Ro's Recz

This is my own personal list of my 15 favorite cities in the world to visit. I have ranked them in 10 categories on a scale of 1-10: local cuisine, non-local food, public transportation, safety, scenery/beauty, history, price, cleanliness, tourist friendly, and walkability.

These are my own personal opinions, and I am sure that many people would disagree with the rankings. These are only cities that I have personally visited, so if your city is not on here, that may just mean I have not been yet.

History Monuments (how the city’s historical monuments are): 10/10

Barcelona has one of my personal favorite historical sites anywhere in the world, the Sagrada Familia. If you are not familiar with it, I would highly recommend doing some research on its background and story before visiting. I am normally not a huge fan of cathedrals/churches (I think they can get a bit repetitive regardless of how nice they are), but the Sagrada Familia left a big impression on me. It is still not completely finished being built (there are cranes and workers building it every day), and I think this adds to its allure. I loved it, and it is one of the few sites I would make another trip to visit.

Local Cuisine (how good the cities local cuisine/food was): 8/10

The food in Barcelona is pretty unique in my opinion, and I was a big fan of it! I enjoy Spanish cuisine with dishes such as paella, bombas, etc. It has been a while since I went to Barcelona so I cannot remember any specific restaurants, but I recall all the food being quite good.

Non-Local Food (how good food from other places was): 7/10

Barcelona is a very international and vibrant city, so if you get tired of eating Spanish food, it should not be a problem finding other cuisines.

Scenery/Beauty (how pretty/cool the sites and nature were to look at): 9/10

I loved walking around Barcelona, and I thought it was a significantly better atmosphere than Madrid. It just seemed like a much more lively city, and one that had so much more going on. It could be my personal opinion, but I think Barcelona is a much better place to visit, especially for younger tourists.

Public Transportation (whether they had trains, subways, buses, etc. and how accessible they were): 8/10

Public transportation in Barcelona is quite good. With an advanced subway and bus system, you can rely on public transportation to go almost anywhere.

Safety (how safe I feel the city is): 9/10

Barcelona to me felt like a very safe city, and I never felt like there were any areas I had to avoid. Although around the major tourists there are plenty of pickpockets (like there are in cities in Europe), once again, you just have to be careful.

Price (how expensive it was to visit the city, not including airfare (lower score means more expensive, higher score means good value)): 7/10

Barcelona is unique because it is a major international city in Europe, but it is not THAT expensive. Food, accommodations, and transportation are all relatively reasonable. Even if you are on a budget, Barcelona is a city you can visit.

Cleanliness (how clean the city was in general): 8/10

Barcelona made an impression on me because it cleaner then I expected it to be. Compared to Madrid again (which is dirtier), this makes Barcelona seem much better in comparison.

Tourist Friendly (how accessible and accommodating the city is for tourists (mainly English speakers)): 9/10

The locals in Barcelona are very friendly. They are very welcoming and willing to share their city with you. I was a big fan of the people in Barcelona!

Walkability (how easy it is to walk around the city): 9/10

Barcelona is a great city to walk around, and you can see plenty of the city without ever having to take a bus or subway (depending on where you stay).

Conclusion: Now we’re into my top 10 favorite cities, and it is getting a lot harder to choose the order. Cities 6-10 could really go in almost any order, and they are not separated by much. I really enjoyed Barcelona, and it is definitely somewhere I would love to go back to in the near future. I have heard many people say Barcelona is one of their favorite places, and maybe it will move up my list even higher in the future. Although I prefer Real Madrid to Barcelona in soccer, Barcelona is significantly higher than Madrid in my city rankings.

Total Score (Combined Score of all the categories): 84/100