Barcelona is the capital city of Catalunya. It offers a unique opportunity for the tourist on foot to walk from Roman remains to the medieval city, and then to the modern city with its open thoroughfares and grid-iron street pattern. The historic city center is fairly flat, while the modern city fans out towards the surrounding hills, bordered by steep streets that are vaguely reminiscent of those found in San Francisco. A notable feature is La Rambla, a boulevard that runs from the city centre to the waterfront, thronged with crowds until late at night and lined by florists, bird sellers in the higher part, craft sellers in the lowest, street entertainers, cafeterias and restaurants. Walking along La Rambla one can see the world-famous opera house El Liceu, the food market of La Boqueria and the Plaça Reial (literally Royal Square), with its arches and palm trees, amongst other interesting buildings. There's also a Wax Museum near the end. It is also worth keeping an eye out for pickpockets, for whom the boulevard is a favourite haunt.

La Rambla ends at the old harbour, where a statue of Christopher Columbus points eastwards across the Mediterranean Sea to his birth place of Genoa. The old harbour offers all kinds of other amenities, including the second largest aquarium in the Mediterranean area and an IMAX cinema.

Montjuïc hill is next to the harbour and perched above a large container terminal. It is perfect  for spectacular views over the city and the coast line. On its top is an old fortress which used to guard the entrance to the port. Around the hill are a group of installations known as the "Olympic ring" and that were the heart of the 1992 summer Olympics: the Lluís Companys Olympic Stadium (originally built in 1929 but completely refurbished for the 1992 Olympics), the Palau Sant Jordi (a multi-purpose installation designed by Japanese architect Arata Isozaki, used primarily for all kinds of indoor sport events but also for concerts and other cultural activities) and the Bernat Picornell Pools. Also situated on Montjuïc are the Botanical Gardens and the Mossèn Costa i Llobera gardens with their unique cactus collection.

Barcelona  is a popular gay destination and it features a prominent gay infrastructure often gay-owned and/or managed. A list of other popular gay and lesbian destinations world round has been included here