The best neighbourhoods for students in Barcelona

Eixample

The different neighbourhoods that make up L’Eixample (as L'Esquerra de L'eixample and La Dreta de l'Eixample) are some of the best neighbourhoods for students in Barcelona. It’s a highly populated urban area that has an endless offer of restaurants, bars, nightclubs, shops, gyms, and much more.

These are areas with a great cultural and leisure offer, with Passeig de Gracia, the famous Sagrada Familia, the beautiful Passeig de Sant Joan, and the Rambla Catalunya.

This area doesn’t have a large amount of green spaces, although there’s usually easy access to the Parque de la Ciudadela and to the beach.

There are different bus, metro, and tram lines that connect L’Eixample with the rest of the city, so you can surely get everywhere quickly and easily. In addition, it has railway and train stations that are convenient to reach institutions that are on the outskirts (such as the Autonomous University of Barcelona, which is in Bellaterra).

University Area of Les Corts (Zona Universitaria)

Living in this area of ​​the city is convenient for those who’re going to study at institutions that have campuses there, like the campuses of the University of Barcelona, of the Polytechnic University of Catalonia and of Esade. However, keep in mind that it’s quite far from the city centre and the beach.

It’s advisable to choose this area if you prefer to focus on your studies. In addition, being far from the centre, sometimes you can find slightly cheaper accommodation.

On the Avenue Diagonal there are a large number of shops and restaurants, although they aren’t usually the most affordable in the city for young people. L'Illa Shopping centre is also located here, which offers a variety of dining and shopping venues.

Les Corts has the advantage of easy access to a wide variety of parks and green spaces, including the Pedralbes Park, the Cervantes Park and the Maternity Gardens.

As a cultural visit, you can take the opportunity to visit the Football Club Barcelona stadium, the Camp Nou, the Royal Palace of Pedralbes and the Monastery of Pedralbes.

The University Area of ​​Les Corts is very well connected with public transport (buses, tram, and metro lines L3, L5 and L9S) with the rest of the city.

Poblenou

This evolving area has made it one of the most demanded in the city. It used to be an area full of factories, but its spaces have been renovated over time to make room for homes and offices. This made it gain a vibe with a lot of personality, where tradition mixes with modernity. Still, its atmosphere is usually more residential than more central areas, so it’s one of the best neighbourhoods for students in Barcelona who prefer to live in a relatively quieter area.

Living in Poblenou is ideal, for example, for students of the Poblenou campus of the Pompeu Fabra University.

In this area you’ll find a very varied offer of restaurants and bars, many with affordable prices (especially because they’re located in an area that isn’t so touristy). Many of them are located in the Rambla del Poblenou, although you’ll also find options in the surrounding streets.

The cultural offerings in Poblenou are several theaters, museums, and art centres, such as the IDEAL Digital Arts centre. There’s also a wide variety of nightclubs and music venues for nightlife, like the famous Razzmatazz.

Another advantage of this neighbourhood is its proximity to beaches. Many of them are right there! In fact, when you live in Barcelona you’ll realize that they’re the favorites in the city for those who live there, far from the tourist Barceloneta. For green spaces, you can enjoy both the Poblenou centro Park and Poblenou Park.

Despite being further away from the city centre, from this neighbourhood you can reach different parts of Barcelona with several tram, bus, and metro lines.

Vila de Gràcia

This neighbourhood is one of the favourites for locals to live in. It’s very close to the centre of Barcelona and still retains a more village-like vibe, thanks to the fact that many of its streets are primarily pedestrian.

In Gràcia you can also find everything! Bars, restaurants, small shops, theatres, places to do different activities, cinemas... Whatever you’re looking for you can find it! It also has a good nightlife, which revolves mainly around its main squares and the bars that are there, such as the Plaza de la Vila de Gràcia and the Plaza del Sol.

As for cultural visits, some highlights are Gaudi’s Casa Vicens, the first residential house designed by the famous architect, and Hotel Casa Fuster.

A con of this neighbourhood is that it doesn’t have green spaces to enjoy. Yes, there are some squares, but there aren’t many trees or spaces to be outdoors in nature.

Another feature to consider is that the main public transport is mainly on the important streets that surround the neighbourhood, so you have to pay close attention to whether you’re going to need to get to a particular place to check the connection with bus, tram or metro.

FAQ about neighbourhoods in Barcelona