Barcelona - tips for an MSE weekend

fizzylizzy_2

Just booked a lastminute break to Barcelona (22nd - 25th) which will take in La Merce on 24th Sept. This should keep us pretty occupied and I've been doing some research of different attractions but I wondered if anyone had foodie recommendations - doesn't have to be dirt cheap but reasonable ideally!
We are staying in El Born but are happy to travel around.:beer:

topmum

Best tip I can give you is 'hold onto your bags' and preferably dont have a bag! The pick pocketing and theft is rife!

Other than that I can highly recommend the city sight seeing bus. You can get a very reasonable 24 hour ticket which goes around all the sights and you can just jump on and off as you wish.

enjoy - it is a beautiful city

taba

We have just spend 5 days in Barcelona on the flight out my son sat next to a local who gave us the following recommendations

La Gavina - Marina (did not try seemed expensive)

El Emperador Marina next to La Gavina recommend the Lobster paella

Cuidad Condal - Rambla de Catalunya, on the corner of Playa Catalunya and Gran Via - Tapas really good a lot of locals there and very cheap.

Asador de Aranda - Av Tibidabo for slow baked lamb, we did not try this but having looked at website wish we had.

If you try the lamb please let me know if it is worth a visit

deva

head to barceletta (sp) which is the far side of the port- for authentic spanish food at lower prices.
Take some drinks and possibly a picnic up to the palace to see the free dancing fountains show which is excellent
make the most of the free parks including park guell where you can spend hours.
use the metro as it is a bargain as its the same price however long the journey
make sure you eat your main meal during the day time as the set menus are fantastic then do as the locals do and have tapas at night

i do remember a fantastic venuzuelen or ururgyan resturant not far from the colmn at the bottom of las ramblas but cant remeber it's name

zenmaster

The fountains are well worth the effort. Take a look if you don't believe me . It is totally free (take care with your bags and wallets though or it could work out quite expensive).

Get the Metro to Placa Espanya (Green Line, L3) or (Red Line, L1).

Arrive there earlier in the day and go up to the palace and park. There are escalators which will take you right to the top if you find the steps a bit daunting (though the steps are a lot quicker coming down). You will get some fantastic views over the city. The palace currently has an art exhibition (I don't know if it's permanent). I didn't go in as I didn't want to pay the entrance fee and was most miffed when the kids told me they had been in and it was free :mad:

Another, more exciting, way to get there is to take the Teleferico (cable car) from Avinguda Miramar (5.50 euros adult one way, 7.50 return) to Paral-lel Metro then take the funicular railway, which is covered by a standard Metro ticket. I must confess I've not done this trip, though I wish I had (no time).

Have fun!

fizzylizzy_2

Thanks for all tips!

Lord_Lardington

Restaurant - La Fonda, just off Las ramblas.

Get there early and don't be put off if there's a queue, it's a big place but they are totally geared up to seating (and serving) large numbers of people via personal radios and a very slick system.

I ate fabulously there a couple of times and the prices were reasonable and there was a decent number of locals eating there too. Oddly, as well as all the Spanish food, they do some Chinese too.

Just googled it and there's a review echoing pretty much what I've just said here:-
http://www.barcelona-tourist-guide.com/restaurants/reviews/la-fonda-restaurant.html

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