Going to Barcelona

Techno

Accidently booked 2 nights in Barcelona instead of the skiing holiday darling OH thought I was booking (oops!! :shhh:)
Some questions for any of you lovely MSEers who have ever been
1. The Barcelona card looks fairly good value - has anyone used one and is it cheapest to buy at the airport on arrival or online before we go?
2. Some recommendations for really good places to eat away from the tourist rubbish? - we are staying in the Gothic quarter
3. Which tourist attactions are not to be missed (and on the other hand what should we not bother with)?
Many thanks
Techno

millymollymandy2K7

Lucky you, I was in Barcelona in june and loved every minute of it. There is so much to do that the 3 days I had there just wasn't enough. If you want to take in as many attractions as possible in a short space of time I recommend you get at ticket for the open top tourist bus. There are a few companies that operate such buses and the one we chose was Barcelona Bus Touristic. Tickets cost around 19 Euros (sorry don't know how to get the Euro sign on keyboard ) for 1 day and 24 Euros for 2 days. There are 3 different bus routes (red, blue and green) and you are given a little booklet of discount vouchers for attractions along the way and earphones to plug into the seat to listen to comentary while you are in transit. There's loads of stops for the buses and you can jump on and off all day long.
We visited a few museums, the Nou Camp, Guadi's Garden amongst other places in this way and also just got on and off at areas we wanted to explore a bit. It's a great way to see the city and we thought it was fantastic value for money. Have an amazing time

http://bcnshop.barcelonaturisme.com/Barcelona-Bus-Tur!stic/_vf-SMlY1yIuKQTV1aq49kKCgwDafpeejnRwsm88Z7sdfv8OFeC-vZgG_8GlNvePsYR1karg1kUhpjn1BAQf0vg

TBeckett100

for something to eat there is a nice restaurant if you walk down Ferran (runs off the ramplas at McDonalds), 2 mins on the right neading up to the square is a restaurant , i think it begins with a T, but they have the restaurant letters on the back of their chairs. you willo see it.

Also SCHILLING on Ferran is a good place for a drink and sandwich.
Also on Ferran and Ramblas is another restaurant that advertises specials of paella and sangria for a few euros.

Lara44

Hey Techno

We went there last year and had an amazing time. I would recommend the newsletter Le Cool

http://lecool.com/cities/barcelona/subscriptions/new

They also do a guide book, which is amazing - it shows you all the secret local and super cool spots. We went to a restaurant called Opaco/Opaqo sp??? which was near tube station Jaume I which was where we found a lot of good restaurants. We only went for the weekend too and still found it good value to buy the Le Cool book as you'll definitely want to go there again, it's a great place. OH and I are taking spanish classes so we can move there for a year.

Have a good time!

blue_haddock

If you are going to be there on a sunday i can highly recommend taking a walk along the promenade behind the beach - all the locals come out and it's really nice to stroll along enjoying the sun and watching the locals.

Techno

Thanks for your ideas - yes we will be there on Sunday (flight lands at 10:30 and will only have hand luggage) Thought we could do La Sagrada Familia then walk back along the prom/ through the harbour, Was going to do Mont Juic on Monday (31st) but the cable car doen't start til April? So may leave til Tuesday.
Our hotel is (apparantly) very close to Jaume I so will check out your recommendations LaraHoust - are you planning to move to Barcelona or somewhere else in Spain?
millymollymandy - what was noucamp like and was it expensive?
Did anyone buy the Barcelona card? It's not cheap but all of those admissions and tube/bus journeys add up!!

TBeckett100

noucamp is free to browse. another way of getting up to montjuic and noucamp is to take the metro the espana and have a stroll up the hill to the mansion. avoid pueblo espanol waste of money

T._x

I went couple of years ago and thought the open top bus was excellent. The Nou Camp was well worth seeing (I must've spent about an hour in the shop just across) and Mont Juic. La Ramblas is the most famous pedestrian avenue with entertainers and people carrying roses etc, just watch how you carry your handbags/wallets. Placa de Cataluyna had great shops and I actually went to Montserrat for some pictures.

Taxi's were okay, but I've no doubt the drivers took us the longer routes.

TBeckett100

Montserrat was a "long day"

millymollymandy2K7

I'm sure the Nou Camp was around 10 or 11 euros for the tour (not with a guide) i remember thinking it was a reasonable price anyway from what i had expected it to be, and I certainly thought it was worth the visit (even if just to say I've been ). It really is quite spectacular. everyone i know who has been to the Nou Camp said they enjoyed it, probably helps to be a bit of a footie fan though!

Having spent the first 2 days exploring the city on the bus touristic, the third day we took a full day bus tour which included a visit to Torres winery and vineyard, Montserrat and Sitges.

By using the 2 day bus ticket we never needed to get taxi's as the buses were running until 8 - 9 pm and as we were staying just off Catalunya Square and las ramblas we were central for restuarants at night.

i've every intention of visiting Barcelona again and hope to get some shopping in next time so intend taking an empty suitcase to fill up while there. :rolleyes:

MrSmartprice

We were in Barcelona a couple of weeks ago. We'd done the Camp Nou tour last time, but this time we got to a match there, the Copa del Rey S/F against Valencia. I have been to all the major grounds here, and quite a few abroad, but Camp Nou beats the lot.

Parc Guell is worth a look. And don't miss the Boqueria Market just off the Ramblas. There are several bars in there that serve excellent tapas, and it's a spectacular place anyway.

Money saving tip: From the airport, the Aerobus costs e4.05 each way. But there is a normal bus service, No. 46, that runs from the terminal to Placa Espanya for e1.30 on a normal ticket. It connects with the Metro there. Even better is that if you get a T-10 ticket for e7.20 you can get 10 journeys on bus, metro or tram. (One ticket can be shared by two people as long as you validate it twice each time.) The ticket is also valid on the 46 bus, so your transfers can cost 72c each instead of e4.05. Plus, if you have used the metro the ticket is valid for 75 minutes from validation on a bus too, so you get an even better deal.

http://www.tmb.net/en_US/barcelona/moute/targetes/targetes.jsp