Barcelona any must do's?

MR.B

MR.B

Active Member
I'm off out to Barcelona tomorrow (Wednesday) , meeting up with some very non-clubbing friends :rolleyes: who went out on Monday, are there any must do gems that fellow spotlighters can recommend seeing/doing/visiting?

Thanks in advance
:)
 
we did only sightseeing too - absolutely knackered of a night to do anything but grab a few beers/dinner then bed to be honest...:D

our must see's were

La Sagreda Familia - one awesome church - my favourite part of the visit
Barcelona Beach - nice cafe's / bars
Las Ramblas - just cos you should really :lol: but the Markets just off Ramblas were amazing - the colours, the noise, the produce - totally blown away by them which sounds mental but I was totally stoned and just mesmerised
Gothic Quarter
Parc Guell - such a great chilled out place - but you just lose yourself in the intricate detail of Gaudi's work

Enjoy - its a great but busy place
 
Probably amongst the most touristy things to see there,La Sagrada Familia and Parc Guell.I like Gaudi.
 
top 10 barcelona tips for beginners

1. if you're central, and it's a nice, clear day, get the metro to Av Tibidabo the FFCC train with the orange doors, then connect to the old tram which slowly takes you up the hill, then connect to another funicular train which takes you to the top of the mountain, where there's restaurants, a funfair, a bar called Mira Blau and one of the best city views in Europe

2. la sagrada familia - gaudi's finest - it will be tourist central but this building is next level gobsmacking (if you get a chance go to Parc Guell too)

3. the cable car across the harbour

4. the Ramblas (or La Rambla) - despite the problems its had in recent years with moroccan bandits, nigerian whores and english yobs, it remains a fascinating street with everything from human statues to pet shops to tango dancers to standup comedians to breakdancers, fire eaters, fakirs, sorcerers and basically every nationality on the planet. Along the Ramblas, the cafe de la opera serves the best hangover food known to man - churros con chocolate - a bit like doughnuts in hot chocolate. Just off the Ramblas is Plaza Real, you can't miss it through the old columns and symmetrical palm trees. there's loads of cafes around the square and a fountain in the middle. My favourite bar is called Pipa Club in one corner and you ring a buzzer and they let you in, often with live gigs inside. In another corner you have Jamboree for live music, jazz, african drum music and stuff and then next to that is the Tarantos flamenco bar (not remotely catalan but still good fun)

5. el barrio chino / el barrio gotico - el barrio chino is on the right hand sand of the ramblas as you walk down to the port - it's one of the seediest areas of town and you need to watch your pickets (scams/thieves everywhere), however it is also host to some lovely old bars with character like Bar Marsella, London Bar, Sala Apolo. The other side of the Ramblas is home to el barrio Gotico, a maze of narrow medieval streets with boutiques, cafes and museums. One of the nicest bars is Bar del Pi on Plaza del Pi, which is good for people watching and often the women get serenaded by minstrels in fancy garb playing lutes and stuff. The geese in the cathedral are worth checking out too.

6. the Nou Camp - irrespective of whether you're into football or not, you need to see the stadium and the museum as well. basically a who's who of great names from the last 100 years

7. the eixample district - going uptown from the ramblas, across the plaza catalunya, the centre of the city, moving up, you feel yourself going uphill, the eixample district on the map is a huge grid of identical sized streets and intersections with all the corners cut off. It's basically less touristy and slightly cheaper for food and drink than the tackier tourist areas. For bars/tapas, go to calle aribau, muntaner, enrique granados

8. Barceloneta - down at the port as you look to your left stretching around the harbour from the columbus statue, you will find endless restaurants serving pasta, fish etc often for under a tenner at lunch. Strong recommends.

9. Port Olimpic - beyond Barceloneta, walking along the sea, you eventually hit the beach, which is / isn't safe to swim in depending on the green/red flags. If you keep walking, you'll see the famous Frank Gehry fish torso sculpture and the two towers - that area is packed with bars/restaurants although it all goes a bit shakira-commercial in the evenings

10. the other area worth checking is Montjuic, the other hill to the south which faces Tibidabo - the 1992 olympic stadium and diving pool, (where kylie's slow video was filmed) la terrazzza open air club, the miro museum and the old pueblo espanol are all in this area. If you have the legs, you can walk up there using the open air escalators which go up the mountain from plaza espanya. Depending on when you go the big fountains may illuminate and play freddie mercury's barcelona. and everybody goes aaah.

enjoy.
 
