Shopping with Children in Barcelona

The city centre of Barcelona is a myriad of winding streets and open boulevards, all with fantastic shopping on offer. And the city centre is fairly void of traffic save a few major avenues, making your stroll through the Gothic Quarter, or down the famous Las Ramblas strip to the port even easier, especially if you’re travelling with little ones in tow – and I can compare that to say Rome, which anyone will tell you is crazy!

However, there are some great shops for kids along your travels which I thought might not necessarily be found so easily on your own, so here’s a little help.

First up is Lefties. This is the outlet store from the mega Spanish brand Zara, and has some fantastic bargains on offer, in both footwear for children and funky, fashionable clothing, too. There are a few locations in the city, but the two most central locations are at Plaça Universitat and in the Maremagnum complex over the Rambla del Mar bridge on your way into Port Vell. Lefties is not to be missed! Also, a little further down from the Plaça Universitat store, is C & A. The English chain store closed many of its European stores a couple of years ago but Barcelona survived, and apart from a large 3rd floor dedicated solely to kidswear, the building itself is really beautiful, and is sufficiently stocked with things for both kids, babies and parents alike.

Around the corner on Las Ramblas is a fairly new H & M store (one of many dotted around the city), and high street fashion is at an accessible price here, too. Las Ramblas is a great place for you to entertain the younger members of the family, with various human statues and street performers, along with flower stalls, painters and caricature sketchers and puppeteers to pass the walk down to Christopher Columbus monument.

From here, it’s a great place to cross the previously mentioned bridge into the Maremagnum shopping Mall, where you can find Imaginarium, which is an educational-based toy store, and has a cute little entrance for children right next to the main door (a feature in all their stores). There are some children’s show shops inside Maremagnum, too, and other street fashion shops dealing specifically for children. This is all indoors, and close to the city’s Aquarium and IMAX Cinema, too, making it a worthwhile trip for any family, especially a Sunday, where it’s one of the few places where shops are open.