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Well Mrs Carlos has told me we're off to Barcelona next week to celebrate my big four O.
Neither of us have been before so open to ideas from those that have on what do/see and where to go/eat
She hasn't given me all the hotel details but its about 10 mins walk form the centre.
Over to the STW fountain of knowledge
TIA
Carl
She hasn't given me all the hotel details but its about 10 mins walk form the centre.
No need to make plans if you're that close to the city centre. The pickpockets will have everything you carry and you'll passa nice quiet weekend on the cop shop trying to recover what you've lost. 😉
The Baghdad Club.
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And, dependent on your wife's views on morality, possibly the end of your relationship.
8)
Go to El Xampanyet, in a side street near the Picasso museum, for authentic and atmospheric tapas and Cava experience.
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Cracking wee bar with engaging mixture of tourists and locals.
Make sure you check out all the Gaudi stuff. Its great.
You really can't go wrong in Barcelona. Its ace!!! There are a lot worse ways to spend the day than sat by the harbour with a cold Cruzcampo in front of you, watching the world go buy. White rioja for the little lady obviously 😉
Have fun. I'm jealous
I liked the Miro museum.
The beach was quite pleasant too.
Just buy the buss pass and hop on/off at your leisure, so so much to see/do there, you'll have a great time.
The Sagrada Família is pretty amazing - the views are excellent.
We got a bus to the kids theme park up on the hill for a laugh, bit naff but views great (and saw some MTBers cane it down the woods!) http://www.barcelona-tourist-guide.com/en/attractions/tibidabo-barcelona.html
Have a mooch round the gothic quarter, the beach, etc - we took a tourist bus to get to see the bits we couldn't walk to.
I used that website's guide to plan our long weekend.
We went for posh dinner at "Pla", which was excellent - highly recommended. Was so good that I proposed & got engaged there. 🙂
I'd move back there if I could - really liked it. 🙁
+1 for getting the 'tourist bus'.....from what I can remember there is a blue and red route, both do same route (I think) but one goes clockwise and one anti-clockwise. From what I can remember the Gaudi park was on its route, the olympic stadium and the Nou Camp, plenty of other stops en route but cant remember them.
And the old Barcelona Cathederal is a must
Watch out for pick-pockets, they were everywhere.
Go up to Tipidabo
Eat at Los Caracoles on Escudelliers St (whaever the Spanish is for Street) off Los Ramblas (about 1/3 to 1/2 way up on the right walking away from the harbour). You can't miss it, it's got a corner with a chicken barbecue, rotisserie thing built into the wall
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Foods not brilliant, but when you walk in, you walk in to a bar, down a flight of stairs, into and through the kitchen, to a really cool restaurant. Very mixed reviews on tripadvisor but we loved it - bit of a food snob and would say food was fine, but not great. The place was amazing though
No mention of the Sagrida Famila yet? Must do thing in Barca
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Sgrada Familia is indeed amazing. Hopefully the fire wasn't too damaging! 🙁 I really enjoyed the Picasso museum as well. Wasn't so keen on La Rambla and was a place where you could get seriously ripped off. However there was some fantastic places just off that and a really great market.
It was years ago when I went but was a really fun trip. Have fun!
I really liked Parc Guell
Oh, +1 of Parc Guell - brilliant view from the top
..and if you have any, any interest in football, a game at the Nou Camp - a 93000 seat stadium and tickets a fraction of the price in Britain
..and if you're Ryanair'ing - a visit to the town the ryanair airport's at (Girona - Google it) is worthwhile
walk down las ramblas in the sun its very trouisty based but you have to see it at least once
eat at la boqueria, worlds best market, the front bit is all stall to buy fruit veg fish etc but the back half has some great small cafe type set ups
wander through the gothic quarter, it really comes alive at night but i would not go in after 9pm as its full of drug dealers and pick pockets (i know i lived there)so between 7-9 its amazing
stop and have a beer outside in plaza real i know again its a tourist bit but its an amazing square and great to people watch for an hour
walk along the harbour area during the day and see all the boats and cross the bridge to the new mall / food area
as for pick pockets...yes its bad but some common sense and you will be fine, dont carry large sums of money or passports, cameras and bags on the front at all times and avoid over crowded areas e.g walk to the far end of the metro platform rather than standing at the start
you will have a great time
bigbutslimerbloke...I used to stay 100 yards away from that place
great wee pizza place right across from it
beer and a slice for 2 euro open till 8am
right enough, i rememeber the pizza gaff - very good it was too
how did you find the restaurant - like I said, i thought it was brill, but the reviews on tripadvisor are mixed to say the least
3rd for the pickpockets. I've had attempts on my wallet twice when there; at a conference a few years ago we reckon that over 3 days about 10% of the delegates had their purses or wallets nicked.
