Fun ways to stay fit while traveling in Barcelona
Staying fit while traveling can be a challenge in some destinations. But in Barcelona it needen’t be. There are so many fun activities to choose from that give you a chance to explore the city or try something completely new!
SUP
Stand up paddel boarding is enormously popular in Barcelona. There are plenty of places that rent out equipment and offer classes, for example the Escuela SUP and Barcelona Beach Tours.
Beach Yoga
Yoga on the beach at sunrise anyone? And yes, there are classes in English! See the Beach Yoga in English meetup for details.
Stand-up paddel pilates
Another meet up group that offers something rather unique is doing pilates on SUPs in Barceloneta. Looking for a novel way to stay fit while traveling in Barcelona? Try this! Side benefit: views of the city from the water.
Water sports
There are countless companies offering sailing, windsurfing, kitesurfing, fishing, sea kayaking for all levels and budgets. You can learn a new water sport or if you’re already experienced just rent equipment and go out on your own.
Outdoor gym
Practice your pull-ups, push-ups and other own-body-weight excercises! There are several spots in Barcelona with outdoor gyms. One of the most popular ones is probaly the one on Barceloneta beach.
Run along the Barcelona beaches
One of my personal favorites is just running along the boardwalk by the beach in the morning. If you go early enough you can see the sun rise over the Mediterranean Sea. Go by yourself or if you’d rather run in a group, join the Sunrise Runners
Swim in the sea
Barcelona’s beaches are great for swimming. Life guards are on duty during the day. Watch the flags signaling the quality fo the water: green, yellow and red. Yellow boies mark the parts of the water reserved for swimmers, so you never have to worry about crossing paths with boats, surfers or paddle boarders.
Skate
There is an abundance of skate parks in Barcelona like the one on Marbella beach. Also there are skate events, skate classes and skate rentals. How about a nightly sightseeing skate thorugh the old town?
Ride a bike
No matter if you prefer to do the work yourself or rent an e-bike – there are plenty of options for bike rentals. Wondering where to go? I recommend exploring Montjuic with a bike, because there is so much to see and not too much traffic.
Personal Trainer
A google search for “Personal Trainer Barcelona” returns 12.8 million results. Apparently this is a haven for fit people who want to make it as freelancers. And they want to help you stay fit! Every day I see them with their little groups along the beaches and parks, sometimes one on one. While I have no personal recommendations, check out this blog post on the best personal trainers in Barcelona.
Beach Volleyball
You can literally just walk up to a volleyball field on the beach and ask if you can join. Otherwise, there are meet up groups and whatsapp groups organizing beach volleyball sessions in Barcelona. If you are looking for a group that speaks English, try Mulitcultural Volley BCN.
Padel
Padel is a sport I had never even heard of before I moved to Spain. That may have been my own ignorance. But it is SO POPULAR here! Kinda looks like tennis, but isn’t. It’s played in a smaller court, with 4 players, outdoors when the weather is nice, indoors when it isn’t. Here are some of the padel clubs and courts in Barcelona.
Hike
Granted, where I come from hiking is not something people my age do. But ever since I spent significant time in Canada, hiking as become one of my favorite ways to stay fit while traveling. And Barcelona and its surrounding offer some phenomenal hiking options, I’ve written about several already, such as this hike in Montseny Natural Park.
Dance
Could there be a more fun way to stay fit while traveling than dancing? In Barcelona the obvious candidates would be Salsa and Bachata, but there are all kinds of music an dancing in the venues around town. Flamenco is originally from southern Spain, but you’ll find Flamenco even in Barcelona if you look for it.
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