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Anyone been to Barcelona, Spain ?

C

compguy786

Platinum Member
Hey guys !,

I am thinking about going to Barcelona,Spain in the coming weeks. I have never been there, but it looks like a very interesting, people friendly city. I have been to Madrid, but that was in 1997 ( i was 8) Im 22, and am deciding to go for about 3-4 days, and a possible trip to cordoba. I might go alone, or with a friend. I would like to know what is popular there, to see, to do etc.

Any tips, places to stay and eat would be appreciated. Trying to do my HW before i go !

Thanks !
 
I've been there 15 years ago and will be going in 17 days again 🙂
It's a very nice city, it has famous architecture beaches and good food.
 
I went there in April for a stag/bachelor party. I can't exactly remember much of it, but we did go to see a Barca game at the camp nou stadium. That's definitely something worth doing, to see the best football team in the world at the biggest stadium in Europe is pretty awesome even if you don't like football/soccer.
 
Visited it multiple times when I was in the Navy and really enjoyed it, unfortunately that was in 1977 so who knows how much it has changed since then.
 
I've never been there but I heard that it's worth it, with all the nice architecture, the cathedral etc.
 
My wife and I went last fall.
We went to Barcelona, Madrid, Cordoba, Toledo, Sevilla and Granada.
Barcelona was our favorite. Walking down the main roadway to the Christopher Columbus statue is a must. Stop in the market and try a few unique foods.
Stop in a few bars in the side streets to meet some locals.
There are TONS of youth in the city. They are all hipster like and they stay in the many hostels there.
A soccer game would be awesome there, but they are very expensive, and most games are sold out, especially since Barca is the best team in the world now.
The Catedral is a must see. It is within walking distance from the main street and market.
There is an Irish bar behind the Catedral that we went to a few nights. Irish bars are in every Spanish city and it is refreshing to speak English there.

We also went to Cordoba.
The Mezquita is the Moorish castle on the river. It is pretty awesome.
I honestly don't remember much else about Cordoba besides that though.
 
I was there for 2 or 3 days on business in 2005. I didn't have much time to see stuff, but I generally liked what I saw and plan to go back one day to explore more of the city.
 
Spain really is a beautiful country. I've been to Madrid and Seville but haven't been to Barcelona yet. Definitely on my to do list though as is Valencia.
 
I was there for 9 or 10 days back in May. Tons of different stuff to do, depending on what you are interested in.

Below is an email a friend wrote, she may sound a little young and childish but she is actually a very attractive doctor in LA. It may take a little deciphering but all of her suggestions were awesome.

Hey dude,


Ok so- I just looked it up, CHUPITOS still exists on Paseig de Colon (on the water) but it looks like it's had a bit of a revamping and may not be quite as old and rustic as i remember, but you should def check it out nonetheless.
Also- right inside the entrance to the wax museum at the end of Las Ramblas by the Cristopher Colombus statue there is a bar that literally looks like you are walking into a forest. It has the bombest sangria. You literally find the entrance to the wax museum, and turn right once you walk through the gate. Make the trek down Las Ramblas during the day and at night, but this is where tourists get jacked so watch your shit and put your wallet in your front pocket. Right off of Las Ramblas is (to the left if you are walking towards the water) is Plaza Real, which is a sweet hangout at night. We used to get wasted and sit on the fountain there and meet people. My favorite restaurant is in Plaza Real, the best food with the best price (and the best gazpacho!!) It's called Les quince nietz or something like that, you should see it if it's still there. Also, when you are walking down Las Ramblas towards the water, off to the right is another open square called Rambla Raval, and there was a very dangerous authentic absinthe bar there in the corner. Try and find this. I was once licked by a homeless man while chain smoking outside and I wasn't phased at all. It's excellent.


Another MUST is to go down to the beach, lay out, smoke hash (there are dudes walking by selling it constantly, along with cola and beer) and drink sangria. The whole beach area was redone for the olympics and i remember it being pretty nice. There are also a lot of restaurants down there but they are very touristy. Don't worry, if you happen to drunkenly fall on a broken champagne bottle in the baja beach club, the most touristy college beloved patriot joint on that strip, the Hospital del Mar is close by lol.


