Barcelona in April with kids 4yo,12yo 17yo

[MrsZlatan]

Ignoring all the Coronavirus stuff for now..

I’ve never been to Barcelona and I’m planning on taking 3 DC over the Easter hols.

I’ve got my flights and found accommodation in a good location for a reasonable ish price so looking in things to do places to eat etc.

Anyone have an tips - my budget will be fairly minimal and my dc are fairly fussy - the eldest would eat in Mc Donald’s everyday if he were allowed...

Any tips, must do’s, must avoid?

A day trip to Port Aventura
See the fountains at night
Football stadium
Wander about La Ramblas
Zoo

The football stadium tour is great.

La Rambla is fun - touristy but fun.

La Boqueria market is a feast for the eyes and tastebuds. Lots of street food type things.

The beach is great.

Food wise - there's lots of pizza and tapas type places everywhere you go. Try and avoid La Rambla to eat as touristy and overpriced.

Plaza Reial is a beautiful square with lots of food places - some pricey, some not. We are there a couple of times as loved the atmosphere so much.

Plaza Reia

I’ve never got along with any restaurant recommendation. For one, you never find the place and two, they are always rammed to the gills.

However I recommend Shoko for lunch. Yes it’s a nightclub by night but the food is really good fusion cooking by day. It’s literally right on the beach down by the hotel Arts so a bit quieter as tourists don’t walk down that far ( lots of locals and push guests from the hotels) . Menu of the day is €16.50 for 3 courses, an alcoholic drink and coffee.

Citadella park in the afternoon, lots of musicians, lots of entertainers. Sit down , buy a 1 euro beer off the sellers walking round. Go on the boats. Just sit and relax a while. It's free. Definitely do the fountains at night , montjuic is lovely. You can get a cable car up or the fenicular train , nice castle at the top. , Do the Barca stadium tour , beach is good but go up a couple of bays less tourists and nicer.

Do carry money and phones in a bum bag. There are gangs of skillful pickpockets. But there is virtually zero other crime so it's otherwise safe

La Boqueria is a feast for the eyes and in the centre of La Rambla.

Sagrada Família is a must even if you don't rate Gaudi (I don't) but Barcelona Cathedral is much better imo.

Picasso museum is fab.

Gothic quarter is lovely.

Beach is worth a visit.

Parc Guell, really quirky place, you can spend ages walking around and there are lovely views in the distance.
Watch your belongings like a hawk, the pickpockets are everywhere and have ingenious ways of stealing, usually working in teams or groups. But don't let that put you off, once you take the fight precautions you will have a great stay.

Ignoring all the virus stuff yes, but do you have insurance? That's my top tip right now...

Please do not ignore coronavirus.

I know you said to ignore it but how can you responsibly ignore it?!

Er... not ignoring the Coronavirus? I’d be keeping an eye on the news, looking at my insurance, and taking a view on whether to cancel or not in a few weeks.

I would check travel insurance exclusions very carefully

Wow thank you. I’m going to check out all the suggestions. I had noted down La Boqueria so glad to see that’s worth a visit.

What I mean about ignoring Coronavirus is I’m ignoring the fact that I may not end up going if UK or Spain go into lockdown or something. I’m planning as if my trip is going ahead. I’m hoping once the weather starts warming up over the next few weeks the risks will reduce and we can crack on.

Thanks again some really good info

A warning about La Boqueria. Absolutely rammed. Maybe quieter because if the virus but otherwise forget the “ gave a nibble and cava “ at one of the market stalls. It’s carnage.

I live in Barcelona and have done for a very long time. We have 2 DC.

CosmoCaixa is top. It's the science museum. Amazing and the flooded forest is fantastic.

Parc Guell, lots of thing for adults to see and space for kids to run around.

Parc de Cervantes - The rose garden. Lots of parks within and April is the perfect time to go.
If you go to the rose garden then a 5-10 walk is Parc de Pedralbes. Also great with lots of cool parks inside.

Parc del Castell de l'Oreneta - Train rides and very cool park.

Honestly avoid the Rambla. It's just over priced pickpocket heaven. You'll be missing nothing by not going.

Hang out in Gracia. It's way better.

Great food, best tapas in BCN is Cerveceria Catalana. Good for all ages (we've been taking our kids there since they were very little).

All that said we are 10 days behind Italy with Coronavirus. New cases popping up by the hour and some friends (including us) are keeping our kids off school and cancelling anything unnecessary.

Pickpockets are pretty brazen in Barcelona, we were sat in Macdonald's and one tried to kick my bag from near my feet, in plain sight.

Sagrada familia is amazing even if you don't take the lift up. The zoo is ok, but (years ago) when we went, I thought our own UK zoos are much better with higher animal welfare standards.

It's wonderful. My kids (11, 8 and 6) thoroughly enjoyed it, as did we. Getting around on the Metro quickly became second nature to us and even the children knew where to get on and off it. I would go back in a heartbeat.

However, HOLD YOUR BELONGINGS TIGHTLY. It's really bad for pickpockets, especially Las Ramblas. I used a crossbody handbag and held on to the front. DH wore his back pack on his chest at Las Ramblas (as did many other tourists). It was also a lockable backpack where the zips met at a combination lock (really clever idea. About £15 from amazon).
Numerous times I watched the Lookie lookie men (the chaps yelling "Beer, water, Massage!" On the beaches, selling fake bags, sunglasses and beach blankets then bolting en masse when the police turned up) make a beeline straight for us, staring intently at DH's bag and then veering away when I peeked over his shoulder with a "What the fuck you doing, mate?" type look or when they realised it was locked.
Even on the beaches they didn't hide the fact they were staring directly at your belongings, only stopping when they clocked you watching them back.

And despite my vigilance and constant warning to my old dad who claimed he knew better as he was a seasoned traveller, he got his wallet lifted on the way to the airport home. Ffs.

Oh but I would never go back to the zoo. I thought our zoos were cramped and cruel but Barcelona was so, so sad. Alligators or whatever similar creatures that were almost bigger than their enclosures, having the choice to have their tails or head submerged but never both at the same time because it was just too small. The lion had a tiny enclosure too and was so damned thin and pathetic looking. It needs huge improvements.

As for restaurants, I highly recommend Kook on Passeig Sant Joan. Delicious!

Getting my head round fact pretty much all travel is not going to be happening for a while dd school trip at Easter just been cancelled by school 😥

mstswift, ditto... our plans are actually somewhere remote so “safer” but I’m realising that “home” might go to lockdown while we’re away and we might not be able to get back.

It’s really disappointing. Op just read All schools been closed in Madrid. I would be managing expectations about this trip going ahead tbh

Ha, we our “safer” place is staying that way as our flights have been cancelled and they’ve shut down their airports, personal international travel, aren’t allowing foreigners in and shut down the ski resorts and leisure facilities. Lorries and cargo are excluded and they’ve even lifted bans on no lorries on Sunday.

Meanwhile, here we’re told to keep calm and do fuck all so we get herd immunity.

Don't eat in any pavement cafes on Las Ramblas without prices on the menu

I wouldn't bother taking restaurant recommendations because it's a massive city and if someone says 'restaurant X' is great, you find yourself traipsing miles across a city to find it, only to have past dozens of equally great restaurants on the way. Look for the sorts of places filled with locals, or Spaniards at least. Menu del dia is a good way of getting a well priced two course lunch and you might find you are happy with smaller meals in the evening.

Look up the magic fountain. Visit the football stadium if anyone is remotely interested in football. Beach, cable car.

Fingers crossed you still get to go, some parts of Spain have gone onto the 'do not travel' list today .