From Plaça Catalunya in the city centre the Ramblas lead off to the south. The tradition says that if you drink from the Fuente de Canaletes on this avenue you will return to Barcelona some day. Here stands the Plaça Reial with its tree-shaped street lamps designed by Gaudí, and the Fuente de las Tres Gracias . Opposite this square, the Palau Güell is well known for the ironwork of its façade.

The end of the Ramblas is dominated by the Portal de la Pau and the Monument to Columbus, who points towards the American continent and Les Drassanes, the site of the old 13th century shipyard, now the Maritime Museum. This square is where the Avenida del Paralelo begins; it continues as far as the Plaça de Espanya, which with its two Venetian towers marks the start of the hill of Montjuïc . Past the towers, we come to the magic fountain and the National Catalunya Art Museum -reopened on December 2004- which houses collections of Romanic, Gothic, Renaissance and Baroque art from Catalunya . Montjuïc includes the Olympic Stadium, restyled for the 1992 Olympic Games; and next to the Torre de Calatrava, the Palau Sant Jordi, designed by the Japanese architect Arata Isozaki. To the south of the hill stands the Joan Miró Foundation and the 18th-century Castillo de Montjuïc .
Back at the Portal de la Pau, maritime Barcelona extends towards the east, with its Rambla del Mar, which connects over the water the Rambla de Barcelona and the Muelle de España (Quay of Spain); the Maremagnum leisure centre; and the Aquarium.

Opposite the port lies the Parc de la Ciutadella, designed by Josep Fontseré and Gaudí, which houses the zoo; and the Arc de Triomf, built as an entrance gate to the 1888 Universal Exhibition. Continuing towards the Gothic quarter, the remains of the old Roman walls, the Plaça del Rei, and the cathedral can be seen. Back at the Plaça Catalunya and going up the Paseo de Gracia we come across several of Barcelona's most famous buildings: Gaudí's Casa Batlló at number 43; the Casa Ametller of 1900, designed by the architect Josep Puig i Cadafalch at number 41; and La Pedrera by Gaudi at number 92.

Turning to the right along the Avenida Diagonal, we find the Casa Punxes and the Sagrada Familia, the unfinished work of Antonio Gaudí. Immediately to the north stands Gaudí's surrealist Parc Güell. In the opposite direction along the Avenida Diagonal we come to L'Illa, one of the biggest shopping centres in Europe.