Park Güell — the mosaic terrace

The Nature Square is the shot everyone comes for: a serpentine bench clad in broken ceramic, blue and green and ochre, wrapping a terrace that looks straight down over Barcelona to the sea. It photographs best from the north-east corner, where the bench leads the eye out of frame and the city fills the gap.

The terrace is inside the paid Monumental Zone, and entry is timed. Book the first slot of the day — around 9:30 — and you get twenty minutes before the crowd thickens; by noon there are people on every metre of the bench and the only clean frames are tight ones.

The free part of the park, up the hill towards the Carmel bunkers, has pine shade and stone viaducts that work well for portraits when the terrace is full.