Giving experiences instead of things is a wonderful way to show you care, and there are lots of fantastic Barcelona experience gifts you can give to your loved ones if they are visiting or living in the city. You could join them on the experiences so you can get some quality time together, or just give them an amazing gift experience in Barcelona to enjoy while they are on a trip without you. I’ve picked out some of my favourite Barcelona gift experiences so you can get some inspiration!
Why Gift Experiences Are Better than Things
Who needs another pair of novelty socks for Christmas? While there are some beautiful Barcelona gifts and souvenirs you can buy, we spend millions every year buying gifts and presents for friends and family that often end up lost at the bottom of a cupboard or on a shelf gathering dust.
Research shows that people appreciate experiences more than material objects – we get excited waiting for the experience, and once it’s over we tend to remember the positive parts of it, even if we didn’t particularly enjoy it at the time!
Giving experience gifts also shows you really thought about what to buy for the person – and shows that you know them well enough to be able to choose something they will really enjoy, not just a generic gift like bath salts or a tie.
Amazing Gift Experiences in Barcelona
Book A Trip to Barcelona for Them
What better to give a travel lover than the gift of a trip to Barcelona??
Airline vouchers, hotel vouchers or euros to spend in Barcelona can work really well if they are already planning a trip to Barcelona for a special occasion like their honeymoon for example, or you could go the whole hog and book everything yourself, from transport tickets to hotels and tours while you’re there.
It is a lot of work, but you know that special someone is going to be over the moon with it when you have planned a whole trip to Barcelona as a gift for them! Christmas is also a fantastic time to visit Barcelona, check out this post about spending Christmas in Barcelona.
Barcelona Hotel Vouchers
If you’d like to pay for some accommodation in Barcelona as a gift experience, a fantastic place to buy hotel vouchers is Tinggly, which has various gift boxes available for different amounts.
The European Escape for example is $150 USD for a one-night stay for two at one of 10,000 hotels in the collection, or if you have a higher budget, the Weekend Getaway for Two is $359 USD for a two-night stay for two people in a double or twin room, or the Relaxing Stay for Couples is another option, priced at $599 USD for two nights for two people.
For added flexibility, your gift recipient can choose to add extra nights in the same hotel at their own expense or convert the price you paid into Tinggly Value which means they can add more money to stay in an alternative hotel if they don’t find anything they like at that price range.
I usually use Booking.com to book my hotels, but they don’t sell online gift vouchers so another good place to buy hotel vouchers online is through Hotels.com gift cards. You can buy the the gift cards in various denominations and can be used to pay for thousands of places to stay worldwide, and any hotel in Barcelona listed on Hotels.com.
Gift Tours and Activities in Barcelona
Instead of booking a whole trip, how about a tour or an activity as a Barcelona gift experience instead?
While there is no shortage of amazing things to do in Barcelona, booking a once-in-a-lifetime experience in Barcelona will make your gift even more special.
Barcelona Experience Gift Vouchers
If you’re not sure what to book, Tinggly gift boxes are a fabulous Barcelona gift experience idea where you purchase a gift box for a certain value, and the gift recipient chooses the experience they want from the variety of options available in Barcelona and across the world.
The higher the value of your experience collection, the more luxurious options they will have to choose from, and you can see a selection of what they can book at the bottom of the experience page, filtering by choosing Barcelona as the location.
When purchasing you have the choice of a physical gift box you can give as a gift or an online voucher which is best if you’re not going to see your gift recipient in person before they travel.
Instead of buying a gift certificate or voucher, you could choose to book a specific experience if you’re confident you know which dates they are travelling.
And if you book an experience through GetYourGuide, it can be changed or cancelled until 24 hours before the activity is due to start so you can have peace of mind that they are totally flexible if you don’t get it quite right!
I’ve brought together some of my favourite bucket list experiences in Barcelona to give you some ideas!
Barcelona Cooking Class Gift Experience
For the foodie in your life, a cooking class is a wonderful gift experience in Barcelona. They can learn a new skill and eat delicious food – what’s not to like?!
A couple of years ago my brother bought me a cooking class voucher which I loved! And the best bit was that he came along to the class with me, so we got to spend some quality brother-sister time together too.
Cookly is a leading booking platform for cooking classes all over the world, and they have several options for cooking classes in Barcelona.
How about a Paella cooking class in Barcelona? GetYourGuide has some fantastic cooking classes to choose from too, so you can book the specific class as a gift – for example, this half-day cooking class and market tour.
During the tour, your gift recipient will go with the chef to select ingredients from La Boqueria Market on Las Ramblas, then, prepare a traditional Spanish meal before eating the results with wine pairings.
I took a tapas cooking class with Barcelona Cooking a few years ago and loved it! We didn’t make paella but made some incredible patatas bravas, and other delicious dishes so I can personally recommend the Barcelona Cooking paella classes.
- Market tour (except evening cooking class)
- Prepare a 4-course meal for an authentic culinary experience
- Unlimited premium Spanish wines
- Hands-on tips from professional chefs
- All Recipes
- Menus can be adapted to accommodate any food restriction if you advise in advance.
- Transport and tips are not included
- There are no market tours on evening experiences or Public Holidays as La Boqueria will be closed.
Alternatively, you can buy a Tinggly gift box so they can choose their own Barcelona experience.
