solo in spain

My Itinerary

I had just graduated from college and this was the most impulsive decision I’ve made so far in my life. Since I was going to be starting work soon and be a corporate cog with limited travel opportunities, I randomly decided that I should travel about two weeks before my start date near the end of June. However, most of my friends are older than me and already working, which meant that it’d be difficult for them to suddenly request time off for a last minute trip.

After scouring online for the cheapest country to travel to with the correct time constraints, I decided to go to Barcelona, Spain because I’ve never been there and it was not as hot and humid as other countries. My family doesn’t travel often so finding a new location to go to wasn’t difficult, but I’ve never traveled alone before (aside from Seattle), let alone internationally. However, I was pretty set on traveling so after booking my flight tickets and waiting until the refund period expired, I told my parents that I’d be going to Spain a few days before my flight 😀. I have a Type A personality so I had a set itinerary for each day and time.

One thing to note is that Spain is pretty expensive to lodge in, especially after checking the AirBnb and hotel prices. My friend who traveled there previously recommended looking into hostels which was the most affordable option, but I’ve also never stayed in one before so it was definitely a new experience. My Beli also has more detailed food reviews, and feel free to click on each picture to see a zoomed in version as well!

• Length: 6/15/2025 - 6/21/2025
• 6/15-6/16: SF –> Toronto
• 6/16: Layover in Toronto
• 6/16-6/17: Toronto –> Barcelona
• 6/17: Barcelona
• 6/18: Barcelona
• 6/19: Barcelona
• 6/20: Montserrat
• 6/21: Barcelona –> SF

6/15 - 6/17: flights and my first layover

• Flight from SF to Toronto
• Layover at Toronto Pearson airport
• Lunch @ Plaza Premium Terminal 1’s Lounge
• Interview at the airport
• Flight from Toronto to Barcelona

I had a red eye flight to Toronto which also included a 12 hour layover. I’ve never had a layover before but after experiencing this one, I do have to admit that it is a little difficult on the body. I also had an interview during my layover which was a weird obstacle to navigate with.

I’m probably too privileged with SFO being my closest international airport, but my initial plan was to do the interview in an empty gate which likely wouldn’t be hard to find, especially since airports are generally large and quiet. After searching online and browsing through Reddit, Toronto Pearson airport is notorious for not being the greatest airport since it’s generally loud. Therefore, I looked into airport lounges but even the airport lounges had terrible reviews. I found a promotion code online which gave me 30% off and decided to book a few hours in the lounge just in case, and I’d also get “free” food.

After walking through the airport, it was clear that I wouldn’t be able to find an empty gate to do my interview in since the airport was somewhat small. My flight was departing from Terminal 1, but I had booked the lounge in Terminal 3 because it mentioned online that there was a private room. Turns out, the terminals in this airport are only connected through an airbus which you can only access if you haven’t gone through security. Additionally, the airport attendants said that I wouldn’t even be able to enter that terminal unless my flight departed from there…

I panicked and called the lounge to see if there was any way to transfer my booking, and after an hour they were luckily able to 🙏. Leading up to the interview, my plans were to prepare a bit, but honestly I was so tired from the flight since I had a middle seat the flight before. I also lost one of the foam pieces for my noise-canceling earbuds which was so tragic. The Plaza Premium Lounge in Terminal 1 is just like what the online reviews say. It was terrible, small, crowded, loud, and the food was pretty bad – definitely not recommended. As a result, I had to try to find an empty gate which I was able to, and did my interview on the ground. The airport wifi was horrendous so I had to connect to my personal hotspot. Unfortunately near the end of the interview, people started coming to the gate which ended up causing a lot of background noise and people were looking at me weirdly since I was sitting on the ground. At least during my flight to Barcelona, I had an aisle seat and was sitting next to a nice elderly man so there weren’t any problems. I did try to watch Wicked but I fell asleep twice and still didn’t end up finishing the movie during the 8 hour flight 💀

