{"id":34169,"date":"2024-07-06T09:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-07-06T09:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.exp1.com\/blog\/?p=34169"},"modified":"2024-07-07T17:55:40","modified_gmt":"2024-07-07T17:55:40","slug":"what-to-see-do-and-skip-while-walking-on-la-rambla-in-barcelona","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.exp1.com\/blog\/what-to-see-do-and-skip-while-walking-on-la-rambla-in-barcelona\/","title":{"rendered":"What To See, Do, and Skip While Walking on La Rambla in Barcelona"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

La Rambla, a pedestrian boulevard in Barcelona, may sound like any fl\u00e2neur\u2019s dream with its long line of beautiful trees, variety of cafes and kiosks, and benches to sit on when your feet get tired. Of course, it\u2019s also a popular tourist destination here in Barcelona.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Whether you actually like walking on La Rambla depends on one thing: Are you a fast walker or a slow walker? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you don\u2019t mind going for a casual stroll, matching the pace of huge groups of people who are full from big meals, a little tipsy from over-sized (and over-priced) drinks, and compelled to stop and snap a photo of everything, then you\u2019ll love La Rambla at any time of day. If you\u2019re always in a hurry to get from point A to point B, you\u2019ll probably prefer walking on La Rambla before the city and other tourists wake up \u2014 between 6 a.m. and 9 a.m.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To experience La Rambla, you\u2019ll have to embrace the fact that it\u2019s busy with tourists most of the day. The boulevard that Spanish poet Federico Garc\u00eda Lorca once called the only street in the world he wished would never end, today attracts few locals due to its tourist-first focus. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Still, there\u2019s plenty to see along Barcelona\u2019s half-mile street that stretches from Pla\u00e7a Catalunya to Port Vell. La Rambla is sometimes called \u201cLas Ramblas\u201d (in Castilian Spanish) or \u201cLes Rambles\u201d (in Catalan), names that refer to the five separate sections that make up the boulevard. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

There\u2019s a lot to see and do on this famous street, so I\u2019m here to help. In this post, I\u2019ll break down what you should do and what you can skip in each section of La Rambla. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A short history of La Rambla <\/h2>\n\n\n\n

La Rambla actually has a long history, starting in the Middle Ages as an open sewer along Barcelona’s Gothic Quarter<\/a>. It gets its name from the Arabic word \u201cramla,\u201d meaning a sandy or muddy area like a riverbed. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the 15th century, the city wanted to extend to the El Raval district<\/a>, so the sewer was diverted to flow outside the city walls and the resulting area became La Rambla, a pedestrian street with Barri G\u00f3tic and El Raval on either side.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\t

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\n\t\t\t\"Raval\n\t\t\t\"Raval\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tAn urban core with an edge<\/span>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

Raval Walking Tour: Barcelona's Dark History<\/p>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tLearn More\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/section>\n\n\n\n\n

The area quickly became Barcelona\u2019s cultural center, with various churches and markets popping up around the boulevard. Many of La Rambla\u2019s religious buildings were destroyed during conflicts in the 19th and 20th centuries like the St. James\u2019s Night Riots in 1835 and the Spanish Civil War from 1936-1939. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A walk down La Rambla<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"La<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

While La Rambla is made up of five separate streets, it isn\u2019t physically obvious when you\u2019ve passed from one section to another unless you\u2019re actively looking for the signs mounted on the buildings. But knowing what landmarks are located in each section will help you navigate the street and find everything you want to see. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

La Rambla de Canaletes<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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A post shared by Rosa Mari Gabriel (@rosamarigabriel)<\/a><\/p><\/div><\/blockquote>