Barcelona: Surrender to the Charms

Why Barcelona will charm you during your Summer School visit

The capital of Catalunya and Spain's second city, Barcelona sparkles with life in its narrow Barri Gotic alleys, its pedestrian boulevard of the Ramblas, its funky bohemian El Born, its bustling beach promenade, and its chic Eixample. 

You can see all of Barcelona's old city on foot, walking winding lanes emerging into secluded squares flush with palm tress and surrounded by bristling cafes and boutiques.  Your walk will include colorful, playful, and unique architecture everywhere in a city full of history--Roman ruins, medieval cathedrals, twisty Gothic lanes, and traces of a centuries old sea trade. The Modernista style remade the city's skyline, with curvy fantasy buildings, all culminating in Gaudi's Sagrada Familia (still under construction). Cafes are filled by day, and streets filled by night in a city on an unstoppable roll as Spain's most cosmopolitan and European corner.