ALSO down by the beach is a sushi joint called Shoko that is very hip and gets pretty hoppin at nights. Facing the water, if you walk to the left direction from Shoko you'll see Catwalk, another club (I remember the dancers being smokin') and even further is left is Port Olimpic, which is about 20 bars/clubs crammed into a three block stretch down on the water. This place is kinda touristy but it just gets fuckin nuts down there sometimes.


Another super euro club place is Otto Zutz. I've had many a 5 am stumbling out of that place. Good times, and you might catch a glimpse of some of the FC Barca players there. I saw Ronaldinho back in the day and almost peed myself.


OK sightseeing stuff. YOu MUST go see La Sagrada Familia, and you MUST take the escalator up to Parc Guell during the day. both are designed by Antoni Gaudi, along with La Pedrera and Casa Battilo on Paseig de Gracia, which is also a cool but very busy street to walk down and a nice place to go shopping.


You can take the subway everywhere just be careful with your shit, pickpocketing, etc is worse than NYC there. Dudes will grab your shit and jump out of the train as the doors are closing. ALSO- DON"t fall asleep on the subway because it goes into a dark tunnel at the end that is difficult to get out of.


Keep in mind that I lived in BCN in 2006. There are probably a bunch of cool new places to go to, but the best thing to do is sit at a table outisde and eat dinner in the street and drink wine and watch people, which you can do anywhere.


OMG I almost forgot. MAKE SURE you go down to the Ciudad Vieja. It's only pedestrians, tiny little alleys and hidden restaurants, bars, also a Picasso museum that has a bunch of his early stuff includining an entire room of Velasquez's Las Meninas broken down into cubism. AND the old Cathedral down there is beautiful as well. On Sundays outside of the cathedral in the morning you will see a bunch of old people dancing around in circles, it's called the Saldana I think and it's pretty interesting to catch that. You'll see that BCN is half Catalan half spanish, and a lot of people really just identify with Catalunya and not Spain, which is a totally diffferent culture with it's own language. I really enjoyed talking to rando cab drivers about their opinions on Catalunya separating from Spain which is always a very interesting little chat. Also down in the Ciudad VIeja is the old ROman city, like 2000 years old. It's completely underground but you can walk above it and look down. There still exists a humongous old column from the Roman city, they didn't even realize how old it was until recently and built all of these apartments around it. It's on Calle Paradis I believe.


OK I hope this helps. Just make sure you see some of Gaudi's shit because it's beautiful. And get drunk.

Here is another email I got from a co-worker in our Spain office:

The list of musts, I’ll leave the night live to Jordi.

1: Sagrada familia, go and enjoy one whole morning:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sagrada_Família

2: Parque Güell, Better during evening, but beside the park I don remember anything interesting around it:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Park_Güell

3: la pedrera, is in the peso de gracia, visit it till the roof:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Casa_Milà

4. Paseig de Gracia and Las Ramblas…. Keep an eye on your wallet  (always, but specially 😛)

5: Old town and cathedral. Good example of Gothic Arch.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cathedral_of_Santa_Eulalia

6: Estacion de Francia, One of the oldest and most beautiful stations in spain. It’s close to the sea an beaches, have a coffee take a look and that’s it.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barcelona_Estació_de_França

7: Barcelona Pavilion, Mies. It is one of the most beautiful buildings ever. My favorite around the world. Tons of people go to BCN and miss this jewel.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barcelona_Pavilion

You can pass all the day in the zone and visit all aroung montjuic:

http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Montjuic_(Barcelona)

The Olympic town and the ‘Museo Nacional de Arte de Cataluña’

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Montjuïc


And if you are architecture fan you can to go ‘Monte collresola’ and enjoy the tower and the views, but not much to do around it and is hard to reach it.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Torre_de_Collserola
 
MixMasterTang said:
I was there for 9 or 10 days back in May. Tons of different stuff to do, depending on what you are interested in.

Below is an email a friend wrote, she may sound a little young and childish but she is actually a very attractive doctor in LA. It may take a little deciphering but all of her suggestions were awesome.