Food Tour Gift Experience in Barcelona
I love taking food tours too! A food tour in Barcelona is a culinary exploration where they will learn about the culture and food in Barcelona as they eat their way around the city.
There are lots of food tours in Barcelona to choose from, here are a couple of my favourite Barcelona food tours to get you started!
Wine Tasting Barcelona Gift Experiences
Instead of a food tour, how about getting to know the wine in Barcelona instead? Catalonia is renowned for its stunning vineyards and delicious wines, many of which are within easy reach of the city. This wine tour takes guests out to the Penedes region to explore!
Wine, Cava, Tapas & Vineyards 4WD Gift Experience from Barcelona
- Bilingual tour guide
- 3 wine tastings at a unique local winery
- Winery tour in a 4×4 Vehicle
- 4 cava tastings at a family run cava specialized winery
- All tastings paired with gourmet bites
- Luxury transportation from/to Barcelona
- Not suitable for wheelchair users
This exclusive cava and wine-tasting tour is an exciting experience for wine lovers going to Barcelona. Your gift recipient will have the chance to taste a variety of wines and cavas from two family-owned wineries located in the Penedes region just outside of Barcelona.
Alternatively, if you think the person who is receiving your gift would prefer to stay in the city itself, this other wine-tasting experience in Barcelona is led by an expert sommelier who will share the unique characteristics of each wine, accompanied by a selection of local cheeses and snacks.
Barcelona Wine Tasting: Catalan and Spanish Wines
- Meet in the heart of Barcelona’s Old Town
- Taste 3 or 5 regional wines (depending on option booked)
- Sommelier guide
- Snack and wine pairing tips
- Restaurant and wine bar tips
- Doesn’t include Hotel pick-up and drop off
- No transportation is provided
Barcelona Gin and Cocktail Experiences
If gin and cocktails are more suitable, then a private distillery tour at Corpen Gin Distillery could be just the ticket, and it is great value too at just €15 per person. The experience includes a mini gin masterclass with a guided gin tasting, a tour of the production facility and a cocktail, plus more drinks and bottles of gin are available to purchase.
I’m a big fan of Corpen gin and brought a bottle home with me on my last visit!
As for cocktails, you could go for this Cocktail Master Class run by a Mixologist, which includes learning how to make four classic cocktails and enjoying the drinks with tapas.
Photo Tour Barcelona Experience Gift
Photo tours are a wonderful way to show you care and are perfect Barcelona gifts for couples, families or solo travellers who struggle to get some nice photos of themselves. I took a tour offered by Pickapictour, and the photos I got back from our session were fabulous.
You can book tours of photo spots in the Gothic Quarter, at Park Guell and more of the most Instragrammable places in Barcelona to pose in.
BOOK A PHOTO TOUR
Barcelona Experience Gifts for Couples
Of course, any of the other things I’ve mentioned can be done together but these are some extra special Barcelona gift experiences that are perfect for couples. So if you are looking for a special wedding gift or anniversary gift, or a gift for a couple planning their honeymoon then take a look at these!
If you’re not sure what to book, don’t forget that Tinggly gift boxes can be useful as they choose their own experience. Tinggly has some specific gift boxes for couples, like the Just Married collection which works well for a wedding gift!
A Hot Air Balloon Ride over Montserrat
The tour also includes transport from Barcelona, and a guided visit to the basilica at Montserrat, which would certainly be a memorable experience for any couple – if they’re not afraid of heights!
Helicopter Flight over Barcelona’s Coastline
Romantic Coastal Cruise in Barcelona
Barcelona Experience Gifts for Her
I don’t like to shop based on gender, but in case you are specifically looking for gifts for mum, sister or loved one check out these (which are suitable for everyone to enjoy of course)!
Make Authentic Espadrilles Shoes
I was given this espadrille workshop as a gift for my birthday and loved decorating my own pair of these traditional Catalan shoes. The workshops are run from the centre of Barcelona in the Gothic Quarter and are fantastic for couples, hen parties or solo travellers.
A Spa Session at Aire Spa Barcelona
I adore getting pampered, and it’s something that I rarely spend money on myself as it feels too extravagant, so if someone buys me a massage or a spa session I am always excited. It is an opportunity to relax, get away from it all and to just enjoy the experience.
Aire Spa in Barcelona has gift vouchers available so you can buy a massage or spa experience – great for a lady on her own, or a group gift too. I was given a birthday gift to use here and it was fabulous!
Gift Experiences for Him
There is no reason why a special lady in your life won’t love these, but if you’re looking for a Barcelona experience gift for dad, husband, son or any other man then check out these ideas:
Private Ferrari Driving Experience
I would love to go for a spin in a Ferrari that I’d never usually get the chance to drive! This private Ferrari driving experience in Barcelona is a unique way to see the city and a great gift for petrolheads with a need for speed.
The cost for insurance, passengers and a video of the experience isn’t included, so you’ll need to factor that in if you want your gift recipient to have the full experience with a video to remember it.
Estrella Damm Brewery Guided Tour with Tasting
This is just a selection of the best Barcelona experiences I could find that would make fabulous gifts, there are plenty more options, or you could just get a voucher or gift box and let them decide.
Have you bought a Barcelona experience gift for someone? Did they like it? I’d love to hear your stories, please leave your comments below.