Port Aventura near Barcelona - what's the low down?

[BitOutOfPractice]

Have you been? What tips have you got?

Don't bother telling me not to go because it's booked

Nobody wants their nectarines confiscated

thanks bitout! I tried trip advisor there but couldnt find anything, the portaventura site sold 3 day passes, 2 days the the theme park and one day at the waterpark, but we'd want it the other way round so no good to us really

will check in later

I've been and I thought it was fab but then I love theme parks. As I remember it was better than most theme parks here in UK, Legoland, Chessington etc. Its close to Salou, which I am sorry to say I thought was a bit of a dump. Didn't go to the waterpark as ds was too small.

Salou is a bit grim but it has a lovely beach with playgrounds and lots of sand

We've been to Portaventura a few times and really enjoyed it. I think fast passes are worth it as the queues can be pretty long. The food isn't great - the more expensive restaurants can be worse than the more basic ones. The fireworks at midnight are good fun.

ssd its cheaper to buy tickets in the UK. The water park in LA Pineda is better for older ones. I went last year with a group of families and the older ones preferred aquapolis better than the port adventure water park.

thats good to know, thanks.

I've just ordered mytickets

The fireworks- water fountain show is worth staying on for in the evening if you can. It gets very hot during the day but there at water fountains dotted about the you can fill up a bottle from.

is there fireworks every night then?

what tickets did you order bitoutof?

We went about 6 years ago. We loved it and were impressed by the shows. The air con was lovely too. The queues for rides were not as bad as uk theme parks.

We stayed in Salou and bought our tickets at a local restaurant that advertised half price port adventura tickets if you buy a meal. It saved us loads.

We're going in September with our 21 month old DS. Can't wait! We're staying in the Hotel Gold River, which wasn't too expensive in September considering park tickets are included. I went when I was a child about 19 years ago so I'm excited to go back with my son and see how much has changed. When are you going OP? (Sorry if you've already said, I did read the full thread but may have missed that!)

We are going 2 August! Notlong now! Kids excited!

We are staying at the goldriver too easterbunny, we are going in August. We stayed at the hotel portaventura last year and it was great.

It really is a good theme park OP, my kids love it there. There is a really lovely atmosphere at night time as well. There are loads of shows to see, plus the street parade at the end of the night.

Ooooh it sounds so exciting, I can't wait! I just hope that the weather is still nice in September.

We found it so hard to decide between all of the portaventura hotels, we almost booked Hotel Caribe, but decided on Gold River in the end.

Hope you all have a lovely time!

After commenting on this thread I have booked another holiday at portaventura for next year ... We have Been twice and loved it so hopefully it will be just as amazing if not better ..

All the hotels are lovely but we chose the portaventura over the caribe simply because of access . It's entrance is So close to the park .

Actually we probably should have booked that one for that very reason, as we are taking our 20 month old so ease of access to and from the hotel would have been very useful with a potentially sleeping toddler in tow! Oh well, hopefully Gold River will be lovely, maybe we can stay in the Portaventura one next year

I think gold river has direct access though ?

Website says direct access . It's right on the park ..caribe is over the road with El Paso .

Yes the Gold river has direct access, it brings you out in the wild west. However, you can't walk into Salou from the hotel entrance, so you have to go through the theme park.

The Portaventura hotel is easier to walk in to salou from there, but the corridors can be a nightmare in the hotel so we were a 10 min walk from reception.

We haven't stayed in the Gold River before, fingers crossed it is good.

We went a couple of years ago and stayed at the Port Aventura ,it was great ,some excellent coasters and a nice atmosphere.

I'm currently looking at booking yet again for next year have to wait for dh holidays to be confirmed. Who did you book with bishboshone?

Gold river does have direct access, it's a fab hotel. We've stayed in caribe and Portaventura, I prefer to have direct access too but once it's a PA hotel we are happy. :-) I think it might even be easier to walk into salou from the theme park exit/entry gates plus there will be shuttle buses available there. To be honest we often get a taxi as it's so hot fists about €10 each way to Portaventura, it's more expensive to gold river but you could get dropped at gates and walk.

I can't wait to go back:-)

I booked with thomson but through avios as my dh flies a lot and we had tonnes to use which reduced the price greatly . I got a free child place and some discount .

We're going in September and staying in hotel Portaventura, first time at a park hotel but I've been twice before when I was young.

I loved it, brilliant rides and shows and Salou is really lovely.

Has anyone been to the PA hotel? Was it nice? I'll have a 3yo (going on his birthday) and a 15mo.