Hey dude,


Ok so- I just looked it up, CHUPITOS still exists on Paseig de Colon (on the water) but it looks like it's had a bit of a revamping and may not be quite as old and rustic as i remember, but you should def check it out nonetheless.
Also- right inside the entrance to the wax museum at the end of Las Ramblas by the Cristopher Colombus statue there is a bar that literally looks like you are walking into a forest. It has the bombest sangria. You literally find the entrance to the wax museum, and turn right once you walk through the gate. Make the trek down Las Ramblas during the day and at night, but this is where tourists get jacked so watch your shit and put your wallet in your front pocket. Right off of Las Ramblas is (to the left if you are walking towards the water) is Plaza Real, which is a sweet hangout at night. We used to get wasted and sit on the fountain there and meet people. My favorite restaurant is in Plaza Real, the best food with the best price (and the best gazpacho!!) It's called Les quince nietz or something like that, you should see it if it's still there. Also, when you are walking down Las Ramblas towards the water, off to the right is another open square called Rambla Raval, and there was a very dangerous authentic absinthe bar there in the corner. Try and find this. I was once licked by a homeless man while chain smoking outside and I wasn't phased at all. It's excellent.


Another MUST is to go down to the beach, lay out, smoke hash (there are dudes walking by selling it constantly, along with cola and beer) and drink sangria. The whole beach area was redone for the olympics and i remember it being pretty nice. There are also a lot of restaurants down there but they are very touristy. Don't worry, if you happen to drunkenly fall on a broken champagne bottle in the baja beach club, the most touristy college beloved patriot joint on that strip, the Hospital del Mar is close by lol.


ALSO down by the beach is a sushi joint called Shoko that is very hip and gets pretty hoppin at nights. Facing the water, if you walk to the left direction from Shoko you'll see Catwalk, another club (I remember the dancers being smokin') and even further is left is Port Olimpic, which is about 20 bars/clubs crammed into a three block stretch down on the water. This place is kinda touristy but it just gets fuckin nuts down there sometimes.


Another super euro club place is Otto Zutz. I've had many a 5 am stumbling out of that place. Good times, and you might catch a glimpse of some of the FC Barca players there. I saw Ronaldinho back in the day and almost peed myself.


OK sightseeing stuff. YOu MUST go see La Sagrada Familia, and you MUST take the escalator up to Parc Guell during the day. both are designed by Antoni Gaudi, along with La Pedrera and Casa Battilo on Paseig de Gracia, which is also a cool but very busy street to walk down and a nice place to go shopping.


You can take the subway everywhere just be careful with your shit, pickpocketing, etc is worse than NYC there. Dudes will grab your shit and jump out of the train as the doors are closing. ALSO- DON"t fall asleep on the subway because it goes into a dark tunnel at the end that is difficult to get out of.


Keep in mind that I lived in BCN in 2006. There are probably a bunch of cool new places to go to, but the best thing to do is sit at a table outisde and eat dinner in the street and drink wine and watch people, which you can do anywhere.


OMG I almost forgot. MAKE SURE you go down to the Ciudad Vieja. It's only pedestrians, tiny little alleys and hidden restaurants, bars, also a Picasso museum that has a bunch of his early stuff includining an entire room of Velasquez's Las Meninas broken down into cubism. AND the old Cathedral down there is beautiful as well. On Sundays outside of the cathedral in the morning you will see a bunch of old people dancing around in circles, it's called the Saldana I think and it's pretty interesting to catch that. You'll see that BCN is half Catalan half spanish, and a lot of people really just identify with Catalunya and not Spain, which is a totally diffferent culture with it's own language. I really enjoyed talking to rando cab drivers about their opinions on Catalunya separating from Spain which is always a very interesting little chat. Also down in the Ciudad VIeja is the old ROman city, like 2000 years old. It's completely underground but you can walk above it and look down. There still exists a humongous old column from the Roman city, they didn't even realize how old it was until recently and built all of these apartments around it. It's on Calle Paradis I believe.


OK I hope this helps. Just make sure you see some of Gaudi's shit because it's beautiful. And get drunk.

Here is another email I got from a co-worker in our Spain office:

The list of musts, I’ll leave the night live to Jordi.

