Suggestions for traveling to Barcelona

[GerardManson]

Hello everyone,

My name is Gerard and I am a happily retired mechanic from Fort Collins, CO. My wife and I are currently planning a 2 months trip in Europe from September to November (if our dear COVID wants it...)

We have looked at the typical cities: Paris, Madrid, Rome, Berlin, Barcelona, Athens, etc.

Regarding Barcelona, I have heard a lot of good things about this city. I guess it is way more different than here! I have found some beautiful online resources [MOD EDIT] but I am still not able to figure out what the best neighborhood for old people like us would be.

The Raval and the Gothic neighborhoods seem very beautiful but a bit too noisy and dirty. I have seen that the Eixample is classy and close to the center. However, I am also a bit afraid that hotels could be more expensive there...

Have some of you been to Barcelona? Where did you stay? Are there some places where we must go?

Also, don't hesitate if you have some other European cities to recommend

Thank you everyone in advance and have a wonderful day,

Gerard Manson
Fort Collins, CO

 

[Ncc1701]

Hi Gerard, We stayed at the Hilton Diaganol Mar in Barcelona. It was a beautiful hotel, about 2 miles from the main sights so you'd have to cab it or walk if you're so inclined. Of course the Sagrada Familia and the Gaudi architectural buildings are the must see places but we also rented a car and drove to a beach town called Sitges and enjoyed it very much.

When we did our trip to Barcelona, TAP Portugal Airlines had a great deal, where the airfare was significantly less if you stopover in Lisbon, which is what we did. What a wonderful city that was. After Lisbon, we flew to Madrid, stayed there a few days and then took a train to Barcelona.

Have fun!

 

[wanaberetiree]

Depending on your route consider a stop in Girona, it's a nice small town close to Barcelona

https://www.google.com/search?q=gir...hXIvp4KHZTIChAQ_AUoA3oECAEQBQ&biw=959&bih=886

Also in Figueres Dali Museum

 

[audreyh1]

We found the metro system easy to use. Cabs were very nice and inexpensive. So if you prefer quieter outskirts, don’t worry about transportation. We rode the buses too.

You do have to armor up for the skilled pickpockets in Barcelona ( and Paris and Vienna and even Madrid - probably applies to all). This is for public transportation as well as any place tourists gather. Take minimal stuff with you when out touristing, and don’t carry your passports around. Everything else should be in inside pockets or a money type belt. Forget backpacks or anything else carried behind you.

 

[kcowan]

We took a Med cruise from Venice to Barcelona in 2005 and stayed there for 5 days. Lots of neat things to see. Of course Gaudi is world famous.

We stayed in a little hotel right on Las Ramblas. It was on the second and third floor above a store. Too many sights to mention! DW mentioned that with free internet in the lobby and free beer, she had to do the daily planning (2005).

After 5 days, we rented a car and spent 3 weeks going down the east coast to Malaga.

 

[OldShooter]

We stayed here: https://www.hispanos7suiza.com/en/ Basically we had a very nice one-bedroom apartment with full kitchen and even laundry. We were on a private travel package so I can't give you what we paid, but prices now are going to be pretty crazy for a while so old information is not worth much. It's a small place, 20 apartments, so you are recognized by the staff and not just another face in the crowd. Excellent location.

 

[Freedom56]

We stayed in at the Fira Congress just outside the city. It's a 4 star business hotel with free parking (at the time) and also free transfers to and from the airport. We had a rental car but the Metro is just a quick 5 minute walk from the hotel. We tried the Metro also and it was pretty convenient and will get you to all the sites you want to go to. Breakfast is pretty good and the rooms were nice.

https://www.firacongress.com/en/

The food is great. There is lots to do. We would go back. Here is a short video I made of our journey using the Metro.

 

[NW-Bound]

We found the metro system easy to use. Cabs were very nice and inexpensive. So if you prefer quieter outskirts, don’t worry about transportation. We rode the buses too.

We have been to Barcelona twice. The most recent travel, it was at the end of a long auto trek through Spain/France/Portugal countrysides. I returned the car as I did not need it for the last few days of the trip that we spent in Barcelona prior to taking the flight back home.

Cars are a liability in busy cities. Not worth it.

You do have to armor up for the skilled pickpockets in Barcelona ( and Paris and Vienna and even Madrid - probably applies to all). This is for public transportation as well as any place tourists gather. Take minimal stuff with you when out touristing, and don’t carry your passports around. Everything else should be in inside pockets or a money type belt. Forget backpacks or anything else carried behind you.

Though all big cities like Paris, London, Brussels, etc... are all bad, Barcelona is easily the pickpocket capital. There are plenty of stories on the Web and YouTube about this.

I think part of the problem was caused by Barcelona becoming a popular port for cruise ships. Day visitors crowding the streets and gawking at attractions are easy targets for thieves.


PS. Just now see that the OP was sent packing already. After 1 post? What's going on?

 

[MrsHaloFIRE]

We rented our 2nd airbnb ever in Pable Sec. It was an apt with no a/c (normal) and the owner did a couple tricky things like locking us out of the one decent bedroom in the place. We liked to area and metroed everywhere with the exception of taking a cab there on arrival. Very walkable and groceries/pharmacies/resturants nearby. Very safe. We felt safe everywhere minus Las Ramblas pickpocket area. CHeckout youtube for how to use the ticket machines and use the metro. Good easy videos there


If you are catching a bus, please know you have to flag them down as they dont stop at the bustop just because its on the route. We got passed twice before we figured that out. When the train strike in France left us in Barcelona a few unplanned extra days we (happily) moved to a hotel we found on hotwire. It turned out to be the Vincci Mae for about $98 night and it was LOVELY. By far the nicest shower Ive ever been in. Address Avinguda Diagonal 596, Barcelona, ES 08021. I recall a huge shopping district and an excellent brunch palce nearby. You are going to love barcelona.

