Georgia and I travelled to Barcelona in March flying from Gatwick into Barcelona’s El-Prat airport after a short 2 hour flight from Gatwick. We travelled with Easy Jet paying around £600 for a 3 night stay. We stayed fairly centrally at the Hotel Suizo, just 5-10 minutes walk from Las Ramblas on Place de la Angel which is in the Gothic Quarter of the City and close to the Cathedral. We had a double room with two double beds, tea and coffee making facilities and a good sized bathroom area. We opted for room only but you could pay for breakfast separately if you wished (€12 each). The hotel also offered free luggage storage facilities which we used on our last day as our flight was in the afternoon. We used the café opposite for breakfast each day (Forn de la Vila) as it had an amazing array of pastries and coffees on offer. The sandwiches and baguettes also looked amazing! Pricey at about €30 each day just for pastries and coffee but it did set us up for the day.
The Place de la Angel was pretty central – right in the heart of the Gothic Quarter, the square had a metro station and it was an easy walk through the cobbled streets to Las Ramblas where there were further metro stations dotted up and down the main strip. To be fair you really could walk everywhere within 10-15 minutes or so and we only used the metro to get to the city from the airport.
We took the train from the airport to Barcelona Sants and then changed onto the L3 metro line, getting off at Liceu which is right on La Ramblas. From here it is was a 10 minute walk through the Gothic Quarter to Place de la Angel and our hotel.
We spent some time exploring the cobbled streets and alleyways in the Old Town (Gothic Quarter), poking about in the various shops and cafes, looking in the tourist shops of course but also checking out the local produce. We went to the shopping mall (Le Triangle), the Las Ramblas tourist targeting stalls and down to the marina to the waterfront shopping centre. We also walked through the bustling Plaza de Catalunya, had a spin around Les Cortes Ingles (a definite must if you like those big department stores) and looked at the amazing Gaudi mansions and the huge array of shopping opportunities up there!
We particularly liked the food market which was open until 5pm each day and is located near the top of Las Ramblas. It offered up everything from fish, meat, flowers and honey to cakes and bakes, spices and sauces. We were quite literally spoilt for choice and could have gone wild but managed to come home with just some paella seasonings! We did however sample some of the meats, cheeses and cakes ! There is a small Starbucks situated within the market if you feel the need but there is very limited seating. There is a larger Starbucks located near Le Triangle.
In terms of eating out, apart from our breakfast café, we went to the shopping centre on the marina and visited Tapa Tapa where we had a feast of tapas for lunch – fairly pricey for lunch at about €80 but we did have a drink each, bread and about 8 different small plates.
We also visited one of the squares off of Las Ramblas – these small squares can be found just off the main strip and are often surrounded by restaurants and cafes, children are playing in the middle, some have fountains, and families just seem to come and hang out there. We had an amazing freshly made paella there but there was so much on offer you could really eat whatever cuisine your heart desired! Beware though of beggars – sitting at an outside table right on the edge of the square we were asked several times for money by beggars, or traders trying to sell us roses etc.
We did have dinner along Las Ramblas one evening but found the food to be mediocre and the drinks (soft drinks) hugely over-priced. My advice would be to head somewhere more local. We also ate at one of the many pizza / Italian restaurants along Las Ramblas (La Poma) and although we had to wait for a table, the food was nice enough. If you are feeling rich (and hungry) there is also a Hard Rock Café on Place de la Catalunya but you do need to book.
Whilst here we did head down to the beach (Barcelonetta) and had a cocktail at a Caribbean inspired cocktail ‘shack’ on the beach – very bizarre to have such a lovely sandy beach and Caribbean vibe with the concrete jungle city laid out behind you!
We also visited the mighty Sagrada Familia taking a guided tour which was so interesting – it really is the most bizarre and eclectic building I think I’ve ever seen and is absolutely amazing inside – this tour was booked through the Sagrada Familia website and cost around €40 each for a guided tour. Tickets for this really do need to be booked in advance. What is nice is that the guided tour takes you to the four sides of the cathedral, explaining the meaning of the statues and carvings and also gives you a tour of the inside which is truly spectacular!
As hubby has completed the Barcelona Ironman a few times, we decided to hop on the train from the city centre into the town of Calella which hosts the race each year – this is about an hour out of the city and tickets cost around €6 each, each way. Trains take the coastal route which is nice although there are quite a lot of stops. I find it quite amazing that there are so many beaches (and beautiful clean ones at that!) right outside the city. Calella itself is a small bustling town sitting right on the coast and it has a lot to offer in terms of shops and places to eat although beware that even though we visited early in the year they still had their siesta and by 2.30pm almost everything was shut!
We spent pretty much a full day visiting the two Gaudi houses – Casa Batilo and Casa Mila – both fascinating places and so unique. We got some great souvenirs for the kitchen shelves and did an audio tour of each buying tickets literally the day before. Maybe it was ok because it was early in the tourist season but it was still pretty busy and I can imagine tickets will sell out during the summer months. The architecture of the shops and hotels all along the main street is very Gaudi inspired with gothic looking mansions and lots of balconies and balustrades.
Years ago on my first visit to Barcelona hubby and I did a half day walking tour of the City through Julia Travel which is located in the heart of the shopping area and I’m pleased to say that they are still there today and offer walking and bus tours. Failing that if you want to be ahead of the game then do use Viator where you can and take advantage of the buy now pay later option where they take the money from your account 2 days before you go and then release the tickets to you. So convenient and means you can book your tickets way ahead of time without having to have the cash.
Another tour we booked in advance was a walking tour of Park Guell (Viator) – this was interesting in terms of the Gaudi architecture and we did spend an enjoyable few hours there, however the queues for the shop, for food and for the toilets is long and we managed to do just one thing in the spare time we were allotted (I used the loo while G purchased the obligatory fridge magnet). It may be worth re-visiting again in your own time although do beware that even though this is a ‘park’ there is an entry fee of €20 to enter!!
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