Sailing in with a plan is the best way to make the most of this vibrant city. By Sue Bryant

If a client is cruising from Barcelona and hasn’t been before, they really should extend their stay to make the most of the city.

Simply flying in and out will never do Spain’s busiest port justice – not when there are elegant boulevards to discover, lined with amazing modernist architecture, as well tempting tapas bars, incredible markets, cool urban beaches and more galleries and museums than you could ever cram into a week.

Barcelona is well geared up for tourism but it gets extremely busy in peak season, the population boosted by 2.3 million cruise passengers last year. So while a city break should be about spontaneity, in Barcelona, planning is essential for clients who don’t want to waste their time in queues.

Best Beaches

At weekends, the broad, sandy beach at Barceloneta, the old fishermen’s quarter, is packed with locals, sunbathing and strolling. What used to be a run-down area is now revamped, with beach volleyball pitches, lounge bars on the sand, outdoor gyms and miles of promenade.

Getting into town and around

Public transport is excellent, although once clients are in Barcelona, it’s easily walkable. From the airport, the Aerobús runs from both terminals to the El Corte Inglés department store on Plaça Catalunya, the big square at the top of the Ramblas, every 15 minutes. It costs €10.20 ( and is valid for 15 days or taxis are plentiful (aerobusbcn.com). The Bus Touristic is a great, cheap sightseeing tour, offering three routes for one ticket of €27 and operating daily. Tickets can be bought on the bus and for cruise clients who are trying to squeeze Barcelona into a day, the Red Route stops close to the port (barcelonabusturistic. cat). An entertaining way to see the city is by a GPS guided tour in a GoCar, a small, yellow open-top vehicle. The GPS tells the driver exactly where to go and narrates at the same time (dosomethingdifferent.com).

Where to stay

Barcelona has no shortage of hotels; the choice depends on where clients want to be. The Eixample district, built in the 19th century when the town was expanding rapidly beyond the old Gothic Quarter, is handy for the Sagrada Familia, the Gaudí buildings and designer shops. The Hotel Condes is a smart four-star, opposite Gaudí’s La Pedrera building, and has a rooftop pool, an essential in summer (condesdebarcelona.com).

The Hotel Jazz, just off Plaça Catalunya, is a good budget option, with minimalist décor and a small rooftop pool with adjacent cocktail bar (hoteljazz.com). Moneyed clients after a beach location and a hipster scene should look no further than the W, close to the cruise port on the waterfront, with views across the city and port. There’s a gorgeous pool area and a cool cocktail bar, Eclipse, with an Ibiza vibe (w-barcelona.com).

Where to eat

Locals eat late – after 10pm in summer, so hungry Brits are usually grateful to graze on tapas in the early evening. The Cuines de Santa Caterina is great for snacking throughout the day – it’s a big tapas emporium with lots of different food bars, from Catalan to Asian, inside the Santa Caterina market (which is like the Boqueria market on the Ramblas but with fewer tourists; grupotragaluz.com). Els Quatre Gats (4gats.com) is on most Barcelona bucket lists, as the one-time hangout of Picasso and his contemporaries. It’s touristy, but in a handsome modernist building and a good place for snacks after visiting the Picasso Museum down the road.

Top sights

Barcelona is packed with world-class museums and galleries. The big hitters are the Picasso Museum in Carrer Montcada; the Fundació Joan Miró, on Montjuic mountain; and the MACBA and MNAC galleries. Artlovers should buy an Articket (articketbcn.org) that gives entrance to all of these and the Fundació Antoni Tàpies; for €30, you get entrance to all the museums and skip the queues while saving 45% on the price.

Other must-see attractions are the Gothic cathedral and, of course, Gaudi’s unfinished Sagrada Familia and his colourful, wavy modernista buildings on the Passeig de Gracia. Advance bookings for the Sagrada Familia are essential as the queues are enormous. All the big sights can be booked via Attraction World (attractionworld. com).

For clients on cruise ship calls, Cruisingexcursions.com offers numerous tours, from cycling and Segway rides to wine-tasting trips in the countryside with private car and guide, picking up from the ship and guaranteeing to get passengers back on time, all commissionable. Wholesaler Catalonia Tours also offers all manner of excursions, from wine and tapas tours to themes around Miro, Gaudí or Picasso, as well behind-the-scenes tours of the FC Barcelona stadium and night sightseeing (cataloniatours.com).

A word about Las Ramblas, the famous boulevard. Many would say it’s a victim of its own success, overcrowded and lined with interchangeable tourist restaurants. Most cruise passengers stroll along nonetheless, even if only en route to the Boqueria market and the Cathedral. Warn clients to be careful here at night.

Beyond the cruise hubs

Typical trips beyond Barcelona include a day tour to the jagged mountains and the beautiful Benedictine monastery at Montserrat, or a visit to historic Girona, a couple of hours’ drive north, or Tarragona, with impressive Roman remains, 60 miles to the south. The gay-friendly resort of Sitges is an easy train journey; or local tour operators offer trips to the wine country, where cava is produced. Attraction World offers packages to the Port Aventura theme park, near Tarragona, as well as trips to the excellent Salvador Dali museum at Figueras – a highly worthwhile day trip for art lovers.