Where to stay in Barcelona

TexasChainstoreMascara

Planning a few days/week in Barcelona for our family this year but it's such a massive place I wondered if anyone could advise on where to base ourselves?

We would like to be close enough to the beaches to treat it as a normal summer holiday, but also not too far away from the city for shopping or a bit of the culture and history of the place, so that we can get a city break experience too.

From a bit of google mapping and searching I'm thinking Sant Marti but I've not based that on any real science. Any help appreciated.

richardw

If you have a day at the beach, do you want to get a taxi or bus back to the hotel?
It really depends on how you want to do things and also what you want to do public transport wise.

TexasChainstoreMascara

I suppose we'd be fine with either taxis or the tube- which I hear is very good in Barcelona. All I'm looking for is an area to base ourselves where we are neither too far away from one thing or the other.

aaroncaz

How abt Stiges? Not stayed there myself but it's supposed to be very nice and not far from Barcelona.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sitges

richardw

I'd pick a place nr the beach so you can have some relaxing walking not too far only days.

If you were based in Sitges you'd have some long days in Barcelona, which could be tiring. The pink pound pushes prices of accommodation up in Sitges.

flea72

The sea at barcelona never seems to warm up and its quite rough, and drops away sharply. So id say sunbathing only, espec if you have young children. I find half a day at the beach is more than enough, as theres so much else to do in the city

Its much like london, in that area doesnt really matter as long as you are within a 5 min walk of the underground, as transport links are so good. So just base where you stay, on what you can get for your budget. Most places you want to visit are spread out around the city, so you tend to block cover an area a day, ie beach is one end, park guell is the total other end. I personally prefer to stay towards the north of the city, as i find it more residential and less touristy

boliston

Had a barcelona holiday in 2010 and loved it - Mainly went for the city but had a good stroll along the beach along Passeig Martim - it the bit of beach near the main station and was really good with a cool sculpture on it and it's quite rare to get a major city with a beach so close. There is another bit of beach a bit further north east of this but i did not really have time to visit it.

aaroncaz

Wherever you decide to stay, you must try Runner Bean Walking tours, they are free you just give a donation at the end, they last abt 2 and a half hours and there is number of direct ones to choose from, I went on the Old City Walk it was one of the highlights of my trip, really enjoyed it as did my son. You can book online :

http://www.runnerbeantours.com

phatbear

Stay in barcelonetta, which is where the beach is and you will only be a 10/15min walk away from the main shopping area

slinga

phatbear wrote: »

Stay in barcelonetta, which is where the beach is and you will only be a 10/15min walk away from the main shopping area

Or stay in the city center and you are only a 10 to 15 min walk from the beach.

We've booked twice through AirBnB and had great apartments both times and inexpensive.

Barcelonetta is great for Tapas and the locals are really friendly.

We had a day trip to Sitges which we found disappointing and wished we'd stayed in Barcelona for that day.

Agree about the 'free' walking tours. Forget which one we used but it was excellent.

Blue264

TexasChainstoreMascara wrote: »

From a bit of google mapping and searching I'm thinking Sant Marti but I've not based that on any real science. Any help appreciated.

Sant Marti can be quite a mixed bag of an area but has great hotels and facilities. It's definitely an area where I would do a Google Strret map walk around of the area before booking, and either stay close to Avinguda Diagonal or Ronda Litoral, but be aware that latter is very busy in the daytime.

I've stayed at the Novotel Barcelona City and loved it because it's opposite the Glòries shopping centre which has all the food and drink options you could wish for. Glòries also has a large Carrefour which is perfect for buying everything you need for a picnic on the beach. The Novotel has a small rooftop pool with panoramic views over to Sagrada Familia, and from the tram stop across the road, you have direct access to the city centre and the beach (just catch the tram for the zoo / Port Olimpic and walk from there).

Also had lunch at Melia Barcelona Sky, which is a stunning hotel and about 10-15mins walk from the beach.