Audio walks in Barcelona
The Barcelona walks here have an unusual bias: they are about courtyards. Three of the four routes spend their time in the Barri Gòtic looking through gates that are open for an hour a day, at staircases and wellheads and stone that most people walk past on the way to something famous. This is partly an accident of who made them and partly the point — the Gothic Quarter rewards standing still more than any other part of the city, and no route through it needs to be long. Two of the walks are in Russian and two in English, written independently, so they are not the same walk twice. Sagrada Família appears in one of them and is not the reason to come.
- 4 walks
- 40 places with a written story
- 18 km of routes in total
- 0.9-3.2 hours per walk
- written in EN, RU
- last walk added 2026-04-15
Walks in Barcelona
Барселона: от Рамблы до Саграды
2000 лет истории — от римских руин до гениального безумия Гауди
17 stops · 8.3 km · ~2.5 h · RU
Behind Locked Gates: Courtyards of the Gothic Quarter
Push open the doors — Barcelona's oldest secrets hide inside
13 stops · 1.7 km · ~0.9 h · EN
Дворики Готического квартала
Скрытые уголки Барри Готик, где история шепчет из каждого камня
16 stops · 2.8 km · ~1.2 h · RU
Stones & Secrets: Hidden Courtyards of the Barri Gòtic
Two thousand years of layers — Romans, kings, rebels, and forgotten Jews — all within 500 metres of each other
38 stops · 4.7 km · ~3.2 h · EN
Stories from Barcelona
- Монумент Колумбу — Mirador de Colom, Plaça del Portal de la Pau, Barcelona
60-метровый Монумент Колумбу в Барселоне расположен у подножия улицы Рамбла и известен бронзовой статуей мореплавателя, указывающей в сторону Мальорки, а не Америки.
- Монастырь Санта-Ана — Carrer de Santa Anna, 29, Barcelona
Монастырь Санта-Ана в Барселоне — это скрытый монастырский комплекс XII века, где в 1493 году король Фернандо II проводил Кортесы Барселоны.
- Plaça Reial — Gaudí's First Commission — Plaça Reial, Barcelona
Plaça Reial in Barcelona is a 19th-century square designed by Francesc Molina, famous for housing Antoni Gaudí's first municipal commission: two decorative street lampposts installed in 1879.
- Plaça de la Mercè — Barcelona's Hidden Patron Saint — Plaça de la Mercè, Barcelona
The Basilica of La Mercè in Barcelona's Gothic Quarter houses the image of the city's official patron saint, chosen following a 1687 locust plague.
- Bar La Plata — The Last Honest Bar — Carrer de la Mercè 28, Barcelona
Bar La Plata is a tiny tapas bar at 28 Carrer de la Mercè in Barcelona that has served the exact same four-dish menu since opening in 1945.
- Carrer d'Avinyó — Picasso's Dangerous Street — Carrer d'Avinyó, Barcelona
Carrer d'Avinyó in Barcelona's Gothic Quarter inspired Pablo Picasso's revolutionary masterpiece Les Demoiselles d'Avignon, which launched Cubism.
- La Manual Alpargatera — Handmade Espadrilles Since 1941 — Carrer d'Avinyó 7, Barcelona
La Manual Alpargatera on Carrer d'Avinyó is the last traditional espadrille workshop in Barcelona, famous for creating the world's first fashion espadrilles in 1940.
- Carrer de l'Arc de Sant Ramon del Call — Street Art in the Medieval City — Carrer de l'Arc de Sant Ramon del Call, Barcelona
Carrer de l'Arc de Sant Ramon del Call in Barcelona is an ancient alley along the Roman wall, famous for its carved doorframe traces where Jewish families attached mezuzahs before the 1391 pogrom.
- Baixada de Santa Eulàlia — Street of the Martyr's Descent — Baixada de Santa Eulàlia, Barcelona
Baixada de Santa Eulàlia is a narrow, sloping street in Barcelona's Gothic Quarter where legend says a thirteen-year-old Christian martyr was rolled down inside a knife-filled barrel in 303 AD.
- Plaça de Sant Josep Oriol — Painters' Square — Plaça de Sant Josep Oriol, Barcelona
Plaça de Sant Josep Oriol, also known as Painters' Square, is a historic plaza in Barcelona paved over the former main cemetery of the Basílica de Santa María del Pi.
- Passatge del Crèdit — Miró's Birthplace Alley — Passatge del Crèdit 4, Barcelona
Passatge del Crèdit is a narrow 19th-century passageway off Carrer Ferran in Barcelona, famous as the birthplace and residence of surrealist artist Joan Miró at number four.