1: Sagrada familia, go and enjoy one whole morning:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sagrada_Família

2: Parque Güell, Better during evening, but beside the park I don remember anything interesting around it:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Park_Güell

3: la pedrera, is in the peso de gracia, visit it till the roof:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Casa_Milà

4. Paseig de Gracia and Las Ramblas…. Keep an eye on your wallet  (always, but specially 😛)

5: Old town and cathedral. Good example of Gothic Arch.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cathedral_of_Santa_Eulalia

6: Estacion de Francia, One of the oldest and most beautiful stations in spain. It’s close to the sea an beaches, have a coffee take a look and that’s it.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barcelona_Estació_de_França

7: Barcelona Pavilion, Mies. It is one of the most beautiful buildings ever. My favorite around the world. Tons of people go to BCN and miss this jewel.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barcelona_Pavilion

You can pass all the day in the zone and visit all aroung montjuic:

http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Montjuic_(Barcelona)

The Olympic town and the ‘Museo Nacional de Arte de Cataluña’

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Montjuïc


And if you are architecture fan you can to go ‘Monte collresola’ and enjoy the tower and the views, but not much to do around it and is hard to reach it.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Torre_de_Collserola
Click to expand...

This is like the best all-in-one email. I have to go through this (havent yet)
 
Any ideas on buying a pre-paid sim card ? I have a unlocked phone too, and i heard they should be cheap.

What is a good area/hotel to stay in ? Price wise and location wise. Im a college student, so not too much here !
 
I was there in 2009 with my girlfriend (now wife). Barcelona was OK, but I much preferred Seville and Madrid. Smaller places that were also cool were Granada and Toledo.
 
compguy786 said:
Any ideas on buying a pre-paid sim card ? I have a unlocked phone too, and i heard they should be cheap.

What is a good area/hotel to stay in ? Price wise and location wise. Im a college student, so not too much here !
Click to expand...
We booked our hotel on Hotwire.com. You pick the Star Rating and the area of town. It picks the hotel for you at a huge discount.
We picked 4 star and got Hotel Catedral. It is right next to the Catedral and 2 blocks from Las Ramblas.
It is really nice, and kind of hidden.
I think it was $150/night or so.
 
shortylickens said:
Yes, and it was really fuckin nice.
Even in winter.

I recommend you hit up the Black Sheep.
Click to expand...

Just got back from Barcelona. F the Black Sheep - total craphole for partying.

If you want to party, go to Opium Mar, ask for Eric at the door. He speaks English. Good guy. That place is f'ing awesome man. Insane party scene alllll night into the morning. There's a couple other spots right by there as well that are just as good. This is if you want the club atmosphere, loud house music bumpin all night/morning with everyone dancing and expensive drinks.

Other than that, loved Barcelona. Food is AMAZING. Make SURE you eat at Tickets (Ferran Adria's new restaurant), and Con Garcia. Just let the chef choose what you eat at both places. Amazing food, good times.

Be sure to hit the beach and drink some sangria and listen to the tunes. The asian dudes will bother you to buy "cerveza aqua cerveza aqua" or asian women "massage massage massage massage" hahaha just ignore 'em. We stayed in a sweet 3 bedroom apartment overlooking the beach at Diagonal Mar. It's more of the "ritzy" area I guess you could say, but the beach was awesome. if you want the younger kids beach area (hash, etc) go down by the W hotel beach area.

For tourist shit, do the Sagrada Familia for sure and the other top tourist spots. You also may want to check out the Picasso Museum and there's tons of little shops and alleyways you can wander around by there that have sweet restaurants and areas to just sit out at and have a nice drink and small meal.

I'm actually thinking of going back to Spain or Italy to do my MBA....but anyway...PM me if you have any specific questions, need advice, or want me to connect you with anyone out there (I made a few friends)...always willing to help out the fellow traveler.

HAVE A GREAT TIME MAN!!
 
Last edited:
My GF and I spent 5 days in Barcelona in 2009. After the first few days the thrill wore off and we were actually kind of bored of the place. We also spent time in Valencia, Granada, Seville and Madrid.
 
I am going for max 3-5 days. How much is food usually ? and should i take certain amount of cash ? I like to use my card everywhere, but thats not the case everywhere.

Learning alot from you folks. Thank you very much for your insights !
 
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