There is plenty to do in Barcelona for kids, the summers are the best as you can take them to the beaches and parks and they'll more or less amuse themselves. The street performers and theatrics on the streets are for everyone and a great fascination for kids, they'll amuse and entertain them and not even cost you a penny!

Spanish people love kids and they are easily accommodated in various activities, most restaurants and entertainment venues will happily provide for them. If you fancy a beer in the early evening or a meal then children are generally welcome without a fuss. You'll see plenty of local children accompanying their parents out in the evening and the Catalonians love to make a fuss of babies and toddlers.

Here are a few places and activities to look out for if you're stuck for ideas to amuse the kids and want to make sure they enjoy their holiday too!

The chocolate museum, Museu de la Xocolata, gives an interesting account of the history of chocolate in Europe, including where it came from and how it's made, right from a small cocoa bean until it gets turned into that delicious slab of pure chocolate. The aroma of melted chocolate hits you as soon as you walk through the door and the kids, and all chocoholics, will be licking their lips at the sight of miniature paintings by famous artists and tiny famous buildings all sculpted in chocolate.

CosmoCaixa Barcelona is a fascinating science museum to visit as it has a huge array of content and is arranged in an inventive fashion. Hailed as the most modern museum of its kind look out for the most exciting exhibitions including the Amazon Forest, the Geological Wall and the Planetarium, many of them interactive which means its particularly entertaining for children.

The zoo is a great place to wander around with a modern outlook that will impress even if you don't generally agree with them. The zoo bases its style on an integral approach to animals and aims to recreate their natural habitat, going further than just an exhibition they are focused on becoming a leader in the defense and conservation of biodiversity.

Don't miss the Aquarama at the zoo where the four bottle nosed dolphins live and give daily performances, and the facility that houses the Komodo dragons and the Muntjac deer. One of the most exciting features is the gorilla house and Snowflake is the white gorilla who has become a symbol of the Zoo. There's also lots of space for children to run around and refreshments available.

The Aquarium is local to the city centre so if you are renting an apartment it's convenient, and it's open every day of the year. 11,000 animals and something like 450 different species in the Mediterranean and tropical tanks, the permanent displays are Planeta Aqua and Explora!

Explora! is a large area that has lots of interactive features for the kids to touch and explore, it's very visual and educational. There are 3 Mediterranean coastal regions represented - the marshes of the Delta del Ebro, an area of the Costa Brava and an underwater cave in the Islas Medas.

The aim of Planeta Aqua is to demonstrate how important water has been in the development of the planet over the past 3,500 million years. 'The World of Darkness' takes you down 200m below sea level which is in complete darkness and shows you the type of life forms that live in this environment from organisms free floating in parts of the sea where light still exists such as jellyfish, to those that have adapted to enable them to live in the very depths of the ocean.

Check out accommodation options online where the prices are lower and you can view the apartments to rent before booking.