Take a walk around the neighbourhood of El Gótico to really appreciate the architecture of this once Roman village. Use the cathedral as your starting point and get lost in its narrow, winding streets, which open up into beautiful squares. Make sure to stop in Plaça Reial for a coffee.

Have a picnic or spend wandering through the afternoon in Parc de la Ciutadella, a green oasis in the heart of the city. There’s a tropical greenhouse, a geological museum and a winter garden made from iron and glass. You can also rent a small boat and paddle in the lake.

Just a stone’s throw from Els Pescadors, this cemetery is an unusual work of art. The cemetery displays several architectural themes including the traditional seven-storey high burial niches covered in plastic flowers with old photos and letters next to elaborate neoclassical tombs built by some of Barcelona’s richest families.

A collection of museums, galleries and Gothic churches arranged along cobbled roads, Girona is an ideal day-trip destination from Barcelona (40 minutes by train). Begin at the bathhouses, where a pathway following the course of the ancient walls will lead you high above the city to an outlook with spectacular views. Then stroll down towards the Cathedral of Girona – the imposing exterior will soon become familiar to Game of Thrones fans, as part of series six was filmed here. Wander through the Jewish Quarter, laced with narrow switchback streets that are home to cafés, boutiques and bookshops. Finish up at Café le Bistrot, which offers rustic Catalan cuisine in a setting of clouded mirrors, mismatched chairs and eclectic hat stands.

Take some Catalan culture home with you with a cooking course at bcnKITCHEN. If you can speak some Spanish then there’s a wide variety of classes available (including creative pintxos and Spanish fusion) but if you’re limited to English then opt for the market visit and Spanish cooking workshop. Each class begins with a visit to the Boqueria market or if you’re lucky the less crowded Santa Caterina market, followed by a day learning to cook gazpacho, Spanish tortilla, paella, crema Catalana and pá amb tomáquet, the simple but delicious Catalan way of eating bread with fresh tomatoes.

A true homage to art’s most notorious weirdo, this museum is located in Salvador Dalí’s home town of Figueres, just a short train ride (40 minutes) from Barcelona. The painting collection is decent but it’s the building itself that offers an immersive insight into the artist’s perspective on the world – giant white eggs adorn the roof, while golden bread sculptures line the red walls of the façade. Set aside a good three to four hours to wander the exhibition rooms and courtyards – you’ll find there’s a lot more to Dalí than melting clocks, deserts and tigers.

Born in Barcelona, Joan Miró was a painter, sculptor and ceramicist associated with the Surrealist movement. Located in Montjuïc Park, the Fundació Miró is a dynamic centre housing around 220 of Miró’s paintings, 180 sculptures, some textiles and more than 8,000 drawings. The building itself was designed by the architect Josep Lluís Sert and is considered one of the world’s most outstanding museum structures. Find a shady spot for a picnic in the gardens after a long day of sightseeing.

The Barcelona Museum of Contemporary Art – MACBA – is where everyone heads for art in the city, but while the building is cool, the permanent exhibition is rather lacklustre. The CCCB is the MACBA’s cooler sibling (and has a better gift shop).

Locals seeking an escape from the city head to Collserola, a 80-sq-km park in the hills. It’s located a half-hour drive from Barcelona’s centre, or you can take the S5 ferrocarril line from Plaça de Catalunya. There’s a smattering of cafés and snack bars in the park but it’s more common to find families picnicking or barbecuing at the weekends. There are a lot of hiking and biking trails that go up and down the mountains, and there are also organised astronomy nights twice every month.

Designed in Barcelona’s intricate modernist style with stained glass windows, sculptures and metalwork, a performance in this concert hall is an unforgettable experience. Be sure to check their website to see who’s playing while you’re in town.

An old car repair workshop in Gracia has become the city’s new space devoted to photography. Mecànic is lined with tomes by local and international photographers and holds four major exhibitions each year on trending topics. Visit during the day and peruse the shelves with a coffee. When the sun sets, the café evolves into a laidback wine bar.

Miss Kleckley on Sant Antoni’s busy Carrer del Parlament fills a gap in Barcelona’s shopping scene with its racks of streetwear from Fila, Champion, Lazy Oaf and Ellesse. Vintage pieces are labelled with the city they were discovered in – Paris, Budapest and more – and owner Marina Jimenez upcyles bold boilersuits as part of the shop’s own clothing line. Polish your new look with a manicure at Miss Kleckley’s nail bar.

Self-proclaimed plant collectors Jesús and Pancho run Casa Protea, a glorious florist in Gracia, behind with their plant-loving grandmothers serve as inspiration. This summer, this temple to botany will hold a number of English-speaking workshops including plant printing, where attendees can print their own silk scarf using leaves and petals, plus macramé, ceramics, botanical illustration and even tea ceremonies (from €45; email to book).

For serious desert vibes deep in the city, stroll among the 800 different types of cacti that form the Mossèn Costa i Llobera Gardens. This under-the-radar park’s position on the warmer, port-facing slopes of Montjuic mountain allow the non-indigenous plants to thrive in their foreign home – plus, the abstract landscape makes for a striking backdrop. Don’t be surprised if you pass local photographers and their muses as you explore.

After a nine-year, £70 million revamp, Mercat Sant Antoni – which first opened in 1882 – is officially back in business. While tourists flock to La Boqueria by Las Ramblas, the 52 fresh food stalls here are bustling with locals buying olives, cheese, locally-grown produce and the like. It’s a fascinating glimpse into the lives of the denizens of sun-dappled Sant Antoni.