Where to stay in Barcelona

The nineteenth-century grid, with wide pavements, chamfered corners and the Gaudí facades along Passeig de Gràcia. It is the easiest part of the city to move around and to find a room in, and it sits between the old town and Gràcia.

The medieval core between the Ramblas and the park: the cathedral, Santa Maria del Mar, and lanes too narrow for cars. El Born on its eastern side is the calmer half, with the museums and the better restaurants.

A village that the city grew around, north of the Eixample, still laid out in small squares with restaurants that fill with residents rather than visitors. Reaching the main sights takes a metro ride rather than a walk.

The old fishing quarter on the spit of land between the port and the sand, and the beaches that run north-east from it. The reason to stay here is the water; everything else in the city is a walk or a metro ride away.