Nothing much to add that hasn't been said already... Only thing I can think of is the art gallery that was free to get into. (Sorry if 'the art gallery' is vague - there are probably a few.)

Make sure you actually go inside la sagrada familia, even if the charge seems expensive. Although it's obviously not finished, the height is quite amazing.

We found this strange Cuban (??) bar once while exploring. Before we had a chance to think about whether we were staying, we were ushered to this small, cramped seating area where we sat amongst locals and watched a guitarist and singer in some sort of traditional dress. To make things that bit weirder, one of them looked like Spain's answer to Jeremy Beadle, strange little hand and all. :eek: A vaguely Lynchian experience.

My most memorable Barca experience was sitting in a bar and suddenly hearing this wild hissing noise and seeing smoke. Everyone belted out of the place in a panic, as if expecting an explosion. I don't think I've ever sensed panic like that and it was one of the those moments where you honestly think there's a chance of dying or being maimed. :eek: Must have been some sort of gas cannister they have in pubs - never worked in one so I can't guess beyond that.

Eat-wise - try the beef ribs. It's not a cut of meat I've seen here, but it is truly delicious, especially if barbequed. Not like it's expensive either - a mate's burger cost as much.
 
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Olly said:
top 10 barcelona tips for beginners

1. if you're central, and it's a nice, clear day, get the metro to Av Tibidabo the FFCC train with the orange doors, then connect to the old tram which slowly takes you up the hill, then connect to another funicular train which takes you to the top of the mountain, where there's restaurants, a funfair, a bar called Mira Blau and one of the best city views in Europe

2. la sagrada familia - gaudi's finest - it will be tourist central but this building is next level gobsmacking (if you get a chance go to Parc Guell too)

3. the cable car across the harbour

4. the Ramblas (or La Rambla) - despite the problems its had in recent years with moroccan bandits, nigerian whores and english yobs, it remains a fascinating street with everything from human statues to pet shops to tango dancers to standup comedians to breakdancers, fire eaters, fakirs, sorcerers and basically every nationality on the planet. Along the Ramblas, the cafe de la opera serves the best hangover food known to man - churros con chocolate - a bit like doughnuts in hot chocolate. Just off the Ramblas is Plaza Real, you can't miss it through the old columns and symmetrical palm trees. there's loads of cafes around the square and a fountain in the middle. My favourite bar is called Pipa Club in one corner and you ring a buzzer and they let you in, often with live gigs inside. In another corner you have Jamboree for live music, jazz, african drum music and stuff and then next to that is the Tarantos flamenco bar (not remotely catalan but still good fun)

5. el barrio chino / el barrio gotico - el barrio chino is on the right hand sand of the ramblas as you walk down to the port - it's one of the seediest areas of town and you need to watch your pickets (scams/thieves everywhere), however it is also host to some lovely old bars with character like Bar Marsella, London Bar, Sala Apolo. The other side of the Ramblas is home to el barrio Gotico, a maze of narrow medieval streets with boutiques, cafes and museums. One of the nicest bars is Bar del Pi on Plaza del Pi, which is good for people watching and often the women get serenaded by minstrels in fancy garb playing lutes and stuff. The geese in the cathedral are worth checking out too.

6. the Nou Camp - irrespective of whether you're into football or not, you need to see the stadium and the museum as well. basically a who's who of great names from the last 100 years

7. the eixample district - going uptown from the ramblas, across the plaza catalunya, the centre of the city, moving up, you feel yourself going uphill, the eixample district on the map is a huge grid of identical sized streets and intersections with all the corners cut off. It's basically less touristy and slightly cheaper for food and drink than the tackier tourist areas. For bars/tapas, go to calle aribau, muntaner, enrique granados

8. Barceloneta - down at the port as you look to your left stretching around the harbour from the columbus statue, you will find endless restaurants serving pasta, fish etc often for under a tenner at lunch. Strong recommends.

