Compact Barcelona is a bright, fiery star lapped by the Mediterranean, a magnet to everyone from art-loving beach bums to business execs with a weakness for sunny downtime. It’s a city in motion, constantly reinventing itself. Here, past merges with future in an effervescent present. You can see it in the city's beautifully preserved Barri Gòtic (Gothic Quarter), in the architectural confections of Gaudí and his Modernista pals, and in recent contender Jean Nouvel's shimmering Torre Agbar.

The heady mix of Gothic monuments and contemporary skyscrapers is accompanied by a bevy of world-class museums that take you from the wonders of giant Romanesque frescoes to the playfulness of Joan Miró, from pre-Columbian South American gold to early Picasso.

All that culture fuels the appetite and at times the entire city seems to be out to lunch (or dinner). Thousands of restaurants offer an incredible palette for the palate: traditional Catalan cooking, 21st-century nueva cocina española kookiness and everything in between. A plethora of tippling establishments and dance clubs also spreads in a hedonistic arc across the entire city. Drop into old-school coctelerías or glam it up in bright new seaside bars. Shoppers, meanwhile, may never make it to a museum. Phalanxes of groovy one-off establishments compete with armies of global-brand-name stores.

Culture, cuisine and conspicuous consumption aside, Barcelona is a city built for outdoor fun: just follow the locals' lead. On the waterfront, rollerbladers glide past domino-playing pensioners, sun-seekers, windsurfers and sailors. Skateboarders practise their art in motion outside the Macba, temple to contemporary creation, and mountain-bikers blaze trails in the Collserola park.

Barcelona is an intoxicating ride. Once is unlikely to be enough.