earynnm

So due to some un for seen circumstances my boyfriend and I may be traveling to Spain instead of or original destination. Our dates are 12/31 - 1/7 tentatively until we hear back from the airlines. I was wondering (1) where are some decent places to stay ($100-$150 a night) and (2) what should we do with our time there like what should we see, where to eat, etc? We are two college students.

Philatravelgirl

I really enjoyed staying at Pratik Bakery hotel - rooms small but great location, wake up to fresh breads and breakfast only €7 (review on my philatravelgirl.com site)

Absolute must do is a Devour Barcelona food tour - it was a highlight to taste the various foods and learn about the neighborhood. Meeting point near Hotel Pratik Bakery

Hope this helps! It was my second visit to the city and I really enjoyed it so much more through the food

LupineChemist

Something to keep in mind is that in Spain the 6th of January is typically the end of the Christmas season when we give gifts and everything on the day of the epiphany.

So the streets will be packed with shoppers and on the 6th most things will be closed.

spainlover

You might try AirBNB - I did that in September for 3 nights and paid ~$80/night for a very large room with a balcony and kitchen access in the central neighborhood of El Born. I stayed the other 2 nights at the Four Points by Sheraton, which was around 80 euros/night.


Things to see:
*Sagrada Familia Cathedral
*Parc Guell
*Other buildings by Gaudi
*Arc de Triomf
*Barri Gotic, Gracia and El Born neighborhoods
*Camp Nou (where FC Barcelona plays)
*Picasso Museum
*La Barceloneta and walk along the beach

Some food and drink recommendations:
Probably my 2 favorites are Paco Meralgo (in the Gracia neighborhood, www.restaurantpacomeralgo.com) and Lolita Taperia, right by the Poble Sec Metro stop (www.lolitataperia.com). There's also a great gin-and-tonics place across the street called XIXBar.


Also right there is Tickets Bar, which is one of the toughest restaurants in the world to get a reservation, but also amazing and you should definitely check website regularly in case something opens up (www.ticketsbar.es). It's more expensive, but worth it - I spent under $100 with drinks and dessert for one of best restaurants in the world.
Comerc 24 and Tapac 24 are pretty famous -- www.Projectes24.com. I really like Repla, which is more casual/tapas, and its more sit-down sister Pla -- www.elpla.cat - in the Born neighborhood and kind of hard to find.

Bars/clubs
La Champagneria - favorite early evening spot. Chill, drink cava cheap in La Barceloneta
absinthe bar called Bar Marsella that is about 200 years old.
Bar 13 - off Placa Reial - tiny little spot tucked away but an old favorite
Anywhere in el Born, also for shopping/art as well as food/drinks

earynnm

Thanks all of you for your input!

FlyForFun

We just returned from a trip to Italy, France, and Spain. Our last three days were spent in Barcelona. We stayed at the Aparthotel Atenea Calabria. The rate was less than 60 Euros a night for a huge room with a kitchenette, free WiFi, tons of storage space, and a large bathroom. We even had a balcony. Staff is on duty 24 hours per day and are fluent in English.

The hotel was next to a large supermarket and bakeries, cafes, and shops were in the neighborhood. The apartment/hotel hybrid was in a great location about five mnutes from a metro station. Placa Espayna was a ten minute walk. We took the airport bus from there and were at the airport in twenty minutes.

We rode the metro everywhere and walked. The metro was sae, clean, cheap, and convenient.

In three days we were able to see the sights referenced in the previous post. The Gaudi buildings and the Sagrada Familia were our favorites. The Picasso Museum is free after 3:00 on Sundays. We had no problems getting tickets for Sagrada Familia. Be sure to get tickets for the lift for visiting the towers.

We felt very comfortable in Barcelona and hope to return for a longer visit. It is a gorgeous city with very kind people.

TacaCopaFlyer

We were in Barcelona a couple of years ago on these dates and the epiphany on the 6th certainly is a big event. The Reyes Magos (Wise Men) celebration really gets going with a giant parade on the evening of the 5th. But the days leading up to it seemed like being in the busiest shopping place ever during the busiest time ever. The 3rd and 4th the streets and stores were packed full of people getting in their last minute shopping.

If you get in on the 31st, there is a huge bottle breaking ceremony at midnight throughout Las Ramblas, safer seen from your hotel windows. But bright and early they get it all cleaned up.

earynnm

Ok yea we are really just looking for something low key for New Years. Like fun but not surrounded by a billion people.

mrsjon01

If you've not yet booked your hotel, we stayed at Ciutat Hotel in El Born neighborhood a couple of weeks ago and it was inexpensive and centrally located.

earynnm

Thanks. We're actually booked now. Just trying to plan our time there now.

If anyone knows where we can get a two in one (dinner and party) or anything chill but fun for NYE let me know. We don't want to spend too much money as we are both college students on a budget.

earynnm

Also if anyone knows of any great places to eat or dishes we must try in general that would be great.

earynnm

For anyone who searches in the future, Bank of America partners with deutsche bank in Barcelona so there is no atm fee and only a 3% conversion rate fee even though it doesn't say on the website. I went into a branch today and asked.

Doc Savage

Barcelona is one of my favorite cities. That said, if you haven't been there before, especially if you'll be in crowds, take precautions against pickpockets. There are some other threads to get ideas about that.

Have a great time in a really great city.

NA-Flyer

Any suggestions for restaurants with nice direct sea view and fine food in BCN?

earynnm

Just wanted to let you guys know we had an amazing time! I didn't want to leave! We stayed in the Expo Hotel and the Aparthotel silver and both we really nice and good locations for walking around and sight seeing. We went to this one bar and I can't remeber the name of it but if you are walking down Las Rambla towards the Columbus statue make a left at the intersection and walk down the street a bit, it had 10 tapas for 20euro or a starter,entre,dessert, and drink for 10euros and everything there was amazing!!