6/17: Barcelona

Step Count: 28,000+

• Breakfast: Airplane food
• La Rambla
• Lunch @ La Boqueria: Watermelon slices + ham & cheese empanada
• Pier + mall
• Checked into hostel
• Snack @ Hofmann Pastisseria: Croissant
• Casa Batlló
• Dinner @ Cervecería Catalana: Tapas

My flight landed in the morning and in order to get to my hostel (St Christopher’s Inn Barcelona ), I took the Aerobús which is Barcelona’s official transportation to get to and from the airport. The Aerobús dropped me off close to my hostel, but I still needed to take an additional bus ride which is when I bought the T-casual ticket at a transit station. Before this trip, I didn’t know how severe the pickpocket scene was in Europe, especially in transit stations which is why I was extremely cautious throughout this entire trip. Luckily, I didn’t get pickpocketed throughout the trip.

T-casual Barcelona Metro Bus ticket provides 10 trips within one zone (which covers most of Barcelona) for €12.55.

My check-in time for the hostel was at 3 PM so I had a couple of hours to explore beforehand. I walked to Mercat de la Boqueria (La Boqueria) since it was pretty close and I was a bit hungry after my flight. I was EXTREMELY SHOCKED to discover that Spain drinks a lot of juice/smoothies, in addition to having a lot of fruit stands. I was literally in heaven because if you know me, I have dreams of buying an expensive blender and making smoothies + acai bowls in the future. After walking around the market, I decided to buy a cup of watermelon slices since my throat wasn’t feeling too well (if you know, watermelon combats the yeet hay) and a ham & cheese empanada. The market reminded me of Nishiki Market in Kyoto, Japan except for selling juice/fruit + deli meats instead of Japanese street foods + fish. I went to a nearby plaza to eat and while there, I watched a seagull eat another dead seagull… that was the day I learned that seagulls are carnivorous.

After lunch, I walked around La Rambla which is essentially a long street down to Mirador de Colom (Colombus Monument). Then, I walked to Port Vell and checked out Maremagnum, which is a mall with air conditioning because it was so hot. The Balearic Sea water was extremely turquoise and pretty with fish swimming in it, but the mall was pretty standard.

Nearing my check-in time, I walked back to my hostel where I was blessed with a bottom bunk bed. I brought a padlock to secure my belongings and it was then when I realized that Europe has different outlet ports than America. With my hostel room type (12 girls + shared bathrooms), I thought that I’d be provided with a towel but apparently that wasn’t true in the fine print. I also realized that there wasn’t any water available for refill at the hostel. Aside from that, the hostel reminded me a lot of living in the college dorms and the overall experience staying there wasn’t bad for being the cheapest living option as a solo traveler.

The main thing on the agenda today was my visit to Casa Batlló in the evening. After rotting in my room for a bit, I walked through La Rambla again and up Passeig de Gràcia. Near the El Born area was a famous bakery called Hofmann Pastisseria which was where I bought a croissant to eat while I walked to Casa Batlló. To my disappointment, it tasted pretty similar to a Costco croissant.

When planning my itinerary, I was choosing between visiting Casa Batlló, Casa Milà, or both. I decided on only visiting Casa Batlló since tickets were a bit pricey and the same architect designed both houses. Afternoon tickets to Casa Batlló included a free cava drink which honestly wasn’t that bad, but I cannot hold any alcohol so after taking a sip, I handed the full glass right back to the server 😀. The rest of the house was pretty interesting and cool to experience in-person. The audio tour was also a new experience I enjoyed because I got to look at different pieces/areas at my own pace.

After an hour at Casa Batlló (new record for me), I was hungry and decided to go to Cervecería Catalana because it was highly recommended by my friend’s parents alongside ChatGPT. There was a pretty long line but since I was alone, I got seated immediately at the bar. This was my first time eating tapas which are basically a bunch of side dishes one can choose from. I didn’t really know what to order so I just ordered items from the “popular” section of the menu. Everything was really yummy and the food tasted very luxurious. Best of all, the total price didn’t hurt my wallet even though I also ordered a dessert! Definitely my favorite restaurant that I tried during this trip.

