Anyone been to Barcelona?

helzzz

loves SW!!
Hubby and I are planning on going to Barcelona in September. I'm at uni and on a full time placement so I'm not able to earn money at the mo. My lovely hubby has said he'll pay for us both to go. :)

We still don't want to spend a fortune as money is a little tight but at the same time don't want to stay in a total hole. Can anyone recommend anywhere to stay that's reasonably priced and within walking distance of the main attractions? I'm thinking £100 a night for a room would be the absolute maximum we could afford.

Also does anyone have any recommendations for things to do that aren't too expensive?

Thanks.
 
Wow how exciting, Barcelona is brill. Me & OH went in September, we went as part of 'The Sun holidays from £9.50' & stayed in a mobile home in Villa del Gethru. We got the train to Barcelona, & nearby places. In Barcelona we took a tour bus round, I think it was €22 each and then on another day took a closer look at the places we wanted to visit.

We also went to Monserrat which is an amazing place, definately worth a trip & we also took the train to Figures (near the France boarder) & visited the Dali museum, this just messed with my brain but such a wonderful place again worth visiting.

How exciting, you can add me as a friend on FB if you wish & take a look at my photos.
 
Me- its awesome. There are loads of flat rentals that you can get for less than £100 a night, just off the Ramblas so great for sight seeing.

I don't know what you are into but for a night out go out as late as possible- most locals won't even start partying til after 11 and clubs won't get full til gone 1am. Make sure you end up in Razzmatazz. I'm not a big clubhead but it's a brilliant place.

For the daytime you have to do a Gaudi tour, Park Guell is a great setting for a picnic and Segrada Familia is a must see. Of a night, the Port area is great for food and not too expensive- lots to choose from.

Take head what you read about pickpockets though- i've been four times and been either mugged or pickpocketed on 3 occasions. I'm a pretty savvy traveller too!

You can't not enjoy yourself, it's my second fave city break!
 
Don't forget to take your bikini as there is a fantastic beach not so far away from the city center, also lots of restaurants on the main street is very expensive but just a few meters off main street is much much cheaper, invest in a good guide book or borrow from a public library ( it saves money ) it is a really handy to have! I do agree with JezzOnSavage - must see - are Segrada Familia and park Guell ( my favourite place) and remember loots of sunscreen lotion! we went to see U2 in June and on all the photos I look like a massive red, ripe tomato lol
hotel we booked on line as there is a lot of choice , just make sure that you will read reviews before you book ;-)
Enjoy Barcelona as it is a fantastic city, full of colour, smell and lots of partys late late night!
 
Enjoy! We ha a day there hen on our cruise and it's one of my favourite places now!
We did the bus tour. but unless you are killing time don't bother including the stadium, (unless he wants to do the tour of the stadium as the outside is boring old corrugated steel!
 
Hubby and I are planning on going to Barcelona in September. I'm at uni and on a full time placement so I'm not able to earn money at the mo. My lovely hubby has said he'll pay for us both to go. :)

We still don't want to spend a fortune as money is a little tight but at the same time don't want to stay in a total hole. Can anyone recommend anywhere to stay that's reasonably priced and within walking distance of the main attractions? I'm thinking £100 a night for a room would be the absolute maximum we could afford.

Also does anyone have any recommendations for things to do that aren't too expensive?

Thanks.


I adore Barcelona and live just a 4 and a half hour drive away. I have been known to drive there and back in the same day just to do some shopping and soak up the amazing atmosphere.

For several years I was there every other week competing and before that I was a guide.

I would recommend you stay as close to the city and La Rambla as possible to get the most out of your holiday. The Hotel Moderno
C/ Hospital 11, La Rambla, Barcelona, Spain 8001 is about 100 pounds a night and is actually on La Rambla. Might be as well to check availability now if you fancy it. There is also a system here called Bancotel. You buy prepaid vouchers for your hotel and it is really cheap for good hotels. If you would like me too I can get you more details from my local travel agents We used them all the time when we were competing . Here you pay for the room and not the person. There are some good deals around

As has been said a tour is a must. You can jump on an open top bus but beware there are at least 3 different tour. For my money the best one is the Historic Tour which takes in The Sagrada Familia and a lot of Gaudis works. You can get on and off at any of the stops. There is so much to see and do it takes careful planning.

A walk in the Barrio Gotico is a must. This is just off La Rambla.

http://www.eadp.org/pictures/Cathedrale.jpg
The cathedral is amazing.

The market La Boqueria is also on La Rambla and is a fascinating place.
http://t1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTP4uUiPp4oIhoeodj89S1YCUlT1Ga6L0GBnStB4pTuyCGDurUR6UyGLzI

If you walk to the port end of La Rambla, you just keep walking with the Plaza Catalunia to your back, you will come to the port and there you will find a Catamaran where you can board and have a drink and tapas or just a drink. Fantastic !!!

If you stay close to la Rambla you can walk to most of the City Centre attractions. The shopping is amazing. Between the Plaza Catalunia and the Gothic area there is a myriad of tiny, narrow streets packed with lovely little shops.


For tapas my favourite place is at the beginning of La Rambla If you stand with your back to the Plaza Catalunia and walk down La Rambla it is not very far down and on your right hand side . It only has about 4 tables outside but has loads inside .The tapas are amazing and so many to choose from.