9. Port Olimpic - beyond Barceloneta, walking along the sea, you eventually hit the beach, which is / isn't safe to swim in depending on the green/red flags. If you keep walking, you'll see the famous Frank Gehry fish torso sculpture and the two towers - that area is packed with bars/restaurants although it all goes a bit shakira-commercial in the evenings

10. the other area worth checking is Montjuic, the other hill to the south which faces Tibidabo - the 1992 olympic stadium and diving pool, (where kylie's slow video was filmed) la terrazzza open air club, the miro museum and the old pueblo espanol are all in this area. If you have the legs, you can walk up there using the open air escalators which go up the mountain from plaza espanya. Depending on when you go the big fountains may illuminate and play freddie mercury's barcelona. and everybody goes aaah.

enjoy.
Click to expand...

Awesome post 8) cheers for this..
 
WOW! Thank you ,Thank you, Thank you!!!!

You lot are the greatest!, I will make good use of this advice and try and cram in as much as I can to my 3 day trip, although going with other people can make things a bit more difficult but I'm happy to go with the flow.

:)
 
thanks Mark. I've been going there since the dawn of time. I can still remember when the metro carriages still had wooden panelling, when Terry Venables was this exciting new manager from Inglaterra, when the olympics were still a pipedream, even old enough to remember when some of the small shops didn't yet have tills :D

re: zoo - the park outside the zoo is really nice place to unwind. The zoo itself is ok but hasn't been quite the same since its USP - the albino gorilla COPITO DE NIEVE 'snowflake' passed away a few years back

am hopelessly out of touch with anything new/cool, especially in the Born or Gracia districts - that's where you'll find alternative Barcelona

where's Silvia these days? she would offer much better advice than me
 
Olly said:
thanks Mark. I've been going there since the dawn of time. I can still remember when the metro carriages still had wooden panelling, when Terry Venables was this exciting new manager from Inglaterra, when the olympics were still a pipedream, even old enough to remember when some of the small shops didn't yet have tills :D

re: zoo - the park outside the zoo is really nice place to unwind. The zoo itself is ok but hasn't been quite the same since its USP - the albino gorilla COPITO DE NIEVE 'snowflake' passed away a few years back

am hopelessly out of touch with anything new/cool, especially in the Born or Gracia districts - that's where you'll find alternative Barcelona

where's Silvia these days? she would offer much better advice than me
Click to expand...

Everyone kept going about that gorilla to me saying you have to see it. Well they failed to mention he was brown bread! I may as well have looked him up on the tinternet.

Great weekend Barcelona. Never get bored off going there however I have never been back to the zoo.
 
madwhitegiant said:
Everyone kept going about that gorilla to me saying you have to see it. Well they failed to mention he was brown bread! I may as well have looked him up on the tinternet.

Great weekend Barcelona. Never get bored off going there however I have never been back to the zoo.
Click to expand...

dunno which gorilla you're on about, the famous one was a mad white giant
 
Olly said:
thanks Mark. I've been going there since the dawn of time. I can still remember when the metro carriages still had wooden panelling, when Terry Venables was this exciting new manager from Inglaterra, when the olympics were still a pipedream, even old enough to remember when some of the small shops didn't yet have tills :D

re: zoo - the park outside the zoo is really nice place to unwind. The zoo itself is ok but hasn't been quite the same since its USP - the albino gorilla COPITO DE NIEVE 'snowflake' passed away a few years back

am hopelessly out of touch with anything new/cool, especially in the Born or Gracia districts - that's where you'll find alternative Barcelona

where's Silvia these days? she would offer much better advice than me
Click to expand...

Oli thats a spot on post, i second the watch yourelf on the ramblas at night tho my mate had his wallett had off by a hooker (she wanted a piggy bag, he only has himself to blame...)
 
If its your first time there, its always worth jumping on one of the open top buses (are there 3 routes?) which lets you get your bearings and you can hop on and off wherever you want. I appreciate they are a bit 'touristy' but what the hell!
 
The open top buses stop @ most of the aforementioned and are a good way of seeing the city... bring headphones as the plug n' play commentary is pretty good.

Loved the Camp Nou tour ... left feeling the place was almost magical.

Had dinner overlooking the port ... great view & reasonable prices.

There are plenty of rooftop bars offering great views of the skyline.
 
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