Where to stay and go in Barcelona with teenagers?

[champagnetruffleshuffle]

Hi, I'm planning a short break to Barcelona with DH, dd 14 and ds 12. Going to look for an Airbnb or similar (unless there are tips for a hotel with a bit of a self catering aspect to it?) but I'm not sure which area is best to stay. We want to be fairly central, with access to a much as possible. Can anyone recommend locations to me to narrow down my accommodation search please? Oh, and any 'must see' tips would also be greatly appreciated! Thank you!

The stadium is a must see even for people who don’t support football .

I loved the Olympic diving pool…. It always been my enduring memory from the Barcelona Olympics and the view from there is incredible x

Barri Gotic (the Gothic Quarter) or Eixample. Note that the south of the Barri Gòtic is rather less gentrified so be careful (without being paranoid) when coming and going after dark. Also, the Esquerra part of Eixample is a fairly posh nightlife hub and might be quite pricy. Also, Port Vell on the waterfront would be a good option. The STAY Bailen apartments are in a nice quiet area of Eixample.

We stayed here a few years ago, www.napols.net/ we had a 2 bed apartment with kitchen and living room. Easy to walk everywhere and there is a bakery on the corner to pick up breakfast. It’s also a residential area so very quiet.

We did a walking tour the first morning, paid to go inside Sagrada Familia and also had a day of tickets for the hop on hop off tourist bus.

We also ate at 100 Montaditos a few times, it’s one of our favourites when we are in Spain or Italy. Cheap on a Sunday and Wednesday when each montadito is only a euro.

When wee went with teenagers we all enjoyed the hop on hop off tour bus. It meant no moaning about trudging around!
It's a lovely city, enjoy. Ours enjoyed the dancing fountains too.

Barcelona has been in a long running war with Airbnb and in April of this year they were looking to ban such rentals completely. Barcelona has heavily regulated the short-term rental industry over the years. In 2018, the city rolled out a host identification system to verify if units on short-term rental platforms like Airbnb were legal. I would stay in a hotel or aparthotel instead.

There are cheap metro tickets which are great and mean you can go anywhere really easily. I think it was maybe 5 or 10 euros each for unlimited travel and it was a really easy system to understand. If you can go to the beach early enough to beat the queues you can do the big cable car thing which looked great but was way too busy when we went!

I really suggest you get the Barcelona Card. It gives discount or free entry to a lot of things in the city and also you can use it for the metro. I think it makes the metro free, if not it gives a substantial discount.

The science museum is great! There's lots of good/interesting art galleries too. Also the Jamón museum on Las Ramblas. Very interesting plus you get to sample some different jamón afterwards! Parc Güell is beautiful. I wouldn't waste your money going inside the Sagrada Famillia as it's expensive and you can view the beaut from the outside well enough anyway. The indoor market for food. Some cafes - Brunch & Cake, Milk, Federal Cafe, Morrow a coffee, Nomad, Rosa Negra for Mexican food. Try some little back street tapas places rather than the big chains or ones on Las Ramblas. Also avoid the restaurants in the square (placa reial), over priced, crappy service.

Been to Barcelona many times and used the hoho bus it goes right up to the stadiums and everything . I'm sure your teenagers will love a stadium tour . There's lots of tourist information booths and they are so helpful and speak good English. But I feel I must warn you about the pick pockets which are really rife in las ramblas and in Barcelona generally . Have a fantastic time !

We've stayed in many Airbnb's over the years and had no issues. If you prefer Hotels we have stayed in several of the Practik hotels and they are lovely.

www.praktikhotels.com

Highly recommend doing the bus tour. The indoor food market is amazing. Park Guell a must see. We've been twice and viewed the Sagrada from the outside queues always huge to go in.

Went to Barcelona in March 2020. Such an amazing city. I would stay the best place to stay is Exiample. Lovely and central with great restaurants and Sagrada! I stayed at Olivia Balmes Hotel which was gorgeous. The bath was so deep and luxurious.

Ahh this is all fantastic, thanks so much! I did send a reply this morning, clearly didn't go through.. I will have a look at all your suggestions and make a list. V excited now!

We stayed in an AirBnB just off La Rambla - thought it might be really touristy but a block away there's some lovely hidden away squares with restaurants and a much more "local" vibe. The airport bus stopped at the top of La Rambla so easy to get to from the airport.
The Hop on/off bus tour was really good. We also did Casa Batlo, Park Guell, Sagrada, walked round the park / gardens near the Olympic park, spent some time on the beach, and I've a vague recollection of a cable car......it was a great city, loads to see and do!

We've stayed at an aparthotel near the stadium, not too far in by train and quieter at night. There was a large department store nearby with a supermarket in the basement and a hot food section which was handy!

Ahh fab, I'm looking at everything on the laptop now :)

Port Aventura is a great theme park not too far away :)