One day in Barcelona

[GPaLarry]

We spent several days in Barcelona last summer & saw many sights. By far the most impressive was La Sagrada Familia. It is unlike any other cathedral in the world. Beautiful & innovatively designed, particularly the interior. That is the one thing I would classify as a must do in Barcelona.

Park Guell & the other Gaudi sights are very nice & worthwhile.

Gran Via de les Corts Catalanes is a good, centrally located street for your hotel. Cotton House is a very nice luxury hotel there & we liked it a lot. There are other hotels there at different price points.

Las Ramblas is just a tourist strip, with not much to see. Only saw one human statue when we were there- there has been some kind of crackdown on them, so they aren't as plentiful as they once were, unfortunately. Imo Las Ramblas is only worthwhile if you're going that direction anyway, or if you are nearby & restless & just want to go for a stroll. It has energy because of all of the people, and many cheap & quick places to eat.

Barcelona has the reputation of being the pickpocket/petty theft capital of Europe, so be extra careful with your wallet & phone. Don't rest them on cafe tables, leave them in backpockets, or carry easy to snatch purses, etc. Don't talk to strangers who try to engage you. We were very careful & had no troubles, but I do recommend being careful in all of Europe, especially Barcelona.

I can verify about the pickpockets, they tagged me at a gift shop across the street from Park Guell. Only got my day spending $$, I wore a money belt, as advised by Rick Steves. His name comes up a lot and he has some great videos on YouTube that you should see. You can't do it all in one day, save some for the next time.

 

[soniam]

We noticed that the police were going after the pick pockets more in Summer 2019 than when we went Summer 2013. I think the increase in tourism has prompted them to be more vigilant. I bought a PacSafe bag and wore it cross body. I hate dealing with money belts. We left our extra money at our rental.

 

[GPaLarry]

If you are looking for a fun restaurant, try the "4 Cats" in Old Town. Picasso used to spend a lot of time there with his friends. Somehow we just missed him!!! Great tapas there. The Romans built structures all over Europe and Old Town has some as well as the Picasso Museum. We booked a walking tour of Old Town on the internet, at home, before our Med./WBTA with Barcelona as home base. That city is hard to see in one day. See if you don't think, as I did, that all the Gaudi structures don't look like Whoville. Be sure to take your fully-charged camera...happy touring/eating/cruising.

 

[lorimay]

If you are looking for a fun restaurant, try the "4 Cats" in Old Town. Picasso used to spend a lot of time there with his friends. Somehow we just missed him!!! Great tapas there. The Romans built structures all over Europe and Old Town has some as well as the Picasso Museum. We booked a walking tour of Old Town on the internet, at home, before our Med./WBTA with Barcelona as home base. That city is hard to see in one day. See if you don't think, as I did, that all the Gaudi structures don't look like Whoville. Be sure to take your fully-charged camera...happy touring/eating/cruising.

HaHa! We wee watching Rick Steves today and saw those buildings, they are amazing.
We are already saying we need to get back to spend more time there.
We are spending 5 days in Rome Prior to the 11 night cruise, so I know by that point we will want to get home and see the grandkids oh and my husband will have to back to work :/

 

[auntlynne]

First visit, hotel was the Disney Magic. We did the hop on / hop off bus. I love seeing a city from the upper deck and having the option to stay at one of the stops and Catch one of the following buses.



Second visit, flew in after a quick visit to DL Paris. Probably taxi from airport. Two nights at Hilton Diagonal. It is out of the city center, very peaceful, near The Mediterranean (I think walkable). We went out one night for tapas and some kind of lights at a fountain near the palace (Montjuic) - took the subway there, return by taxi. Short taxi ride to port - it’s right there in Barcelona, not like PC, Rome, or Florence.

View from Hilton Diagonal:





For futbol fans, there is the home of the Barcelona FC.

 

[auntlynne]

If you are looking for a fun restaurant, try the "4 Cats" in Old Town. Picasso used to spend a lot of time there with his friends. Somehow we just missed him!!! Great tapas there. The Romans built structures all over Europe and Old Town has some as well as the Picasso Museum. We booked a walking tour of Old Town on the internet, at home, before our Med./WBTA with Barcelona as home base. That city is hard to see in one day. See if you don't think, as I did, that all the Gaudi structures don't look like Whoville. Be sure to take your fully-charged camera...happy touring/eating/cruising.

Haha... Whoville.

Here’s some architecture







and Las Ramblas

 

[anricat]

We also used Barcelona Day Tours and they were fabulous. We didn't use them at disembarkation, but we did a half day tour with them on embarkation day. They picked us up at our hotel, took us on a half day tour and then dropped us off at the port. I know they do that in reverse as well (pick up at port, tour, drop off at hotel). We had a fantastic day going to Park Guell and seeing some other sites. Here's our embarkation day trip report if that helps:
https://www.disboards.com/threads/a...un-in-london-and-geneva.3690803/post-59418768

 

[Intr3pid]

You can rent a car near the dock, drive to Montserrat in the morning - beating the crowds - and still be back in time in the city for a late lunch. We were able to visit La Sagrada Familia, Montjuic, Park Guell, etc. on our own in the afternoon - having had skip-the-line tickets for many of them.

One of the issues with the tour companies we found (Barcelona Day Tours) was the limit on what their driver-guide would be able to do Here is the disclaimer they provided:

The driver-guide will be able to provide some basic information and knowledge of the sites but he cannot go inside sites/monuments due to access restrictions. He will only be able to drive you from site to site and he will remain by the vehicle while you do inside visits (if any), and as you explore Montserrat.

These are not guided tours - rather, a convenient way to move around the places. As long as you understand this, they can be very handy when you are short on time.

 

[soniam]

For one day touring, I would recommend Sagrada Familia (buy tickets way ahead), walk down Eixample and view architecture, walk through Placa Catalunya and then down Las Ramblas. You could also walk to water at the end of Las Ramblas. Stop to eat where it looks good, maybe a block or two off the main streets. You could try to cram in a visit to one of the buildings on Eixample or Park Guell, but it could be busy and tight. We usually like to spend about a week in Barcelona, so we don't cram too much into one day. Seeing the locals, eating and shopping like them is the best part of the city.

 

[GPaLarry]

We bought a do-it-yourself (with headphones) tour of Sagrada Familia over the internet before we got to Barcelona. Part of the tour included a one-way elevator ride up one of the spires. You walk down the spiral stairs (no hand rails, small windows & limited light) that was featured in Dan Brown's book, ORIGIN. Awesome views and you can see much of the scaffolding on the roof where work continues for years to come. This is truly the funkiest church/cathedral I have ever seen...fascinating to see.

 

[bearette]

We stayed in the Gothic section not too far from the cathedral , not La Sagrada familia, which is rather out. It was a short walk to restaurants and nightlife, but quiet with many restaurants nearby.

Hotel Jazz gets a lot of love on cruise critic so we were going to try it next time, it is on Las Ramblas. Anything near Plaza Cataluna is good too because it is the main square with the airport bus, which I would recommend for one night as it is a central transport hub.I

It also depends on what you are doing for the day, a hotel near your main tourist sites will be better too for to.e savings.