Barcelona tips and gems please!

[purplelass]

I'm going to Barcelona for a few days with my 16yo DD soon. We've already scheduled in beach time and the dancing fountains but as we like quirky things rather than mainstream touristy stuff, what else should we check out please?

And any tips for where to eat would be great, we're staying in the gothic quarter.

Thanks very much!

La Sagrada Familia is definitely worth going inside. Buy tickets online before you go. The church has large stained-glass windows and their effect is most striking mid-morning and mid to late-afternoon. If you don't mind heights, the views from the towers are amazing, but there's no elevator on the way down from the towers, so you’ll have to descend a very long, very narrow series of corkscrew stairs. If you don’t like being confined to small spaces, this may not be the best thing for you. If you go up the towers, you’ll have the opportunity to choose between the Passion Towers and the Nativity Towers. The Passion Towers give you a better view of the ocean. The Nativity Towers give you better views of the mountain range behind Barcelona.
Definitely go to Park Guell and explore every nook and cranny. Get there as soon as it opens in the morning and take your time. Also take water and a snack.
Casa Battllo is worth going inside. Book in advance otherwise you'll have to wait in two queues! Try and go early in the day and don’t bother waiting in line for the ridiculously over priced gift shop.
About two thirds of the way up the Ramblas, on the left, there’s one of Europe's largest and most famous food markets, La Boqueria. Visit at least twice, once for lunch and once before you go home for souvenirs!
Eyescream and Friends ice cream parlour is great fun. It’s on the waterfront just across from the aquarium.
La Nena chocolateria started out as a chocolate cafe and got a name for itself by serving the best churros and hot chocolates. It's diversified into salads, sandwiches and burgers too, but I defiantly recommend the churros!

Awesome! Thank you Ricekrispie

We enjoy getting the cable car up Montjuic and also then the cable car across to the beach. For views with no cost then the rooftop bar at the Barcelona Raval is good and only a 10 min walk from Las Ramblas.

We didn't rate Parc Guell at all but everyone is different.

Go to Gracia District for a wander around, some food, some fun. You will not regret it. I promise.

Thanks nmg85 and Outsomnia - recommendations from people who have been there are so much better than just relying on guide books!

Be warned though. Sagrada familia will be mobbed. It’s very touristy with a McDonald’s and a Costa coffee by it! I’d only go if I’d got the first tickets if the day. We did the hop in and hop off bus tour and took one look and left it. Picasso museum was good - not sure if the age of your child though and tolerance for such things. The city is just amazing, so cool and vibrant. A walk round the Marina is nice. As is walking through the park with the Arc de Triomf - there were lots of street performers there. Also lots of really safe bike lanes through the city too.

Thanks Gwynfluff
DD is 16 and quite artsy so the museum might be worth checking out if we want to escape from the sun for a bit!

If you want superb burgers, sublime chipa and fabulous cocktails near the beach then head to MAKAMAKA

Makamaka Beach Burger Café. 8.8. Passeig de Joan de Borbó 76 (Carrer del Judici), Barcelona,

DD is 16 and quite artsy so the museum might be worth checking out if we want to escape from the sun for a bit!

Go to the Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya as well, then. It's right at the top of the hill behind the dancing fountain. I spent a fascinating couple of hours browsing.

The first thing I did after arriving in Barcelona was climb up there & sit in front with a glass of wine while a busker played Hotel California and the view from the museum roof is amazing.

Everything gaudi!
It's really safe except for pickpockets. Always use a bum bag for valuables. There is v little other crime. To eat stay away from the tourist traps. Get off the rambles and head into a different district. I love the area with the arc d triumph fabulous restaurants there

We had a great meal at Cuines Santa Caterina in Santa Caterina Market. It's near the cathedral and you can't miss the building as it has an amazing wavy multicoloured roof. To be honest we just walked around loads and ate and drank at random places (mainly ate tapas and drank cava) and all the food was great.

I've lived there many years OP. My biggest recommendation would be to not eat around tourist areas, just avoid. Don't eat anywhere with photos of the food on the menu! Don't eat paella unless you're on a beach bar and you're paying €12+ a head, or you're likely to have a crappy microwave version.

