Barcelona Hotel

[BellyDancer124]

Hi all,

Just booked flights for Barcelona in October. Does anyone have any recommendations for hotels/areas/things we must do? Thanks!

Sagrada familia is amazeballs but do it when sun is shining.

Try the Retrome Barcelona- very cool

E bike tour was good too.

Stay off the ramblas as it's a bit touristy and generally crap

Enjoy

Book the tourist bus. It's well worth it.
Go up the Columbus monument for great views
Prebook Sagrada and tower...Avoids all the queues.
Hotel Espana is lovely, with a rooftop pool and bar. And amazing breakfast.

Thank you both!

Columbus tower is at te very bottom of the Ramblas, near the sea. Great views from up top.

There us a fab cable car from Montjuic (mountain, where all the Olympic stuff was) right down to the beach.

Gaudi's Parc Guell is lovely, as are his Casa Battlò (in the centre, 3-4 blocks up from Placa Espanya), and La Pedrera (6 or so more blocks up the same street: Passeig de Gracia).

I'd say Rambla Catalunya is safer (fewer pickpockets, fewer tourists) for people watching than Las Ramblas. Also has coffee shops etc on it and some nice clothes shops, trees for shade etc. If you go up there and turn left onto Mallorca street the first restaurant on the left is called Cerveceria Catalana and does FANTASTIC food.

There is another great restaurant in the old quarter but i forget the name. I'll google them for you.

Hotels are the main thing. There is a lot to see and you need somewhere relaxing and central at the end of the day.
In terms of weekend trip areas it goes( top to bottom) ; beach, old town ( right) Ramblas ( right), massive square where all the tourist buses are and then the Eixample ( Guadi buildings).
The old gothic quarter is where you do most walking so it's good to be round here. Recommend Dequesa de Cardonna, Catalonia Catedral, 1898. Also recommend H10 hotel up by Casa Mila. Lovely rooms that overlook the famous rooftop. Saves you buying tickets in advance as you are right there.

Cerveceria Catalonia has good food but is rammed. Really busy massive queues. It is all the tourist guides!
Go to the beach and eat at on of the nightclubs!.They don't become clubs until 11pm. The food is really good ( not nightclub food). Shoko has a fab menu for lunch too - three courses for 16€ and a drink. Most tourists donn't nother to go that far up the beach so it's locals celebrating and the cool kids from the uber expensive beach hotels.

We did a walking food tour in the Gracia area - was less crowded with tourists and food was delicious.

If your budget is up to it, I also recommend the tasting menu at Cinq Sentits (we did this as a family for a special occasion. Again, delicious).

We were definitely all about the food when we went!

Sagrada Familia is worth a visit, even just to look at the outside, but if you're going inside up a tower make sure you've booked before you go. Otherwise you'll queue to buy tickets one day and have to return to visit another! (Booking easily done online before you travel).

La Boqueria is worth a visit but it does get crowded.

Bus tours are worth every penny.

We stayed in a hotel just off Las Ramblas (Hotel Silken Ramblas) and found it to be very good. We usually went out for breakfast and dinner so I can't comment on any of the food there. I was expecting it to be noisy because of the location but it wasn't at all.