Have got a 3 day break planned for next week, anybody been and can reccomend places to visit/eat/drink!

Obviously the big cathedral bit, but I wondered if anybody had some little unknown gems to share?

Had 3 days there last week – loved it. La Rambla seemed to be the main 'strip' – bars, cafes etc… Don't eat there though – muchos euros. We had 4 beers & 4 sangrias and were mugged for 95 euro. Great in the daytime though, cracking market, well worth a visit.
Went to the Nou Camp (Camp Nou) which I wouldn't really recommend.
We ate and drank mostly to the North of the Gaudi Cathedral and found it pretty reasonable. Plenty of places to choose from.
Open top buses are a cheap way to see it all and get your bearings – 24 euro for a 2 day pass that'll take you to everything.
Highly recommend Gaudi's Park where he used to live (can't remember the name) and cable cars up to the castle was good too.
Pretty relaxed kind of city. Liked it a lot.

I love Barcelona, but that bloody building site of a church just annoys me. I've never seen such a mis-directed project.

Cal Pep is the tapas bar you must go to.

If you can get a guided bike tour of the city, take it. Mrs BJ & I did, then we hired bikes ourself the next day.

We hoped to hire them to ride round Mont Juic, but that seems to have stopped.

Ah love that city 😀

La Acadamia for dinner is great but get there when they open or you'll be waiting for at least an hour for a table. Thats tucked away in the maze of tiny streets in the Barie Gothic area well away from the main tourist thoroughfares.

Almost next door to La Acadamia is a little bar called Ginger which has a really chilled vibe and plays some soothing beats while serving great cocktails.

For Paella try Set Portes down by the harbour (near the parliment building) for lunch its a great place to people watch while eating great food, the great and the good of Barca can normally be found there.

Have a look at the Time Out guide to food for Barcelona as thats got some other places that might be a bit nearer where your staying.

The Gaudi park is called Parc Guile (sp) and is a great place to while away a sunny morning or afternoon. Make sure you check out the Salvidor Dali house there.

we had a great time there. we realy, realy wished we had registered for these bikes before we went.

http://www.bicing.com/home/home.php

you get a card, I think it was £20 for a year or something then you just take bikes out of the stands all over the city and put them back when you get to where you need to be. the bike stands were about every 200m apart!

C

The Bagdhad Club is a great place to spend a few hours of an evening*

*Don't take your wife/gf/children.

:-O

Ohh, and if you take the cable car across the park, watch out for the hookers on the road below plying/doing their trade at all hours of the night and day.

Ah – just read this;

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bicing

they go out of their way to prevent tourists from registering. WTF is that!

C

It's a fantastic place. Go and get lost in the Barie Gothic for a while, it's absolutely stunning and there's loads of nice bars and restaurants hidden away.

The cable car up to the olympic village is quite cool (if a little vertigo inducing) – from the top you get great views of the city and can wander over to the iconic olympic diving pool and the olympic stadium. If you time it right, sunset over the palace (next to the stadium) can be very impressive. The palace also has the dancing fountains (if they're still doing that).

The Sagrada Familia is unbelievable, but it's surrounded by beggars and not in the nicest area of the city.

As the LLammafarmer says , Sagrada Familia is an absolute must see. We went one day and saw the massive queues to get in. We didnt bother but instead went the next day, at the opening time (9am I think). We walked straight in and had the place all to ourselves. We went up the lift in the steeples again having that all to ourseleves. We slowly went around the underground museum and suprise, suprise when w egot out at say 11am there were massive queues to get in!

C

Picasso museum's worth a look too if you're into a bit of art – as is the Miro museum up by the Olympic site (check out the mercury fountain).

Casa Mila/La Pedrera is another one of Gaudi's that's worth a look too – if only for the funky chimneys.

Second the Neucamp not being worth a visit unless you're really into wendyball.

And don't carry anything you can't afford to lose, especially on the tourist rat runs.

Thanks everyone, some good suggestions there. Quite like sculpture and architecture so should be enough for a couple of days i would hope.

Can't see attraction of emty stadia so will avoid nou camp.

Is the olympic parc up to much?

See warnings on pick pockets etc seme to be a recurring theme. Is it really any worse than major uk cities in this respect?

go up to the castle in the cable car, walk round the left side of the castle along a cliff top path until you have walked all the way past the castle, then you'll find a little outdoor bar. If the weather is nice it's a wicked place to while away a couple of hours. Wouldn't even know you were in the city any more. If you can get hold of this book for reasonable money it is really good for a few different places to go. I got it when it was in print for about a tenner and it has been there about 8 times with mates etc.

Raval district was the best part of town we found for bars and nightlife.

Macba museum there was really good.

Miro museum up on the hill was also very worthwhile.

And don't forget the beach if it's sunny!

Yeah, there's a few bars on Rambla del Raval which are worth going to, or el Born is good for nightlife (and daylife too)

Quite like sculpture and architecture so should be enough for a couple of days i would hope.

You won't be short of that in Barca mate! 😀

gotta love Barcelona

Plum

bruk, been yet? We went for NY's eve. Olympic park? empty. Not my cup of tea to be honest. Parts of Palma remind me Barcelona. scruffy/stuck in a timewarp.

Had 4 days there in August….
you simply have to eat here – delightful tapas – ALL fresh made – and they have a fine selection of imported beers as well… though when in Rome – drink Estrella!!
Absolutely packed between 12 and 2 though…

Avoid ramblas like the plague.
Do dive into a backstreet or two and find the little local coffee shops, cheaper, quiet and the best coffee we had.
Underground – great way to get around, clean and cheap – get a multi trip ticket.
ENJOY!

Highly recommend Gaudi's Park where he used to live (can't remember the name)

Parc Guell? And second that suggestion

Going a bit OT – I flew in to Girona, the Ryanair airport for Barcelona. Girona itself looks really nice and I fancy a bike trip there, but don't fancy trusting my bike to Ryanair – anyone know if there's a- another airline going to Girona or b – decent bike hire in the area?

Ta