Las Ramblas, Barcelona: Things to do

Las Ramblas is a popular area to visit in Barcelona, whether you’re there on a cruise or a city break. You can easily spend a leisurely day exploring Las Ramblas on your own. In this blog post, I share some of the many things you can do on Las Ramblas.

Las Ramblas

Las Ramblas is a pedestrianised boulevard approximately 1.2 km long, lined with restaurants, shops and dotted with quirky street performers. It’s one of the most well-known areas of Barcelona and is the first point of interest that cruise ship passengers come across on foot from the cruise port, starting at the Christopher Columbus monument.

Las Ramblas
Las Ramblas at the lower end, featuring the Christopher Columbus monument

How much time should I spend on Las Ramblas?

You should allocate 90 minutes to two hours for your visit to Las Ramblas. If you decide to spend extra time browsing the stalls, watching street performers and eating at one of the restaurants you can easily spend a day there.

Street Performers on Las Ramblas

The majority of the street performers are situated at the Christopher Columbus end of Las Ramblas. Some of the human statues are incredible and very well dressed. You can donate small change to watch them spring into life or have a photo taken with them. Alternatively, you can watch from afar as you stroll past. The illusion is somewhat shattered when you see them taking a break!

human statue Las Ramblas
A human statue on Las Ramblas

Restaurants on Las Ramblas

Lining the walkway of Las Ramblas are restaurants and cafes. Please note that it is unlikely you will be able to stop in one of these for just a coffee. We tried this after we’d walked Las Ramblas but we hit two issues: some cafes did not serve coffee as they would not carry hot drinks across the road and some would only allow you to use their restaurant for food.

We settled on a cold drink and were surprised to be served a vat of Coca-Cola from a massive glass boot! It was quirky but there was no way I’d have finished the whole thing, the only way to drink was through a long straw. In the same cafe, people were enjoying similar sized glasses of beer, sangria and mojitos. I’d have definitely have been a little worse for wear if I’d had one of those (and the day was still young!).

We decided to eat at one of the restaurants on Las Ramblas one evening, mostly due to the incredible people-watching opportunities. We opted for tapas and sangria and although it’s not the best tapas you’ll find in Barcelona, the location was great.

La Boqueria

The highlight of our day was visiting the indoor food market, which is approximately two thirds of the way up Las Ramblas. It’s certainly a feast for the senses with so much to see, smell and taste. It was a bustling atmosphere with a range of vendors selling an array of food and drink. I would highly recommend a visit whilst you are in Barcelona but try to go in the morning when it’s slightly quieter.

La Boqueria in Barcelona Las Ramblas
La Boqueria in Barcelona

You can wander La Boqueria for quite a while looking at all the stalls and we were amazed at the sheer amount of food and drink on offer.

La Boqueria Las Ramblas
oysters La Boqueria Las Ramblas
La Boqueria stall Las Ramblas
seafood La Boqueria
eggs La Boqueria
La Boqueria
fruit la boqueria Las Ramblas
Fruit smoothies in an array of colours

The market has been open since 1836 and it has over 200 stalls to explore. You can eat in La Boqueria at one of the sit-up tapas bars.

We really wanted to eat at El Quim and waited for a good 30 minutes for a seat but as it was lunch time we were out of luck. We were successful on our second visit! We arrived before it opened and bagged a seat, by the time it opened all the seats were occupied.

The place mat is also your order sheet so you simply tick the menu items you wish to order and pass to one of the chefs. We opted to order the tapas bar’s speciality of baby squid and fried egg, accompanied by a glass of sangria.

