Travel Smart with 6 Top Barcelona Mobile Apps

Last updated: November 2017

Once upon a time phones were square-ish contraptions with one end plugged into the wall and the other connected by a curly cable to a banana shaped receiver. Then came the first portable bricks with text messages and a calculator feature. The era of the smartphone has now unleashed an incredible variety of apps, and here you’ll find our top picks of 6 of the best Barcelona Apps for Android and iPhone. Connect with Barcelona on a new level with these interactive Barcelona mobile apps that will guide you round the city, sort your Barcelona social life, recommend the most popular Barcelona restaurants and bars, and lead you to an optional hangover at the end of an epic night in Barcelona’s nightclubs.

1. Join Barcelona activities with Meetup

Most online networks go from the real to the virtual. Meet someone when you’re out, then connect on Facebook. From now on, most of your interaction is online; a quick one-liner comment on their post, an animated icon to say happy birthday, and a sprinkle of “likes.” Barcelona Meetup is quite the opposite. Browse through the different Barcelona groups and Barcelona activities, sign up to anything that takes your fancy, and… meet up!

You’ll find everything from the inspirational, yoga and meditation on the beach, personal development and spiritual teachings; to the social, language exchanges, bar crawls, get-togethers for Brits abroad (or Americans or Scandinavian or…); to hobbies and activities, for designers and programmers, hikers, all kinds of sports… You get the idea! Download the app on your phone find out what’s happening in Barcelona and get involved.

2. Discover Barcelona with the Official Barcelona Mobile Guide

Save yourself a trip to the overcrowded Barcelona Tourist Office below Plaça Catalunya, and download everything the official Barcelona publicity machine wants you know about directly onto your phone from maps to sights and more.

This Barcelona mobile guide interface is clearly divided with a snazzy rainbow colour scheme into Barcelona tours, restaurants, top attractions, and everything else you need to find your way around the Catalan capital.

3. Explore Gaudí’s Barcelona with this Nifty App

Another app provided by the Barcelona Tourist Office, this packs all the must-have information about the legacy left by city’s golden architect, Antoni Gaudí. His work is synonymous with Catalan Modernism, and includes many remarkable creations such as the Sagrada Familia, Casa Batlló, La Pedrera and Park Güell which he developed before taking a one way ride under a tram in 1910.

Check out the opening hours, addresses and other essential info through this app, read up on some insights while you wait in the queue, or even better, use your Gaudí app to book tickets online and skip straight to the front.

4. He Says, She Says… All the Barcelona Reviews on Tripadvisor

Get a second, (third and fortieth) opinion from the hordes of travellers that have already experienced Barcelona’s establishments and services. Whether you’re looking for a vegetarian restaurant with a toasted tofu on the terrace, the tapas bar that serves Absolutely The Best Patatas Bravas In Town™, or a restaurant that’s so secret, local and authentic that even the locals don’t know about it, this user-friendly Barcelona mobile app will point you in some interesting directions and give you a platform to add your own grain of sand to this giant sandcastle of user-generated opinion.

5. From Dusk til Dawn with the Nightlife Barcelona App

After a busy day of culture, shopping or sightseeing in Barcelona, it’s cocktail o’clock and time to plan the night ahead. Nightlife in Barcelona starts early in the bars and continues until late in the many nightclubs located throughout the city.

There’s no point ending up in an RnB club if it’s Latin that turns you on, or going heavy on the tequila shots to compensate for the fact that machine-gun techno really isn’t your thing and you’d prefer to be floating on a deep house trip instead. Download this nifty little guide to what’s happening in the city’s drinking holes and dancefloors and plan a Barcelona night out that really hits the spot.

6. Emergency services for Barcelona tourists: CAT112

The local council has released a new app which tourists can download onto their phone to contact the emergency services in Catalunya (police, ambulance and fire brigade). It is available in the following languages:  English, French, German, Russian, Chinese, Arabic, Polish, Japanese and Italian. An activation code is needed, and this is available from affiliated establishments including Apartment Barcelona. If you’re staying in Apartment Barcelona’s accommodation and would like this app, please contact them directly.