I desperately needed to go on an errands run because I needed to buy an adapter to charge my devices and a water jug. The adapter was kind of expensive ($11) but it was essential… the 5 liter water jug also was a great purchase.

The toilet paper also came out of a strange towel-like dispenser which caused the paper to be pretty scrunched up. The hostel is right next to Plaça de Catalunya so I walked through that plaza a lot. At the end of the day, I ended with over 26,000 steps and went to sleep really early after taking a great shower.

6/18: Barcelona

Step Count: 25,000+

• Brunch @ Chök Carme: Brookie
• Montjuïc Hill
• Barceloneta Beach
• Snack @ Gelati Dino: Mint + cookie crumble cone
• Gothic Quarter
• Dinner @ Bodega del Born: Tapas
• Dessert @ Xurreria Laietana: Chocolate dipped churros

This was the first full day in Barcelona which I started off by grabbing a pastry from Chök Carme. I got their most famous item, a brookie, which I thought was pretty good but it’s definitely a bit heavy and should be shared amongst more people.

Next was exploring Montjuïc Hill which I got to by taking the bus up there. Unfortunately, I had an oopsie with where to get off of and I also scanned my T-casual ticket incorrectly so in panic, I used Apple Pay to pay for the bus ride which ended up being $16 for some reason 🤡.

There are two cable cars related to the hill and I had a reservation for the cable car down to Barceloneta Beach (Transbordador Aeri del Port). When riding the bus, we passed by a stop that mentioned a cable car so I thought I needed to ride that in order to get up the hill (as opposed to hiking up the hill), but turns out riding that cable car wasn’t necessary. That cable car was Telefèric de Montjuïc (Montjuïc Cable Car) which was a scenic ride up to the hill, but definitely not needed if you’re already taking the bus up there because the walk up to Montjuïc Castle is fairly short and not strenuous.

Additionally, I thought that I needed to get to my reservation for the cable car to the beach by 1 PM so I thought that I only had time for the castle. I explored it quickly just to realize that my reservation didn’t have a time specified… I could use that ticket for the entire day…

It was so hot so after cooling down for a bit, I rode down the mountain on the cable car. It was scenic since the route was going from the hill down towards the beach, and the water was really turquoise. I planned on trying paella at the beach but honestly, I wasn’t really hungry and it was around 3 PM so I decided to get gelato instead. I went to Gelati Dino which was good, but I wasn’t particularly impressed.

Barceloneta Beach was also fairly standard but since I didn’t bring a swimsuit, I didn’t swim. After chilling at the beach, I explored the Gothic Quarter and the Cathedral of Santa Eulàlia (Barcelona Cathedral) which was jaw dropping. I kind of just walked around Gothic Quarter so I’m not too sure what I exactly saw, but here are the ones I know I for sure visited:

• The Roman Walls
• Plaça de Sant Jaume
• Temple of Augustus
• Plaça del Rei
• Palau Reial Major
• Palatine Chapel of Sant Agata
• Palau del Lloctinent
• Plaça Nova
• Archdeacon House
• Bishop’s Bridge (Pont del Bisbe)
• Sant Felip Neri Square
• Jewish Quarter (El Call)
• Synagogue Major
• Human Pyramids Monument
• Basílica dels Sants Just i Pastor

For dinner and dessert, I went to Bodega del Born which is a traditional tapas location and Xurreria Laietana for chocolate dipped churros. Both were pretty good (churros were kind of yeet hay) and I sat at Plaça de Catalunya eating the churros while watching the sunset. One thing to note is that most restaurants in Spain kind of expect you to drink and since I get terrible asian glow, I always asked for water which I thought was free, but turned out to have a cost lol. I tried an anchovy dish and it was surprisingly pretty good.

