What's a good 3-day itinerary for Barcelona?

Three geographic zones, three days, no backtracking. Day 1 stays below Via Laietana in the Barri Gòtic and El Born — the oldest streets, where laundry still hangs between balconies four storeys up and the stone underfoot has been worn smooth by six centuries of foot traffic. Day 2 jumps north to the Eixample grid for Sagrada Família and Gaudí's residential works, then keeps going uphill into Gràcia for dinner. Day 3 swings west to Montjuïc by funicular and comes back down through El Raval. Buy a T-Casual card at any metro station for €11.35 — ten rides across metro, bus, and tram, covering every transit move in this itinerary with rides to spare. The single-ticket alternative is €2.40 each, so the math is obvious by ride three.

The Barri Gòtic is best before 10am, when tour groups are still eating hotel breakfast and the Cathedral cloister is quiet enough to hear the geese honking in the garden — thirteen geese, one for each of Santa Eulàlia's tortures, there since medieval times. Cross Via Laietana into El Born by 11 and the neighbourhood shifts: alleys widen, shops sell natural wine instead of fridge magnets, and the smell of roasting coffee drifts from cafés that were warehouses ten years ago. Lunch at Cal Pep — pull up a stool at the marble counter and let the team feed you whatever came in that morning. Expect about €35–40 per person with cava. By 3pm walk through Parc de la Ciutadella to Barceloneta beach. Dinner at La Mar Salada on Passeig de Joan de Borbó — order the fideuà.

Book Sagrada Família tickets online for 9am — the basilica sells out days ahead and the morning light through the east-facing stained glass is worth the early start. Budget ninety minutes inside. Walk south on Passeig de Gràcia afterward for Casa Batlló at around 11. Lunch wherever you land in the Eixample — the menú del día runs €12–15 for three courses at most neighbourhood spots. By afternoon, keep north past Diagonal into Gràcia. Plaça del Sol feels like a village dropped into a metropolis: low buildings, locals drinking vermut, kids on scooters. Dinner at La Pepita for creative pintxos or Cafè Godot for something slower.

Take the funicular from Paral·lel metro up to Montjuïc by 9:30am. Fundació Miró opens at 10 — allow ninety minutes for the permanent collection and the rooftop sculpture terrace with views over the port. Walk uphill to Montjuïc Castle afterward; the rampart views stretch from Tibidabo to the container ships heading out to sea. Come back down through the Jardins de Laribal, quieter than the main paths and shaded by old pines. By mid-afternoon you are in El Raval — late lunch at Bar Cañete on Carrer de la Unió, then browse the MACBA square and the bookshops on Carrer dels Tallers before a final dinner wherever your feet stop.