Barcelona has a beautiful mixture of centuries old Gothic Quarter in its center that's surrounded by modern (and semi-modern) developments, beautiful beach and waterfront to its south and parks and hills to its north. Any of these areas can be made into a running route to explore the area but I decided to run the "tourist" route to catch a glimpse of the city before it wakes up from its sleep.
I walked out of my hotel at 6:30AM and strolled over to Passeig de Gracia, right in front of Casa Mila, one of Antonio Gaudi’s design without anyone around me; this would be unthinkable in couple hours. After enjoying the site, I ran down Passeig de Gracia checking out famous fashion houses both to my left and right.
After a short jog, another Gaudi building, Casa Batllo can be seen on the right. Again, being able to enjoy one of Gaudi’s masterpieces without overwhelming number of tourists was nice.
Once at Gran Via de les Corts Catalanes, a large street that intersects Passei de Gracia that's just couple short minutes from Casa Batllo, you'll see Generali building that also houses H&M. There are two paths you can take from here to get to the waterfront: either veer right and run down La Rambla, another famous tourist passage, or go straight to get to the Gothic Quarter. I chose the latter.
Running through the famous Gothic Quarter in the morning before the city fully wakes was the highlight of the run. I had the entire Quarter to myself and I could run uninterrupted, turn any corner and appreciate any building undisturbed. My advice for running though the Gothic quarter is just enjoy the moment and don’t try to over prearrange the run. Just get down there, jog and explore the area letting your spider-sense guide you through. The quarter isn’t large enough for anyone to get lost so don't worry!
I came out of the Gothic quarter and into an open road. Here, I sense that the waterfront was close due to the smell of salt water in the air. I continued down south, following my nose and a running path. After about 5 minutes, I arrive at the Barcelona Beach with a beautiful sun rise - a million dollar view!
After staying on the beach and enjoying the moment, I turned right and continued my run heading towards W Hotel Barcelona. By this time, other runners and walker have joined me on the boardwalk and I also came across a yoga class and paddle boarders on water. The running path, unfortunately, does not go all the way to the end of the boardwalk; it is gated about 100 yards before the end.
I turned back and retraced my way back to the city center via Gothic Quarter. By this time, more people were visible around the Quarter, but still the streets were quiet, and I unexpectedly ran by Picasso Museum and Santa Caterina Market, two places I wanted to visit.
I got back to my hotel little after 8:00AM, which was the perfect time to shower up and get to La Boqueria Market for breakfast ahead of mass tourists. After breakfast of fried baby squid and fried eggs, omelet, anchovies and chickpeas, I was ready to spend couple hours visiting Picasso Museum. A perfect stress-free day before heading up to Vielha for Val d'Aran race tomorrow.
The round trip ended up being 7.3 miles and took me 1 hour and 41 mins. (See below; I'm having some issues loading Google My Map so using a screenshot from my COROS APEX running watch.) I would definitely recommend this route and advise others to run through the Gothic Quarter in the morning before the city wakes up - there's just something's about walking through centuries old streets and buildings alone lost in thoughts and lost in the moment.
The course is on flat city roads without any elevation changes so you could make the run faster. But, you'll likely miss out on some fantastic views if you do.
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