Tips for great places to work in Barcelona for your workation

In November 2021, I spent 2 weeks in Barcelona on workation. It was the beginning of my more than 3 months working from Spain. I wanted to be close to the beach and didn’t mind the occasional walk to the center. In terms of distance, that’s all manageable and you can walk. Or by bus or metro. At this time of year it was about 14 degrees, which is chilly, but the sunshine makes up for a lot.

My favorite place in Barcelona

The Barri Gotic neighborhood is my absolute favorite in Barcelona. It is bursting with quaint streets, cozy bars and beautiful buildings. I love the latter about Spain anyway, the historic buildings have so much character. In second place is the beach, but that is a top 3 position with me in many cities haha. Staring at the sea with a drink in your hand after your workplace makes me so happy. Barcelona has several beautiful big beaches.

Where I stayed during my workation

Since I work part time I looked for a quiet hostel. I liked getting to know people, so a hostel is most suitable. The disadvantage, however, is that your roommates can disturb your sleep quite a bit. Unite Hostel Barcelona suited my needs, close to the beach, clean, a roof terrace (yasss), large lounge area and has its own office space with nice workstations that you can use for free. So you also meet other digital nomads there, which is great fun to make some contacts. Oh yeah, and alcohol is not allowed, so that repels a certain crowd. Which I really like.

Want to know more about Barcelona? Also read: 5 great places to work in vibrant Barcelona.

The best to do’ in Barcelona

Of course, you can’t be in Barcelona without visiting a few classics. The hop on hop off bus really goes too far for me, I leave that to the diehard tourists. I’d rather rent a bike or take the local bus to see the city. I went to Parc Guell, high on the hill a park full of Gaudi art and beautiful views of the city. This is a must-see if you go to Barcelona. Walked La Rambla, again, not my thing, too touristy and if I want to go to Zara I’ll do it at home. But skipping it was also pretty much my thing.

Walking through the small streets and admiring cathedraals is more my thing.

Of course I also went to the famous La Sagrada Familia, and since it was drizzling I even went inside as well. Completely different than expected, but impressive it certainly is. Buy a ticket for this in advance so you don’t have to stand in line for a long time.

8 Fine workplaces in Barcelona for digital nomads

Aticco: modern coworking space with rooftop terrace and city views, ideal for networking.
MOB (Makers of Barcelona): downtown creative hub with a vibrant international community.
Betahaus: popular coworking in Gràcia with a sunny terrace and café on site.
La Vaca: former dairy converted into relaxed coworking space with lots of natural light.
Espai Born: quiet coworking in the atmospheric El Born neighborhood, perfect for focus work.
Coco Coffice: hybrid between café and coworking, where you pay by the hour including coffee and snacks.
OneCoWork Marina Port Vell: luxury workplace on the harbor with views of the yachts and high-speed wifi.
Tropical Coworking: laid-back space just off the beach, ideal for those who want to surf or sunbathe in between.

Ciao Barcelona
I ended Barcelona with a pitcher of sangria and tapas with a group of new friends from the hostel. The perfect end to a fun workation in Barcelona. I have such a suspicion that I will return to this gigantic Spanish city some day. After that I took the train to Valencia, which is an awesome trip along the beach and mountains, really recommend traveling through Spain this way! On the way I was able to sit down with my laptop just fine and did some more work. On my own hotspot though, because the wifi in trains is usually not that good.