What I spent on a weekend of dining and vintage shopping in Barcelona

19.09.2023 - 19:59 / lonelyplanet.com

In our A Total Trip series, writers document what they spent on a recent getaway. In this edition, writer Amy Mulvaney shows how much a weekend of dining, sightseeing and vintage shopping cost her in Barcelona, Spain.

While I've been fortunate to visit many countries around the world throughout my life, I've never actually lived abroad. Being in my late twenties now, and with a wedding booked for two years' time, my fiancé and I decided we'd take this summer to experience life in a different country before we started our next (costly) chapter. 

With an easy two-and-a-half-hour flight from our hometown, Dublin, a seemingly never-ending supply of cool bars and restaurants, and near-guaranteed good weather, Barcelona was the first city we thought of when looking for somewhere to live and freelance for the summer. 

We stayed there from the start of June to the end of August, and even that wasn't long enough to tick off everything on our to-do list. We had a strict budget to live off each week, and, for the most part, we could stick to it thanks to the wide range of options available in the city. 

If you're planning a trip to Barcelona and wondering about your potential expenses, here's a breakdown of costs from one of our favorite weekends in the city. Hopefully, this will help you navigate similar expenses on a weekend break.

We stayed in an Airbnb for our entire trip, which worked out at €85 (€42.50 each) per night. This cost includes city tourist taxes of €1 per person per night. Our apartment was in El Born, an area popular with locals thanks to its abundance of trendy, independent bars, restaurants and shops. Staying here meant we were never far from a cafe serving an oat flat white or a traditional restaurant offering fresh paella or fideuà. 

Considering we flew in the height of summer, our flights were expensive at around €400 each, including suitcases. Several buses run from the airport to Plaça de Catalunya in the center, but we opted for the easiest way possible and absorbed the cost of a €40 taxi. You can do it cheaper if you take a metro or train (€8).

Total: €127.50 for three nights' accommodation 

Breakfast and sightseeing: We fuelled up with an iced coffee and a flat white with oat milk for €7 (€3.50 for my share) from our favorite cafe in El Born, Hidden Coffee, before paying a visit to Castell de Montjuïc (Montjuïc Castle). We bought one T-Casual ticket each for €11.35, which gives you 10 journeys on public transport within one zone (if you're traveling to Barcelona, I highly recommend you purchase this ticket—it will likely cover your transport costs for an entire weekend).

The T-Casual includes the Montjuïc Funicular, which takes you to the starting point of the Telefèric de Montjuïc (the