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Places to see in Barcelona


Baj
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The area around the Cathedral is quite chilled out, obviously you should see Church of the Sacred Family (Templo Expiatorio de la Sagrada Familia) which is the Gaudi church type place, Parc Guell is good for the views of the city, The Olympic stadium is worth a look especially the massive fountain (La Fontana Magica?)on the walk back to the city at night is amazing. It just a cool city to walk about in and going from bar to bar taking life easy.

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Yeh, the Gaudi 'Park Guell' is pretty spectacular and well worth a visit. Have been to Barcelona a few times and though you will go to Las Ramblas, it is full of tat shops similar to some of the crappy ones on Oxford St in London. At the bottom of the street though, it is worth going up the Columbus statue for the views over the city. Would also advise getting on one of the open top tourist bus trips which take you around the city to all the sites. May not be what you would normally do, but they are very handy. Getting a T10 ticket for the Metro also helps as that gives you 10 journeys on the underground and can be used within your group by all of you. Plus if there are any kids, they turn a blind eye (and even encourage) you carrying your kids through the barriers should you have any.

 

As mentioned above, the cable car (which is near that statue), also gives great views and will take you over to the crumbling Olympic Stadium, which was home to Espanyol till recently.

 

There's loads to see and you will pick it all up from Rough Guide books or whatever,but if you are there for a weekend, it is worth getting a train out to Montserrat which is about an hour north of the city and getting the cable car through the mountains up to the monastery built into the cliff there

 

But don't bother with the Erotic Museum on the Ramblas. It is pretty shoddy.

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I went there with an ex of mine a few years ago. Go there on the ships now and again. You can get a open ticket on the tourist buses which you can get off and on as many times as you want. Think it's about 7 Euros per person. Takes you all over the city from Nou Camp, Olympic park, Marina. Well worth it.

 

There is a restaurant just off Ramblas which they claim is the oldest in Spain. Los Caracoles I think (Spanish for Snails). Very nice place. OVer the road from there is a nice sqaure for a drink (name escapes me).

 

And there is a peep show about half way up the ramblas on the left (with your back to the sea). All navigation in Barcelona is done relative to here.

 

I've actually got 2 copies of the lonely planet guide. Can let you have one if you want.

 

OOO

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I went there with an ex of mine a few years ago. Go there on the ships now and again. You can get a open ticket on the tourist buses which you can get off and on as many times as you want. Think it's about 7 Euros per person. Takes you all over the city from Nou Camp, Olympic park, Marina. Well worth it.

 

I'd second that, but I think the price is a bit out of date.

 

We used the Bus Turistic which run on three circular routes. The North and South cover most of the places of interest, whereas the Forum route appeared most useful for pick ups from the hotels on the waterfront.

 

There are also the orange and blue Barcelona Tours buses, which do a larger single loop.

 

They both cost about the same for a full day's travel (21€/22€) and offer a 2-day ticket for a few euros extra.

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I know you're going with the Mrs but a trip to Camp Nou is an absolute must, I'm sure she won't mind going with you, or go shopping or something. It's Amazing.

 

Everyting people above has said are great, the incomplete cathedral is awesome, though.

 

Enjoy!

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Another vote for Los Carocoles here, and the Bus Turistic. There is a very good museum on the way to the Camp Nou where you can drop the missus off if you're going to do the tour :D, also if you're into modern/contemporary art (think Tate Modern) there's a new gallery a few minutes off of Las Ramblas to the left (with your back to the sea, its about halfway up, close to the market).

If you need chill time an hour or so at Pedralbes Monastery (blue route on the tourist bus) is ideal - very peaceful, beautiful spot. Was perfect for us after a hectic day sightseeing just to sit there and chill

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If none of the above appeals, just head to the beach, which is adjacent to the Olympic marina. Have to say Barcelona is one of my favourite cities, Culture, architecture, sport and pallella! You'll certainly manage to fill your weekend.

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Definitely Parc Guell, maybe the Aquarium down by the marina, there are some nice seafood restaurants over to the east side of the waterside near where the beaches are, Sagrada Familia is a must, Ramblas and the nearby Placa de Catalunya at least have to be visited, and if you don't like cable cars across the marina get the Funicular cliff-train thing to Montjuic instead (Olympic Stadium).

 

And if you find any decent bars let me know, I've been 4 times and rarely happened upon a bar I'd want to buy more than one drink in !

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Definitely Parc Guell, maybe the Aquarium down by the marina, there are some nice seafood restaurants over to the east side of the waterside near where the beaches are, Sagrada Familia is a must, Ramblas and the nearby Placa de Catalunya at least have to be visited, and if you don't like cable cars across the marina get the Funicular cliff-train thing to Montjuic instead (Olympic Stadium).

 

And if you find any decent bars let me know, I've been 4 times and rarely happened upon a bar I'd want to buy more than one drink in !

 

If you're around montjuiic, then make it in the evening so the missus can see the magic fountain.

 

Have lunch in the restaurant at the top (not the one in the middle!) of Corte Des Ingles department store in Place de Catalunya - you have to eat anyway, and it's worth the premium on the food for the view.

 

The tour busses are good value, but also you can buy a mutlitrip ticket on the metro. Only buy one, and share it between you. Beware though the gippos around the ticket machines - invariably kids - I went to Barca twice last year, and was pick-pocketed twice; they're very very good at it.

 

Oh, and have breakfast in the market about half way down the Ramblas - right hand side as you go down.

Edited by Faz
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I suggest going to the beach and wearing dark shades, never have I seen so many beautiful women in one place, although there are also lots of hunks so the missus will be happy too.

 

In your case large dark shades are an absolute must nipper :D

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Definitely the fountains which are lit up at night and are in time with music. The cable car from the Barcelona seafront up to the castle and then you can walk to the Olympic village.

 

Also go up to Tribidabo you have to go on the metro then on a tram up the hill and then the funicular railway. Great fun.

 

I love Barcelona

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One of the pick-pockets favourite tricks is to come up and tell you that you have just been shat on by a bird. As you are looking to see if you have been and he keeps talking to you his mate has your wallet away. Little B@stards!

 

OOO

 

Similar thing happened to us on the metro in Athens. Pretty girl tells Mr TF his rucksack has come undone. Since he had an expensive camera in there, naturally he started checking.

 

When we got off the metro, we discovered his wallet had gone - it had been kept in a zip pocket on the knee of his combat trousers but he didn't feel a thing!

 

Spent a happy two hours in an Athens police station (being grilled like criminals) :(

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Parc Guell fo sho. It's lovely there. There is a really nice bar next door to the Waxworks Museum, it's dark and sort of romantic with trees and fairy lights. Interesting place.

 

As for crime, I had my credit card cloned in a decent restaurant there (only place I used it). Unfortunately Barcelona has a bad reputation for petty crime. Which is a shame as it's an amazing city.

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  • 4 weeks later...

Thanks for all the excellent advice. We actually made a concious decision to not try to cram to much in to one weekend, and spent a whole day and 1/2 just on the beach :) Still saw cathedral, ramblas + the dozens of side streets which is where we spent the majority of our time when not on the beach. NouCamp (awesome) the magic fountains, some excellent markets and just generally had a brilliant time. Cant wait to go back and see the bits we missed (tho dont regret missing them this time).

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