Fun!
When we were there (on a stag) their was one 'old sage' who fathered us all and warned us all about pick-pockets.
Then one night he decided to go back to the hotel early and was set on by three prostitutes and had his wallet stolen. At least they didn't hurt him.
🙁
The tourist buses were really good for getting around and seeing all the main sights. The metro is really easy to use as well, good for getting around on.
All the usual (and great) 'must see' places covered above I'll just add another tapas recommendation for you
[url= http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Restaurant_Review-g187497-d782944-Reviews-Cerveceria_Catalana-Barcelona_Catalonia.html ]Cerveceria Catalana[/url] - gorgeous - get there early / late or, be prepared for a bit of a wait at peak lunch hours.
Have fun!
No worse thanywhere else for pickpockets.
Try the market off ramblas during the day, the afternoon down the beach and the evenings in the gothic area tapas bars.
Like TJ I really like Parc Guell for the Gaudi inspired millionaires park. The view from there Is amazing . Sagrada Famillia , Olympic village , funicular, Museum , Joan Miro gallery and The Nou Camp . Next to New York It's my favourite city . Goes without saying dont eat In La Ramblas. I also wanted to go to the old funfair at the top of the hill not far from the Norman Foster aerial tower but cant remember what Its called.
All good suggestions so far, it's a brilliant city and you'll have a great time. I can wholeheartedly recommend Les Quinze Nits in the Placa Reial. Get there early and join the long queue (they don't take reservations) which clears pretty quickly once they open. The food is some of the best we've had anywhere and it is insanely cheap (9 Euros for a bottle of rioca reserva) especially for somewhere so touristy.
Another recommendation for Los caracoles. Not cheap but superbly atmospheric.
The Sagrada Família is a must do. We went one day and saw the massive queue. It was about 2 hours to get in. We went the day after (our last day) at 8:30am and went straight in. We had the place to ourseleves and it was fantastic. We were in there for about 3 hours during which time it got buissier and sure enough as we came out there was a 2hr to get in.
go early!
Just walking about in the city at night is great. We walked for miles.
C
Also meant to say walk to the Beach at the East side near the big swimming pool then take the cablecar to the top of Montjuc , Very nice and great for photos.
Most important tip I ever had about Barçelona was; wear your most comfortable shoes. This is very very good advice indeed...
Los Caracoles was great.
Although walking through the kitchens to eat was an experience.
we arranged a chopper bike tour on the synday we were there and it was excellent. Started at the bottom of the ramblas and went across the harbour down the beach, up to the bull ring, and then pn to the other sites. 3 beers included and we had a very informative guide...
The bikes hadn't seen oil in a while and mine was an 8ft long low rider with shonky brakes but the locals did not seem to bat an eye lid at 12 40 year olds riding on the pavement...even had a race through a park...quite mad
Wow!! loads of great ideas there. A good bottle (or 2), a couple of glasses and a chat with Mrs Carlos is on the cards tonight.
Ta very much.
As above, Sagrada Familia is incredible. If you like footy, even if there's not a game on the Camp Nou tour is worth it. They play crowd noise as you walk out on to the pitch - sends a tingle down the spine!
Best place I ate was [url= http://www.tallerdetapas.com/eng/comtal/ ]here[/url]
Go [url= http://www.princesa23.es/ ]here[/url] for 4 euro mojitos (they mix them strong!)
[s]And I don't know if you've got somewhere to stay but we hosteled it [url= http://www.hostelworld.com/hosteldetails.php/Downtown-Paraiso-Hostel/Barcelona/19645 ]here[/url] and had a private room off the sun terrace for not much[/s] (Edit: You've got a hotel!)
Took my father there for his 6oth birthday.
there was one bar we went to - the name of which was something like Tous les Gens - in the basement of a building. It was so dark inside one could barely see and like all good Spanish establishments, we were early leavers at 4am....
Oh, and I took him to see Barca beat Valencia 4-0 at the Camp Nou.
I was there last weekend...all good advice above.
I ate at Los Caracoles. Food wasn't great but the venue alone was worth going for.
Sagrada Familia...if the queue looks long perservere. From the ticket office it was all the way around the corner and down one side when we joined it but it only took 30mins to get to the ticket office and in.
House of Bones is great but I wouldn't plan too much. Just relax and meander around the different areas on different days.
Oh...and if you're going to use the metro get a T-10 ticket. Gives you 10 journeys for Euro7.85 and the two of you can share one ticket to use the trips between you.
me and my girlfriend took one of these out for the day, armed with a picnic and headed into the hills.. REALLY GOOD FUN! no too pricey either.
Sightseeing! There's more than a week's worth of viewing in Barcelona...