Gaudí's buildings are genuinely magical for children — the Sagrada Família, Park Güell, and Palau de la Música are the world's finest family architecture tour.
Parent tip: Book Sagrada Família tickets months ahead; the towers sell out weeks in advance.
Read our Barcelona family guide: areas, where to stay and tips
Barcelona's big science museum at the foot of Tibidabo, with the Flooded Forest, a living recreation of an Amazon rainforest with fish, reptiles and birds; a Geological Wall of real rock sections; a planetarium; and hands-on science rooms.
A large aquarium on the Moll d'Espanya in Port Vell, open every day of the year, with Mediterranean and tropical-sea tanks, a long underwater tunnel through the big shark tank, and Planeta Aqua, a hands-on area for children.
The maritime museum inside Barcelona's medieval Royal Shipyards, the Drassanes, with a full-size replica of a royal galley and, moored in the port, the museum's historic schooner Santa Eulàlia.
Gaudí's hillside park above Gràcia, where children find the mosaic salamander on the Monumental Stairway, the gingerbread-like entrance pavilions, the forest of columns in the Hypostyle Room and the long serpentine tiled bench around the Nature Square, with views across the city to the sea.
Rides and hilltop views make this a major day.
An animal-focused outing with room to move at a family pace.
An aerial ride connects Barcelona’s hilltop park and castle area.
Barcelona's central park next to the old town, with rowing boats on the lake, several children's play areas, a family play space and the city zoo on the same site.
Gaudí's forest-like basilica; book timed tickets and the audio guide for kids.
Gaudí's dragon house with an augmented-reality tour that kids enjoy.