BCN)
Wizz Air – Flight W6 – Airbus A321
Plane registration number: HA-LZD
Economy Class – Seat 20A
Departure: 7.20am – Arrival: 9.40am
Flight time: 3h20m – Distance: 205 miles
Price: 62 euro

Flight to Barcelona

My first flight of the day from Bucharest to Barcelona was rather uneventful.

As I never sleep well the night before an early morning flight, I dozed off for most almost the entire duration of the flight.

To my surprise, the weather in Barcelona was cloudy and foggy, which unfortunately meant that there were not really any views at all upon landing.

However, the most important thing was that we arrived on time, giving me approximately 7 hours to explore Barcelona before needing to return to the airport for my second flight of the day.

From Barcelona Airport to the city

The best transport option from Barcelona Airport to the city centre depends on the terminal you arrive or depart from, as Terminal 1 is connected by the metro system while Terminal 2 has a station for the Rodalies suburban train.

From the Airport Terminal 2 train station there is only one line you can take: The R2 to Granollers Centre or Maçanet-Massanes.

Having visited Barcelona on numerous occasions in the past, I found myself uncertain about how to spend my time during the stopover.

If it’s your first time in Barcelona, the obvious thing to do during your stopover would be to head out to the city centre and walk around the Barri Gotic (Gothic Quarter) or to visit sights featuring Antoni Gaudí’s famous architecture such as Parc Güell, Sagrada Familia and Casa Milà.

Art lovers may want to check out Fundació Joan Miró, modern architecture buffs the Mies van der Rohe Pavilion and football fans should head for the Camp Nou stadium and the FC Barcelona museum.

Sants

At the ugly, uncomfortable and passenger-unfriendly station of Barcelona Sants I disembarked the train.

Here, I changed trains and boarded another Rodalies train towards Estació de França.

The transfer was fortunately extremely smooth as I only needed to wait a few minutes for the França-bound train to arrive at the exact same platform where I had disembarked earlier.

Estació de França

Called Estació de França in the locally dominant Catalan language or Estación de Francia in Spanish, this terminus is the second most important train station in Barcelona after Sants.

The name simply means “France Station” in English as this was the historic terminus of train services from France.

Estació de França is a world apart from Sants as it is a beautiful station with fine architecture and a true railway ambiance.

This station therefore made for the perfect place to start my Barcelona stopover.

Ciutadella Park

The most iconic landmark within Ciutadella Park is arguably the Arc de Triomf, which was constructed as the grand entrance to the 1888 Barcelona World Fair and is located at the far northern end of the park.

Within the park, you can discover a couple of other beautiful buildings in the Catalan Modernism architectural style, including the Castle of the Three Dragons and the Hivernacle and Umbracle, which are two large greenhouses.

A short 10-minute walk from Ciutadella Park will take you to Somorrostro Beach, which eventually extends into Barceloneta Beach further south.

Somorrostro Beach is surrounded by modern high-rise buildings and adjacent to Port Olímpic, a yacht harbor that was originally constructed for the Barcelona 1992 Olympic Games.

There is a wide selection of bars and restaurants located directly at the beach or on the main promenade one level higher.

Barceloneta Beach

Barceloneta Beach is probably the best known of all the beaches in Barcelona.

The beach takes its name from the nearby Barceloneta quarter, which was originally a working-class neighbourhood of fishermen but has now become a more gentrified area that, unfortunately, has been heavily affected by the negative consequences of overtourism, with many apartments and houses being rented out on platforms like Airbnb.

Snack

As my Barcelona stopover walk made me thirsty, it was about time to sit down somewhere and have a drink and a small snack.

At one of the beach bars in Barceloneta, I enjoyed a cold pint of beer, a classic Spanish tortilla (egg and potato omelette) and some bread with tomatoes.

Barceloneta

After enjoying my time at the beach, I decided to explore the Barceloneta neighbourhood a bit more.

The neighbourhood is characterised by narrow streets constructed in a grid-like pattern.

There are plenty of appealing bars to be found in Barceloneta – I ended up at a place called Bodega Fermín where I enjoyed a tasty Spanish IPA and some chorizo sausage.

Back to the airport

A few beers and a short walk later, my Barcelona stopover had come to an end, and it was time to make my way back to the airport.

Since my outbound flight on Royal Air Maroc departed from Terminal 1, I had to take the metro for my return to the airport.

Conclusion

With excellent public transport links connecting both terminals of Barcelona Airport to the city centre, it is quick and easy to venture into the city during your stopover.

The possibilities for activities during a stopover in Barcelona are endless, and the best choices will vary depending on your personal preferences.

When I have a layover, I always prefer to go for a walk around town to stretch my legs, and that’s exactly what I did during my Barcelona stopover.

I certainly had an enjoyable afternoon walking through Ciutadella Park and along Barceloneta Beach, making frequent stops for some beers and snacks.