When ordering beer, ask for a 'can-ya'. This is about half a pint of draft lager e.g. estrella. Spanish people don't order 'cerveza' - it doesn't mean anything, they order by the size. The reason they order half pints is so it stays cold. Very normal to have multiples of these, they are cheap!

Always use a bum bag for valuables. not necessary just don't walk around distracted with your bag open. Something that zips that is kept in front of your eyeline, over the shoulder or normal handbag is fine. Don't put your phone on tables in cafes or restaurants as people come and put paper or maps over and grab them from underneath. It's really a very safe city though as it's the culture to stay up later and have dinner late so families and groups of friends are mooching around happily until 1am. Avoid Las Ramblas.

There is no Uber in Barcelona, but the metro is brilliant and really safe. Open quite late, all night on Friday and Saturday. The yellow taxis are easy to find and reasonably priced.

Oh and lunch time is 1pm onwards, dinner is 8.30pm onwards. If a restaurant is happily serving food at 6pm, avoid like the plague, as it'll be for tourists.

El Nacional on Passeig de Gracia (the posh shopping area above las ramblas) is a great restaurant to have a try of everything local. It's like a huge open room with lots of little bars and tables and different cuisines. Great atmosphere. www.elnacionalbcn.com/en/ I always recommend this to my visitors, not so well known amongst tourists but really brilliant.

There is an app showing where the free water fountains in the city are so you can refill your water bottle while sightseeing - sorry, I can’t remember what it’s called but I’m sure it can be found via google.

There was a flea market next to the fort. It was very good.

The street markets sell budgies in cages.

There's a sex museum somewhere on La Ramblas. It's just some porno paintings and antique sex toys.

Sagra Familia was interesting. There were street entertainers opposite posing with a baby doll because they were pretending to be Mary and Joseph !

Barcelona Cathedral is a different building to this.

There's a walking tour around the city with signboards at various points.

The Picasso museum is interesting. Basically, he could paint properly IMO he just produced any old shit once he had established his brand.

As has been mentioned, is Park Guell is good and the little house now museum where Gaudi lived in the park.

The huge food market already mentioned sells, amongst other lovely things, sheep heads with their eyes still in !

If you go to the beach, you can see the Olympic stadium and the whale on top of it. There's also a structure, somewhere on the beach. No indication what it is or why it's there. It's pretty much a modern art Folly. If it's still there.

We ate paella at an open air piazza.

There was a storm at night when we were there. It lit up the alleyway in the old town where we were staying better than any horror movie !

I'd start with the tourist bus, you can get on and off and you'll get an idea of where things are, its hard work walking!

There is no Uber in Barcelona, but the metro is brilliant and really safe.

This. I bought a travelcard & whizzed about all over the place on the metro.

Bar Celta Pulperia in the old town. Amazing place. Great food and really authentic feel.

www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Restaurant_Review-g187497-d7708330-Reviews-Bar_Celta_Pulperia-Barcelona_Catalonia.html

If you are into quirky things, have a look at Hospital de Sant Pau, a UNESCO World Heritage site in Barcelona. It’s a modernist building, built as a hospital. Parts of it are still in use.
If you go to the Picasso museum, bear in mind that a lot of the early work is quite graphic.
We also enjoyed Palau Guell, the first mansion built in Barcelona by Gaudi.

These are all great, thanks! I'll print this thread off before I go as I'll never remember it all

Have a drink in Els Quatre Gats, a quirky cafe which Picasso frequented.

For the metro get a T-10, you can share between you and your daughter and it's 10 full journeys. You can also use on buses.

Been a few years since I've been there but I would recommend MACBA (www.macba.cat/en/) and the area around it for bars and lunch places. You're best doing your main meal at lunch with a "menu del dia". Also while it is a safe city in terms of physical safety it is RIFE with pickpockets and they are clever and brazen. Basically expect to get stuff stolen. Never leave a bag on the back of a chair or on the floor or even sitting on the table in front of you. Groups of people will work together to distract you and then lift your bag, purse whatever. Or just walk up and take it!

I just came on to say make sure you go inside the Sagrada Familia, it’s amazing from the outside but absolutely breathtaking on the inside, especially if the sun is low in the sky.

We are also going to Barcelona in a couple of weeks so I'm watching this thread and making notes!