Tapas near Las Ramblas

If you aren’t successful at getting a seat at one of the tapas bars in La Boqueria, you can search for tapas outside of the market. There are plenty of options and it’s good to try somewhere slightly off Las Ramblas for an authentic meal. This is always my top tip for finding authentic and reasonably priced meal. It’s always a good sign if you are the only tourists eating at a restaurant as you know that it’s somewhere that the locals choose to eat.

tapas
Tapas is small dishes you can share

Tapas is little dishes that encouraged social eating, you can share plates and order as you go. It’s a good idea to order a couple of plates at a time and then you aren’t over ordering. Tapas is traditionally enjoyed with a glass of wine and acts as a snack-like meal.

Plaça de Catalunya

At the top of Las Ramblas is a large square called Plaça de Catalunya. Here, there are plenty of places to sit and people-watch amongst the fountains, statues and pigeons. It’s a good resting stop when you reach the end of Las Ramblas and from here you can catch a bus, including the Hop on Hop off bus. Many major streets meet at the square and there’s a metro station here too.

A statue in Plaça de Catalunya
A statue in Plaça de Catalunya, Las Ramblas

Final thoughts about Las Ramblas

If you want a pleasant day exploring Las Ramblas on your own, it’s very easy to do. It does tend to get busier as the day goes on but there are plenty of restaurants and cafes to stop and do a spot of people watching.

A word of caution is to ensure that you keep your valuables safe. We had an anti-theft backpack but did feel uneasy at one point during the day as we were being followed by a couple of young men. We just stopped by the side of the road for a few minutes to let them move on before continuing.

La Boqueria is a must-visit when on Las Ramblas and I would definitely recommend going in the morning for a chance to eat at one of the tapas bars there.

I visited Barcelona on a Mediterranean cruise on Sapphire Princess, you can find out more about the cruise ship here.

For more ideas of things to do in Barcelona, check out this 24 hours in Barcelona guide. Barcelona is certainly one of the top places to visit in Spain, check out the other places worth exploring in this ultimate Spain bucket list post.

Happy cruising!

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Laura
Laura

Laura is a UK cruise blogger based in Cornwall, UK. She founded Cruise Lifestyle in 2016 to share useful advice about cruising, destinations and food.
Last port visited: Bridgetown, Barbados
Next port of call: unknown, but she can’t wait for cruising to resume safely!

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8 Comments

  1. Aareeba
    March 25, 2019 / 1:07 pm

    La Ramblas looks like a really good place which intrests me. I was planning a trip here and I was so happy that I landed on your page. Thanks for putting together all the useful information, it is so helpful for the first time travelers like me.

  2. Paula
    March 25, 2019 / 5:54 pm

    I have heard and read so much about Las Ramblas that I must visit someday. It is such a famous street at this point. I would like to sit in one those cafes, sip some wine and try out some of the tapas. I have never been to Barcelona but I hope to visit there soon.

  3. March 25, 2019 / 6:01 pm

    The grab and go seafood at La Boqueria is my jam! I’d buy a cone of that every day if I could. And the tapas, too. Basically, just give me all the food in Spain and I’m good! I never tried grabbing a coffee to go on Las Ramblas, but good to know that isn’t very possible!

  4. Jane Dempster-Smith
    March 26, 2019 / 3:19 am

    Barcelona is one of my favourite cities. La Boqueria is one of my favourite markets, and those chocolates taste as good as they look. You do have to be on your guard when walking Las Ramblas at all times, it is well known for pickpockets.

    • cruiselifestyle
      Author
      March 27, 2019 / 6:47 am

      Yes La Boqueria is amazing!

  5. March 27, 2019 / 6:03 am

    This post surely jogged up my memories of Barcelona. We used to walk around La Ramblas all the time and watch the street performers. Loved the cosmopolitan crowd there, except for the quick pickpockets:( Its a shame that the shooting there got it a bad rep.

  6. March 27, 2019 / 5:14 pm

    I’ve been meaning to visit Barcelona for some time now, but haven’t done any research on it at all. Las Ramblas looks beautiful and that human statue is impressive, wow! Drinking from a glass boot must’ve been such a fun experience too hahaa. I wouldn’t mind having a sangria in one of those!

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