How to Spend Your First Night in Spain (and fight jet lag)

Barcelona is a beautiful city at night!

Ah, Barcelona! We arrived from Amsterdam around 5pm and checked into our apartment in the El Born District within the Gothic Quarter. We unpacked and set off onto the streets of the Gothic Quarter. Cobblestone streets, medieval buildings, and hidden squares – it’s like stepping into a time machine fueled by tapas. This was our first stop on a 10 day vacation and we knew staying awake as long as possible was the best way to fight jet lag. We were in luck because Barcelona really comes alive at night!

Shops and Restaurants Stay Open Late and Light Up the City, even the churches are open at night. St. Mary of the Sea church was a few blocks away just tucked right into the neighborhood. There is something magnificent about seeing a grand church at night and the lighting exemplifies the architecture.

We wandered through narrow alleys, past ancient city squares, and stumbled upon a hidden playground with mini trampolines in the ground at Sant Miguel Plaza, perfect for the kids to run around and burn the night oil. There were even restaurants in the same plaza where we could grab drinks and tapas.

We ended up going up back many times throughout the next few days! You can build up quite an appetite when wandering, so we had to stop for a cone of French fries for the walk. The kids saw all the souvenir shops and the money we gave them for the trip was burning a hole in their pocket. You can’t go wrong with foldable fans for 1 euro. After checking out La Rambla Street, we headed back to the apartment for a good night’s sleep!

Barcelona takes on a whole different view during the day, stay tuned on the top attractions to visit with kids.