If you are planning to go for a walk in Ciutat Vella, we recommend you visit the gardens of Rubió i Lluch, in the Raval district. They are gardens surrounded by three historic buildings: the Institut Estudis Catalans, the Library of Catalonia, the Reial Acadèmia de Medicina and the Massana School of Fine Arts. There is a nice cafeteria and it is an oasis of tranquility in the middle of the more touristy Barcelona. We are sure you will like it.
We continue in the center of Barcelona, and we go to the historic building of the University of Barcelona, which preserves some lovely gardens within its cloister dating from 1871. If you are a student of this campus of the University of Barcelona surely you have already rested there With your classmates. If not, it's worth your while to get to know him. Although not very extensive, they have 80 different species of plants, some taken from the old botanical garden of Barcelona, and two ponds with fish and frogs.
And as we do not like much that public transport this weekend and what we want to walk, we continue in Ciutat Vella. In the Ciutadella, to one side of the park, there is a much less crowded and more interesting site, the Umbracle. It is a modernist building covered by a five-arched turn built with iron chariots and brick pillars. The roof is a strip of wood that lets in partially light to recreate the illumination of the rainforest. Under these conditions grow plant species originating in twenty countries, which are planted in rows between the corridors below each of the five arches.
Finally, a garden that even most of the people of Barcelona know. Guess which area of Barcelona are you in? Correct, we stayed in Ciutat Vella. If you walk along Calle Boquería you will find the hotel. Enter and ask how to access the garden of the house Ignacio de Puig, a beautiful and hidden garden of Romanesque style that will surprise you by the little frequented. A real find!
So you know, encourage your roommates and leave some gardens of Barcelona.