The Christmas holidays are always a good time to travel to Barcelona. At this time of year, the city exudes a special light and magic that make it the ideal destination to enjoy the Christmas holidays with your partner, friends or family.
Here are some essential plans and where to stay during your visit. Don’t miss out!
1. Visiting a Christmas market
There is no Christmas in Barcelona without visiting one of its wonderful markets and enjoying the festive and magical atmosphere that surrounds them. You can buy the new decorations for the tree, some figurines for the Nativity scene, a poinsettia, a caga tió, moss or a caganer. All the markets will have capacity control and have the necessary security measures and protocols.
2. See the Christmas decorations
This year Barcelona, from November, is once again decorating its streets with its millions of lights, flooding the city with Christmas spirit for yet another year. This year, Plaça Catalunya, Gran Via and Carrer Aragó will be decorated for the first time. Several Christmas trees will also be installed in the busiest shopping streets. We encourage you to get lost in the streets of Barcelona, which will be specially decorated, and enjoy the decorations, shop windows, lights and other Christmas decorations.
3. Visit Käthe Wohlfahrt
Käthe Wohlfahrt, the most important German Christmas decoration shop in Europe, landed two years ago in Barcelona’s Gothic Quarter and is already a place of pilgrimage for elves. To walk through its doors is to be teleported to a German Christmas market. Shop assistants in typical local costumes, snowy village atmosphere, a huge tree in the middle of the shop…
The shop is decorated like a Christmas village, where each area is dedicated to specific products: nativity scenes, tree decorations, cuckoo clocks, nutcrackers, incense smokers and the traditional Christmas pyramids, which rotate due to the heat of the candles and create a play of light and shadows.
In addition, for the Barcelona shop they have created exclusive pieces inspired by the city: Gaudi designs, the characteristic yellow and black taxi or the traditional caganer.
4. Enjoy the Three Kings Parade
All the city’s children will take to the streets at 6 p.m. on 5 January to welcome their Majesties from the East, receive their sweets and enjoy the spectacle that precedes such a magical night.
The parade (TBC) starts at 18.00 h in Marquès de l’Argentera Avenue. The Three Wise Men and their entourage will pass through Pla de Palau, p.º Isabel II, Vía Laietana, pl. Urquinaona, Fontanella, pl. Catalunya, Pelai, pl. Universitat, rda. Sant Antoni, Sepúlveda, Av. Paral-lel, Av. Reina Maria Cristina.
And don’t forget to leave some nougat and milk for the camels, because the poor are the Christmas scholarship holders.
6. Discover the Llums de Sant Pau
The Sant Pau Art Nouveau Site in Barcelona will be opening its doors every night from November to January for a very special walk. And what does this show consist of? You’ll discover a luminous fairytale landscape with Christmas lights, impressive illuminated vegetation and creative light figures.
Where to stay in your holidays?
Barcelona is a great city, although during the Christmas holidays the accommodation is full and the city is crowded for cars. For this reason, we recommend you to opt for a villa in Sitges.
But, why a villa in Sitges is great at Christmas? Here are some of the advantages:
– It is located in the Penedes wine region and there is nothing better that a wine tour in the cold winter months.
– Many of the villas have outdoor fireplaces and heated pools.
– You can hike and bike in the Garraf National Park which surrounds the villas.
– Barcelona is a short 25 minutes away in the car.