As far as security DH wore a thin moneybelt inside his pants and kept his wallet in hsi front pocket with his hand on it. I wore a crossbody camera bag as a purse and i made sure i always wore it UNDERNEATH atleast one top layer of clothing so it couldnt get snagged off of me, or cut. THere was ATLEAST one person watching us in the gothic quarter on Las Ramblas acting sorta pickpockety and i shouted at him and he moved on. Teen/early 20s on either a scooter or skateboard. Cant recall.

We did the train ride up to the monestary at Montserrat and got beautiful views and had a WONDERFUL lunch at a kind of high end resturant up there. THe train to get there i cant remember the name of it but it locks as it moves upwards so keep it from sliding downwards. PRetty steep. I would plan on eating out ALOT. We ate INdian, Italian, tapas, all sorts of wonderful foods. We went to "the big" flea market but were VERY underwhelmed by it so I would take that off the list.

YOu have to prebuy tix for Sagrada Familia to go inside and prepare for mobscene amount of people taking photos.

We arrived there via a cruise ship out of Miami and from there we went to Lyon FR, then Dijon FR, then Saarbrucken GERM then Hanover GERM. Then Malmo SWE. We kind of followed the train line path and spent about a week at each give or take. I would say the trains were good but not flawless. ROugh day moving from GErmany to Sweden I will say that. Many changes, many delays, and coming into Copenhagen to catch a local train to Malmo was an experience I wont soon forget because I just dont think in a danish way I guess so there was no rhyme or reason (TO ME) where to go and which machine to use to purchase the last ticket. THe rest were prepurchased and very easy to use.

 

[Bamaman]

My wife and I went to Madrid, then we took a bus to Granada. An expensive flight took us to Barcelona and we took the fast train up to Paris.

We stayed a mile west of the La Sagrada Familia in an apartment just north of the Diagonal Metro station. Went through Booking.com when a hotel (3 blocks away) a/c wouldn't work. The apartment a/c about froze us. We could hop on the Metro and get anywhere we wanted. The neighborhood is Vila de Gracia on Google Map.

The wife liked it so well, she took her daughter and went back to Barcelona, Paris & London a few months later (14 mos. ago.)

 

[Retire52]

I lived in Sitges, 30 min drive from Barcelona, for a year a couple of years ago. I would recommend an afternoon in Sitges, a nice , small sea side city to enjoy the beaches and boardwalk. A lot of cafes and restaurants around the water. In Barcelona, I would recommend walking in the El Born neighborhood. My wife and I loved spending an afternoon there sight seeing, eating and enjoying the city. Picasso Museum is in Born. I would visit the Gaudi buildings, parks, and cathedral. Also, Montserrat is a wonderful place to visit and they have a nice hike there as well.

 

[Surfdaddy]

A great city. I'd be concerned about getting there that soon, given COVID.
A strong second for Montserrat- well worth the train ride. Also the town of Girona. In Barcelona, see the Sagrada, Park Guell, walk along the beachfront, LaRambla has one of the most oustanding produce markets I've ever seen - veggies, fruits, nuts, meats - fresher than almost anything you can find in the US.

 

[YVRRocketSurgery]

We visited Barcelona twice: first in the early aughts during our first trip to Europe together and the last time just over 5 years ago. The missus made a few additional ports of call visits during cruises with her folks. The first time we stayed in a hole in the wall in the El Raval district and the second time a little further out just into the Eixample district staying at the Gran Hotel Havana via an opaque (but narrowed down by process of elimination) Priceline bid.
If you're mobile, we found Barcelona very walkable and didn't mind hoofing it from the hotel to Las Ramblas, Monjuic Fountains, La Sagrada Familia, etc. As mentioned above, for further out locations, the metro is easy to use and found the bus routes easier to figure out with Google Maps.

The posts on MadridMan about the threat of pickpockets, particularly on Las Ramblas freaked us out so we were always on guard during our first trip. And recently we came across this video about pickpockets on the metro that we found interesting (ie The more you know about the scams so you can protect yourself).

 

[Badger]

We found the metro system easy to use. Cabs were very nice and inexpensive. So if you prefer quieter outskirts, don’t worry about transportation. We rode the buses too.

You do have to armor up for the skilled pickpockets in Barcelona ( and Paris and Vienna and even Madrid - probably applies to all). This is for public transportation as well as any place tourists gather. Take minimal stuff with you when out touristing, and don’t carry your passports around. Everything else should be in inside pockets or a money type belt. Forget backpacks or anything else carried behind you.

We stayed in a little hotel on Las Ramblas and were entertained by all the street shows and vendors as we watched from the second floor balcony. We could see the pickpockets working the crowds. I also got my wallet lifted in the metro system. I spent a few hours on the hotel computer contacting the 2 credit cards that were taken. When I got home 2 days later I immediately put a freeze at all 3 credit bureaus then replaced my drivers license and military ID. It is a nice city to visit but I don't think I will be going back.



Cheers1

 

[audreyh1]

For outings we would put some cash and maybe one CC in our front zipped shirt pocket and/or tethered wallet or coin purse, and a bit more plus ATM card if needed in a money belt under our clothes. Everything else including IDs stayed back at the hotel unless we thought a DL might be needed at a museum in which case just one of us carried a hidden one.

Have no idea if anyone tried to lift anything. DH is super vigilant and watches other people.

I put a wrist loop on my phone case. Also handy for not accidentally dropping it.