6/19: Barcelona

Step Count: 20,000+

• Breakfast @ Juice Dudes: Smoothie
• Park Güell
• Sagrada Família
• Dinner @ The famous Bar: Seafood paella

I had a late start this day because the other people in my room were packing up to leave so I didn’t want to step outside of my bunk. Once they left, I got ready and went to Juice Dudes for a smoothie since it was along the way. After looking at the price now, I don’t think the smoothie is worth it but it was really good haha. The main items on this day’s itinerary were Park Güell and Basílica de la Sagrada Família later in the day. A couple of Gràcia’s plazas were along the way to Park Güell so I stopped by Plaça de la Vila de Gràcia and Plaça del Sol. It was about 90°F so I needed to sit in the shade for a while before going on the bus to Park Güell. After arriving there, I sat in the shade again because my entry time into the park wasn’t until 1.5 hours and it was so hot.

I didn’t realize that I needed to download the app and audio guide prior to entering the park but the data there was terrible so I wasn’t able to. I just explored the park at my own leisure and it was definitely really pretty, but I wasn’t extremely impressed with anything in particular. The views were nice, but I was anticiapting more elaborate buildings. I didn’t get to see everything in the park due to time and temperature constraints, but I still think it was a cool place to visit.

Afterwards, I walked down from the park to the Sagrada Família. I was so hungry that during the walk, I mistook some images on an OBGYN office as gelato flavors… At the Sagrada Família, I also needed to download their app and audio guide which I was luckily able to do since there was public WiFi. I had to listen to the express version but I thought this attraction was especially intricate and fascinating… I wish I was able to spend more time there.

I needed to try paella so I went to The famous Bar because it was close by and decently rated. To my surprise, there were a lot of asian people dining at the restaurant. I couldn’t read the menu and my data wasn’t working so I ordered something that looked like seafood paella. It was pretty good but definitely a bit heavy. After the meal, I went back to my hostel, showered, and went to sleep.

6/20: Montserrat

Step Count: ~18,000

• Brunch @ Oakberry: Açaí bowl
• Montserrat
• Arc de Triomf
• Parc de la Ciutadella
• Dinner @ La Xampanyeria
• Pooped

Another late start to this day and since it was so hot (over 90°F), I was pretty unmotivated to go to Montserrat because it’s even hotter there. After getting my açaí bowl from Oakberry, I decided to still go because I shouldn’t be moping around while in a new country. The acai bowl was good but after looking at what I paid for it, it’s definitely not worth it.

The article called “Train Journey Barcelona to Montserrat” from Barcelona Tourist Guide is very informative on how to get to Montserrat from Barcelona and it’s definitely tricky to navigate around. There are mainly two ticket packages to choose from for Montserrat and I chose the Trans Montserrat ticket because it included all of the tickets I needed. It was ~$50 which isn’t bad, but I think it’s cheaper if you buy the tickets individually.

The train to Montserrat was about an hour long but thankfully, there was air conditioning on it. To get up to Montserrat, you can choose between the cable car or railway option. I chose the cable car option because it’s more scenic, but I didn’t read the article closely enough and apparently, you have to depart one stop earlier than what Google Map recommends in order to get on the cable car… I didn’t do this so I had to spend ~$10 more to get on the railway because otherwise, I’d have to wait an hour for the train to come back in the opposite direction. The railway was good because there was air conditioning and the views from the railway were particularly scenic since the route up to Montserrat was basically around the mountain.

Once at the top, I walked around and the views were pretty insane. It was really hot though so to cool down, I loitered around in the gift shop and food areas. Inside the monastery was the basilica which I bought tickets to right outside the entrance. The WiFi at Montserrat was actually decent so I was able to download the app and audio guide. I decided to skip out on the museum and Black Madonna because I’m not the biggest fan of museums and I had missed the Boys’ Choir performance which is at 1 PM.

The basilica was interesting to walk through and afterwards, I walked through some nature areas which lead to the hikes up to the peaks. It was way too hot to hike though so after eating my protein bar for lunch, I rode the Sant Joan funicular which leads up to the top of Montserrat mountain. The views were even better up from there. There’s another funicular which I thought I’d be able to take after the Sant Joan one, but I think it’s actually at the base of the mountain? Still not sure where that funicular is…

Around 4pm, I decided to head back to Barcelona since I had finished exploring Montserrat. I was able to find the cable car down to the train station and it was a good experience seeing the views as we descended, plus there was a nice breeze. The train back to Barcelona was the same but it was a bit more crowded and hot.

