Port Vell

If you have kids in tow, head straight for the Port Vell (Old Port) area, one of the places that pioneered a wave of dockland rejuvenation that has since swept the world, and where you'll find the enormous Aquarium (tel 93 221 7474). An 80-metre, glass-walled underwater tunnel carries you through a huge tank where sharks, rays and other denizens of the deep swim, and next door there's a giant-screen IMAX cinema.

Barcelona Zoo

The city zoo, in the Parc de la Ciutadella (tel 93 225 6780;dolphin shows at 11.30, 13.30 and 16.00), is great for families. The zoo has a dolphinarium where captive sea mammals give every sign of enjoying showing off their tricks during the regular dolphin shows, and its mountain gorillas (including Copito de Nieve, the world's only albino gorilla) are part of a breeding programme which may be the last chance to save these lovable great apes. Lions, tigers, tropical birds, reptiles and spiders are also part of a collection that includes 7,000 animals from 500 species.

Tibidabo

At the top of Collserola, one of the hills the city is built on – and beneath a vast figure of Christ that is a Barcelona landmark – Tibidabo (tel 93 32 98 613; 09.30-19.30, Tues-Sun) is a venerable amusement park with a modern twist. It opened in 1899, and the rides and amusements have been added to and expanded ever since, so that there are more than 30 rollercoasters, waltzers and all the rest, as well as original draws such as the Mechanical Museum, with its robots and mechanisms that must have seemed futuristic at the end of the 19th century but, at the beginning of the 21st, are quaint and charming.

Castell de Montjuic

Crowning Montjuic hill, this lowering 18th century fortress has a grim reputation – in the Franco years it was a military installation where enemies of the regime were arbitrarily imprisoned, tortured and sometimes executed. Now a military museum, its glorification of military might doesn’t appeal to everyone, but the cable car ride to the top of the hill is a must in its own right – and the view from the summit is unrivalled.

La Rambla

Wind up your day in Barcelona with a stroll through the Rambla, the city’s legendary Bohemian district, where in the evening the sidewalks are crowded with street performers – fire-eaters, jugglers, musicians and puppeteers. This is where to find some of Barcelona’s best cafés and tapas bars – find a table, rest your weary feet and watch the world go by.