Have a drink one night outside on La Rambla you will get a free cabaret show. It is amazing. Bands, acrobats, tumblers, mummers.

However beware of pickpockets they are so active in Barcelona and work in groups. Watch your bags and your wallets.

I could go on for ever. I love Barcelona.

You will enjoy your time there so much.

How long are you going for ????
 
Barcelona is lovely, but like everyone else said - beware of pickpockets, make sure you have a cross the body bag and keep it at the front, zipped up, with your hand on it (especially on the ramblas at night time), I only ever took out a small amount of cash and left cards etcs in safe in room.

We stayed at this hotel Grand Marina | luxury hotel Barcelona | 5 star Barcelona hotel was amazing and not that expensive, think we got a deal through lastminute.com.

You'll need quite a bit of spending money too... I remember buying 2 500ml bottles of fanta and they were 4 euros each, owch.

Oh oh - also, go on the open top bus tour, that was my favourite part.. enjoy xxx
 
Where did you buy Fanta at that price ???

It can be bought in any supermarket for 1€ or less and n The Plaza Catalunia there is a Corte Ingles department store which has a supermarket in the basement. It is an expensive store but Fanta there is about 95cents for a 1 litre bottle.
 
It was down by the harbour in a kiosk so knew it wouldn't be the cheapest.. just really hard to find supermarkets when you don't know where to look etc.
 
Hi all, thanks for some fab advice and suggestions. I've not been on minimins on a computer, just my phone, so it's a pain writing much on this. When I get back on the computer I'll respond properly to people. I'm really excited about Barcelona and will share the info with hubby so we can think about booking soon.
 
I was there just last weekend, but cant really add anything more than has already been said.

There were 6 of us, so it was cheapest for us to stay in an apartment, but with 2 of you it can be a bit more expensive.

Bars and drinks are pretty expensive (about 4-5 euro for a half litre beer) but drinks in the supermarkets are really cheap - we were drinking very passable bottles of sangria bought from El Corte Ingles that were 1 euro for a 1.5 litre bottle!

We were also drinking infinitely less passable cartons of wine that were 54 cents for a litre (they came in juice type cartons, the red wasnt the worst I've had and fine mixed with coke, the rose was vile though)

Another vote for the open top bus tour here, we went with the Bus Touristic one - it was 23euro for a one day pass but 30 euros for a 2 day pass - worth getting I think for the extra 7 euro as it covers 3 separate routes and there is an awful lot to see. We find that it gives you a good idea of what there is to see - you can hop off and see things then and there - or you can use the tour to give you an idea what's out there, then decide to come back to things later if you wish.

Once you decide what you might want to go back to see make use of the public transport system - its terrific value - you can buy a T-10 ticket (you can use the same one between you and pass it back) - it gives you 10 journeys on metro/buses/trams etc (so 5 between 2 of you) and costs somewhere between 8-9 euros. Remember that once you have passed through a validation point it remains active for 75 mins (so if you need to change from bus to train for example to get somewhere you dont need to use a separate journey)

A tip for saving pennies - worth getting off the main drags to get slightly cheaper prices - we found what was almost like a mini Ramblas in the El Raval area running alongside that was tons cheaper (although you had to walk through a little bit of a red light district to get to it so maybe not for later in the evening!) Also, most places charge a premium for outside/terrace service - I saw it range from 25c per item, to 1 euro 25 per item, other places did it as 10% of total bill.

Sometimes its nice to sit inside anyway when its been hot all day.

We saw some excitement when we were there - the reason for the trip was to go to Primavera festival (Pulp were headlining and were amazing) but there were also protests going on in Placa de Catalunya plus the Champions League final was on.

Horrid scenes in the Plaza on Friday as the police tried (and failed) to clear the protesters to allow big screens for the Champions league final - it had been a peaceful protest but it seems the police waded in with batons and hospitalised nearly a hundred people.

A nicer experience killing time on Sunday before our late flight - noticed some big crowds forming, went to investigate to discover it was the Barcelona team on a victory parade around the city - crowds were immense -but it was so well organised it dispersed really quickly and when we needed to get the bus back to the airport you'd never have realised that just moments ago the streets were packed with people.

Our group seemed to be fairly fortunate and didnt experience any trouble with pickpockets - in fact I remembered it being much worse when I was there in 2005. But do take care of your belongings - an accross the body bag with a zip is probably your best bet.

Have fun - I loved it!
 
Loads of fab advice here but just to add - if you can fit it in, do a bike tour! I did one in the summer and it was a really amazing way to see the city. The tour bus is great as well but with the bike tour you get to see the city how the locals do.

Love Barcelona! x
 
I am off to Barcelona in 3 weeks. Great to read all the advice :)

You will love it. It is an amazing city. In fact I feel a day trip coming on..................... hmmmmmmmmm:)
 
Hi all,

Hubby ended up going to a 4 day week just after I started this thread so money was tight and we couldn't go to Barcelona. However, after Christmas he went back to a 5 day week and I got a full time job so we're going in September. :D 5 nights staying in the Hotel Lleo which was recommended by my aunt and uncle who've stayed there. I'm so excited - it's our first holiday in 3 years.

Thanks for all of the advice. I'll definitely be using a lot of it.
 
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