I got back to Barcelona around 6 PM and decided to go to Arc de Triomf and Parc de la Ciutadella since I wasn’t able to visit those areas during previous days. The Arc was very intricate, and the park was really big – it reminded me a lot of Central Park in New York since there was a zoo there as well. I only got to walk through about 1/4th of the park before deciding to head out to eat because I was really hungry. I ate at Can Paixano, aka La Xampanyeria, which is a traditional bar serving tapas. The other day, I walked past the restaurant and the line was insane which is why I didn’t eat there but today, I arrived when the line wasn’t as outrageous so I waited in line. Honestly, I thought the food was fine but a bit pricey so I wasn’t as satisfied.

Up till now, I hadn’t pooped since leaving SF (Sunday) because the toilet paper came out so scrunched. I didn’t really have a need to poop until yesterday, and it was all I could think about from Wednesday to Friday (today). My flight was the next day so I thought that I had come so far, I should just extend the streak of not pooping since it was just one more day. Unfortunately, every instance of me eating fruit triggered the desire to poop because of the fiber. Additionally, walking was one step closer to pooping in my pants so once I arrived back at my hostel, I pooped for the first time since Sunday. I was unsuccessful in my challenge of not pooping throughout my trip but at least, I was able to extend my streak of days gone without pooping to five days.

6/21: Barcelona –> SF

• Souvenir shopping
• Brunch @ Honest Greens: Breakfast tostada
• More souvenir shopping
• Airport

Before my flight, I needed to bring back at least some souvenirs for my family and friends since I didn’t do that for my past few trips. My check out time was at 11 AM which I thought would be ample time to search for souvenirs but I forgot to factor in that those stores wouldn’t be open that early in the day. It ended up being a pretty unsuccessful run so I went back to my hostel, packed up my belongings and checked out. For brunch, I ate at Honest Greens which provided the most satisfaction and affordability out of all the places I dined at.

I still didn’t have any gifts purchased so I walked around for a bit on La Rambla trying to find gift shops that didn’t look too suspicious. Despite more gift shops opening up, I couldn’t find anything I really liked so I bought turróns which is a traditional Spanish nougat. At the shop, I asked a worker if they had any without nuts since my sister is allergic to them, and the worker looked at me in disbelief because basically 90% of turróns contain almonds.

I spent a bit more time than anticipated trying to find souvenirs so due to the time constraints, I had to hastily board the bus back to the airport. One thing I noticed was how security seemed pretty lax at the airport. I didn’t see a single bag get stopped at security and there were very few workers checking bodies compared to TSA in America.

Thankfully, I had a direct flight back to SFO through United Airlines and I was pleasantly surprised with the experience: a neck pillow was provided, there were so many drink/snack refills, and the food was pretty good. I was sitting at the very last row of the plane because I didn’t want a middle seat, but the person next to me was pretty annoying to sit next to because they kept getting into my personal space and touching me. The flight was also extremely turbulent to the point where my cup of orange juice spilled onto my lap and seat… Typically, I don’t watch a lot of shows/movies but during this flight, I ended up finishing Wicked, Joker: Folie à Deux, Grave of the Fireflies, and part of Kiki’s Delivery Service. Grave of the Fireflies was an insane movie to watch on the plane and I needed to take some time to reflect afterwards.

fin

Overall, my wallet hurt a bit after this spontaneous trip but I’m glad that I decided to go because I won’t have many more opportunities to travel without needing to take PTO.

Some takeaways are:

1. I don’t recommend going to Spain during the summer because of the heat, but the architecture is definitely very beautiful.
2. The conversion rate between 1 USD and 1 Euro isn’t the best. Additionally, don’t exchange for paper money at the airport because everything uses contactless payment…
3. Europe uses Type F outlets.
4. It depends on the person but I think three or four days in Barcelona is the perfect amount of time to see the touristy sites in the area without getting bored.
5. Solo traveling provides a lot of freedom but it does get lonesome sometimes. All of my pictures are 0.5 selfies with my facial expression being 😐 haha