Spain/Portugal/Gibraltar - Another Spain thread, Barcelona for 6 Days

Hi all,

Sorry about making another Spain thread along with Aggiebry's. I didn't want to piggy-back on their's and it is girlfriend and I. We are both in the mid-twenties. She's a nurse and I'm in college, but work overseas. I'm of the couch-surfing type and this is her first trip out of the states, so I'm trying to make it nice for her and not push her too far out of her comfort zone. Haha

The hotel I'm strongly considering is Petit Palace Opera Garden on Ramblas on AmEx points. Truthfully, I'll be coming out paying ~275 USD for it. I've seen mixed opinions concerning location, so I'd like to hear your thoughts if you're willing. I'd like to get good bang for my AmEx points/buck and location, if possible.

I know to hit up the churches and the gothic section of town. I've picked up Ramblas is the shopping area that is popular if that's your thing. I'd like to go to the Aquarium and we certainly want to get some Catalan cuisine.

Although I haven't checked the prices yet, the restaurants that I've seen recommended are: Parc Guell, El Glop (authentic catalan food), and "seafood restaurant by the aquarium at the very edge of shopping center. Order shrimp"

So, besides sightseeing the typical stuff, what would you recommend? The dates for this are March 7 (arrival) - March 13 (depart at 10a). Thanks for your time


The information I've come across is from tripadvisor.co.uk and the couchsurfing website, if that will assist anyone looking for additional info about BCN too.

Sure you want to spend all 6 days in Barcelona and not check out 1-2 other places like Valencia while you're there?

La Rambla is definitely a very touristy street. I wouldn't suggest dining in this area as it's less authentic, more expensive, and frankly, food's just not that great. And unless you want to hang around guys selling beer, prostitutes and the occasional drug dealer, I'd try to stay away from the south end of La Rambla after 1-2am.

It is, however, quite convenient if you wanted to walk around a bit to enjoy the architecture and ambiance of the old town. You can walk down south to the water, go east to Barri Gotic, north to L'Eixample, etc. Being near Catalunya station makes it easy to get around the rest of Barcelona.

Are you into museums? If so, Picasso and Miro are very cool. If you're into architecture, visit some of the cathedrals in Barri Gotic and fork over the money for entry/audioguide to Sagrada Familia (well worth it). If you just like to walk around parks, head for Parc Guell and Parc Ciutadella.

If you're into wine, take advantage of the fact that convenience stores and supermarkets (look for mercats and supermercats) sell wine. You can find a wide selection of local wines for usually just a few euros a piece.

As someone else mentioned, perhaps you also want to take a day-trip elsewhere...Valencia, local wine country, Montserrat, etc.

Spend some time visiting the markets. No trip to Barcelona is complete without visiting something designed by Gaudi. My favorite is Parc Guell. The Palau Musica is one of my all time favorite buildings. See http://www.palaumusica.org/ If you like museums, visit Fundacio Miro, Picasso Museum, City Museum, Museum of Catalan History and the Maritime Museum. Don't miss the Romanesque murals in the Museum of Catalan Art.
Enjoy Barcelona.

I found that Barcelona can get kind of boring after 2-3 days, and Ramblas stops being interesting after walking down the street once each way.

I'd definitely want to check out a bit more than just Barcelona, unless this is a really chilled-out trip where you want to kick back and relax for a large chunk of the time.

But while you're there, definitely attend a FC Barcelona football match.