Barcelona

[Explored]

We're off on an adventure holiday in the Pyrenees (not 'til next summer!).

It's just for a week and we fly into and out of Barcelona. Having decided that 10 days is the optimum length for a family holiday, were considering staying on for a few days in Barcelona.

If so, what would we do/see with young teens? Any recommendations for a hotel, whereabouts do we need to stay? Is Barcelona in August a good idea?

My main concern is that once the main holiday is over and we're on the way home, will we just be marking time until it's time to actually leave, or will Barcelona be a great holiday in itself?

What do you think?

Barcelona is a lovely city- take the hop on hop off bus to get an overview of it. Lots of quirky gaudi architecture to admire- the queue for the sagrada familia will be long, but parc guell is great! Football fans will love the stadium, people watching dandering down las rambles ( watch your bags!) and there's even beaches in reach.

Definitely watch your bags/belongings. I had a weekend ruined after having the contents of mine swiped. The bag was as my feet whilst we had a quick drink, to this day I still can't figure out how I didn't bloody notice!

I also would say watch your belongings. I had my purse taken from my bag. And like the previous poster have no idea how they did it. But apart from the thieves Barcelona is a lovely place to be.

Loads to see, I went when I was a teen and loved it. Agree though that you need to keep hold of your bags and don't talk to over friendly people as they are likely to be picking your pockets or removing your watch without you noticing .

We went this summer for three nights before a week on the Costa Dorada and it was great. DC are 10&12. We did the hop on/hop off bus one day, which was good for taking us to different places, but the commentary wasn't that informative. Took taxis to Camp Nou for the tour and to Parc Guell, which were about €10/15. Walked past the Sagrada Familia, but it was heaving and very hot, so we just took photos! Stayed at the Novotel Barcelona City which was a bit out of the centre, but it had a small pool on the roof and was opposite a smallish shopping mall which had a Carrefour, McD's and a few restaurants.

i've been to the football stadium twice and even i enjoyed it with my 2 sons. there's the beach and just wandering around. my other son has just been to barcelona, again, and mentined the cable car. you might find this part the highlight of your whole holiday. he also enjoyed the gaudi gardens

queue in feb was too long for the sagrada, but my son also enjoyed wandering around the outside. you shouldn't miss this.

i didn't bother keeping any valuables in my cross-body handbag. i kept my money in a pocket inside my coat.

I would stay not at the beach but by Port Vell. It is not only the prettiest part ( view of plan tree and yatchs ) but the easiest location for La Ramblas, the old town Barri Gotic area and the beach and easy to walk to the congested centre. Duquesa de Cardona and Port Catalona both good. Don't go beach side of the road because that is a trek into town.
Otherwise recommend the area around the badly named Hotel Colon.
Ignore all the tripadvisor comments about saying around Placa de Catalunya - unless you like staying next to what is essentially a bus station.

I don't think there is a centre as such because it's a few very different areas squashed together in one town and quite a lot of the sights are placed equidistant around the outskirts. It is easy to walk around and taxis are cheap and much quicker than the buses.

Yes you have to be wary of pickpockets but I have been 6 times without incident and I'm clueless - always leaving bags open etc. The metro is the place to watch yourself the most.

I love Barcelona. (am going next weekend!)

How about staying in a resort for a few days nearby to the city. That way you can relax on the beaches and in the smaller resort - without the busy city every day and night.

That is what i did last year with DS. We stayed up the coast in Calella - the train takes about an hour or so into Barcelona and is a nice ride.So we got to see the city a couple of days, but also rested up in a quieter resort by the sea.

(cheaper too!)

We only had a day there this year and I was not expecting much as I'm not a city lover.
In fact I was blown away by it. It was the highlight of my holiday. We have two teenage boys and they were also thrilled with it. I would love to go back.

We did the open top bus tour which is a good way to get an overall feel. If you did that the first day you could then go back to the places you liked the look of.
We were warned about rogues and thieves and I did feel that made us a little wary. My DC are not very streetwise so it was probably no bad thing to teach them how to watch bags etc. We were ripped off at cafes though.

We have been three times and it's fabulous! It will be hot and busy in August but not unbearably so. The metro is fantastic. We prefer it to buses as it's very quick and clean. Buy a ten fare ticket for about 11euros, you can share them within the family group and the lines are colour coded and numbered which makes it simple to travel around. The first time we visited we stayed in the Gothic quarter in a hotel, and the other visits we drove in from our holiday rental and parked in an underground car park at the main bus station. The market in the Ramblas is amazing. There is so much to do and see. Do watch your bag though. It's the pick pocketing capital of Europe, apparently.