- Carrer de Marlet — Oldest Alley Inscription — Carrer de Marlet, Barcelona
At number one Carrer de Marlet in Barcelona, a medieval Hebrew inscription replica honors Rabbi Shmuel ha-Sardi, who founded a 13th-century charitable hospital and school.
- El Call — The Ghost of the Jewish Quarter — Carrer de Sant Domènec del Call, Barcelona
El Call is Barcelona's medieval Jewish quarter, where up to 4,000 residents lived before a 1391 massacre, leaving Hebrew gravestone inscriptions still visible in the nearby 16th-century Palau del Lloctinent.
- Sinagoga Major de Barcelona — Carrer de Marlet 5, Barcelona
The Sinagoga Major on Carrer de Marlet in Barcelona's Gothic Quarter is one of Europe's oldest synagogues, dating back to a Roman structure built in the third or fourth century.
- Plaça de Sant Felip Neri — Scars of the Civil War — Plaça de Sant Felip Neri, Barcelona
The Church of Sant Felip Neri in Barcelona's Plaça de Sant Felip Neri bears stone scars from a January 30, 1938 Spanish Civil War bombing that killed 42 people, including 20 children hiding in its basement air raid…
- Pont del Bisbe — The Bridge with a Skull — Carrer del Bisbe, Barcelona
The Pont del Bisbe is a neo-Gothic footbridge in Barcelona built in 1928 that conceals a carved human skull pierced by a dagger on its underside.
- Plaça de Sant Jaume — The Ancient Forum — Plaça de Sant Jaume, Barcelona
Plaça de Sant Jaume in Barcelona is the city's ancient political center, built atop the Roman forum of Barcino founded between 15 and 13 B.C. on Mont Tàber.
- Plaça de Sant Just — Oldest Fountain in Barcelona — Plaça de Sant Just, Barcelona
The Plaça de Sant Just in Barcelona's Gothic Quarter houses the 1367 Font de Sant Just, one of the city's oldest fountains, built near a church with a 1,200-year legal legacy.
- Plaça dels Traginers — Roman Tower Square — Plaça dels Traginers, Barcelona
Plaça dels Traginers in Barcelona's Gothic Quarter features the only surviving circular watchtower from the fourth-century Roman wall of ancient Barcino.
- Baixada de Viladecols — Roman Wall Ramp — Baixada de Viladecols, Barcelona
Baixada de Viladecols in Barcelona is a sloping lane that runs alongside a fourth-century Roman defensive wall built to protect the ancient colony of Barcino.
- El Paraigua — The Umbrella Bar — Carrer del Pas de l'Ensenyança 2, Barcelona
El Paraigua is a bar in Barcelona's Gothic Quarter constructed from the dismantled 1902 interior of a demolished umbrella shop.
- Carrer dels Comtes — Street of Counts — Carrer dels Comtes, Barcelona
Carrer dels Comtes is a medieval lane running along the Barcelona Cathedral's eastern wall, famous for its 600-year-old gargoyles and underlying fourth-century basilica ruins.
- Plaça de Ramon Berenguer el Gran — Roman Wall Walk — Plaça de Ramon Berenguer el Gran, Barcelona
The Plaça de Ramon Berenguer el Gran in Barcelona features a remarkably preserved section of late third-century Roman city walls constructed partly from looted ancient tombstones and topped by a medieval Gothic chapel.
- Plaça del Rei — Where Columbus Met the Crown — Plaça del Rei, Barcelona
Plaça del Rei in Barcelona is a medieval Gothic square where King Ferdinand II and Queen Isabella reportedly received Christopher Columbus in 1493 following his first transatlantic voyage.
How long do you want to walk?
Are the courtyards actually open?
Some are, some are not, and it changes. Many Barri Gòtic courtyards are private, open only during a festival, or visible through a gate rather than enterable. The stories say what you are looking at either way, because a closed gate with an explanation is still worth the detour. Where opening hours are known they come from Google Maps and are shown on the stop.
What languages are these walks in?
English and Russian, two walks each. They were written separately rather than translated, so the Russian pair and the English pair pick different stops in the same quarter. Neither set is in Catalan or Spanish yet. Place names, addresses and opening hours are local in every language, because they come from Google Maps rather than from the story.
How long are the walks?
Short — most are under three kilometres and take between one and three hours including listening time. The Gothic Quarter is dense enough that a walk covering a single square kilometre can hold a dozen stops. That makes these good walks for a morning before the heat, or for filling the gap between two timed tickets.
How much does it cost?
Free to listen to everything already written, including the first story of every walk and the full text of every story on the site. A payment writes the unwritten stories of one walk, from £4.99, and they become free for everyone afterwards. Prices are shown in your own currency at checkout and any local tax is handled by Stripe.