Barcelona, Spain

[Big D 249]

I remember a few threads from the last site.  Thought I would start one here.

Going there the end of April.

Any recommendations?  Where to eat?  What are the best sites to see?

[Spankytoes 1741]

Cal Pep is a must for food. Make a reservation now if you want to get in. 

[AnonymousInternetPoster 163]

If you plan on seeing Sagrada Familia, buy your tickets ahead of time on-line and pick them up on-site.  Allows you to bypass a huge waiting line.

[jimmyjazz 45963]

If you visit Sagrada Familia (which is a must if you're in Barcelona), then go up at least one of the towers.  I recall taking steps, but reading up on the current access makes me wonder if I only walked down?  Sounds like it's now elevator up walk down.  I also recall a bridge between towers which apparently only exists on the "Nativity" side.

As far as other things to do, I really enjoyed the small Picasso museum ("Museu Picasso").  The Gothic Quarter is a great way to kill hours just wandering around.  I wouldn't recommend the sight-seeing bus tour of the city, though.

[HornPhD 1368]

Sagrada Familia 

Picasso Museum

La Boqueria

Barcelona Cathedral (don't forget to take the elevator to the roof)

Montejuic (great views of the city, Olympic stadium and pool)

First Cocktail Bar in the Gothic Quarter is a cool, little place with great bartenders.

[High Plains Drifter 11050]

Everything JJ said.

When I was there, the Sagrada had an elevator up and a walk down. The walk down was down a narrow spiral staircase with no railing on the wall, and a huge hole straight down in the middle also with no railing. People were scared shitless walking down that thing.

The Rambla is good for people watching. Stop by the Mercat de whatever.

Parc Guell is cool.

Lots of beaches with lots of topless chicks. Also with lots of dudes in speedos.

Edit: Agree with Hphd regarding the cathedral and Montjuic.

Edited April 3, 2018 by High Plains Drifter

[Anastasis 23474]

Barcelona is fucking awesome. Maybe my favorite place in Europe so far.

Sagrada is literally breathtaking when you step inside. 

Bought bootleg barca jerseys on the Rambla.  The operation is phenomenal to watch.  Bunch of guys come up from the subway and set shop up and down the rambla. Popo starts creeping a few hundred meters away and they all snatch up their shops and disappear in a second.

Everything that we ate was phenomenal. Everything. I still have dreams about squid ink croquettes. 

Couple restaurants we enjoyed: Paco Meralgo in Eixample. Also had a business dinner at some place in L'Antiga Esquerra de l'Eixample. Didn't catch the name, but based on GPS coordinates I believe that it is a place called Granados on Carrer d'Enric Granados. Fuck I still think about the squid ink croquettes.  Did not have a single disappointing meal.  Service is european, but there is nothing unexpected about that.   

Did a show at Palau de la Musica, had drinks and ate at alsur cafe across street.

Did Montserrat, but wasn't really blown away.  Took a day of the itinerary and wasn't anywhere near the most impressive monastery I've ever seen.  Would rather sat in some random patio bar in the gothic for the day.

 

Damnit, now I am hungry. 

[Anastasis 23474]

And oh yes, definitely do boqueria on rambla. 

[Spankytoes 1741]

Have more time to respond now.

I thought Sagrada Familia was meh. I can appreciate the level of detail in the carvings and stained glass...but meh. (You can take an elevator both ways) Park Guell was by far my favorite site. Casa Balto was cool too. Buy tickets for all sites online. I was disappointed that they didn’t have pass options like other cities. Entrance fees are not cheap.

The Spanish Village is kind of neat with small shops. We did tapas and a flamenco show at Tablao de Carmen. It was ok.

Go to the Rambla but branch out. The city is pretty spread out but public transportation is good.

Edited April 3, 2018 by Spankytoes

[Neonmoon 38129]

Sagrada Familia was beautiful. Line sucks 

Park Guell was okay. 

Camp Nou was actually surreal. We took a tour and got to walk on the pitch. That bitch is huuuuuge. 

Eat and drink everywhere. All good 

 

[Grimas 669]

Rent an e-bike to get around the city including riding north on the bike path up to the Olympic village.  Great way to see the city.  Note that the people on the bike path don't give a crap about bikes on the path and I are sand 2x avoiding idiots stepping into the bike lane without looking at what was coming down the path... 

dont buy a Jamon and try to bring it back home without the appropriate ag stamp. I had a whole leg of ham dumped in the trash at the Houston airport because I didn't have it.... (I have fast-track and declared it (could have easily walked thru but didn't want to risk losing fast-track so declared it) and I bet those guys had a hell of a feast after I left...)

Edited April 4, 2018 by Grimas

[Grimas 669]

Ate sand

[AnonymousInternetPoster 163]

1 hour ago, Neonmoon said:

Sagrada Familia was beautiful. Line sucks 

Park Guell was okay. 

Camp Nou was actually surreal. We took a tour and got to walk on the pitch. That bitch is huuuuuge. 

Eat and drink everywhere. All good 

 

Dude, I'm telling you.  Order the tickets on-line beforehand and you walk right up to the window to get them.  We did so and walked right into the church with zero waiting.

I can also add that Barcelona and Costa Brava has titties galore on the beaches.  Titties...Galore!

[KingBobo81 535]

I'll pile on with the order tix beforehand for La Sagrada Familia.

 

I made my first trip there last May - I would strongly suggest taking a walking tour with the Sandeman company as the first thing you do. Do the "free" one - all you do is tip your guide whatever you want. I got my bearings of the city on that day and saw a bunch of cool shit I never would have known about otherwise. The tour guide was great.

 

Go to Calle de Blai and get pinchos from every single place on the street.

 

Also, catch a flamenco show. They also do concerts and other performances in some of the old churches.

[Big D 249]

Great info.  How did you guys deal with cash/credit?

Did you just convert your cash to paper Euros?

 

 

[EuroHorn 3265]

5 minutes ago, Big D said:

Great info.  How did you guys deal with cash/credit?

Did you just convert your cash to paper Euros?

 

 

Credit cards for most purchases  and ATMs to get cash. 

[High Plains Drifter 11050]

1 hour ago, AnonymousInternetPoster said:

Dude, I'm telling you.  Order the tickets on-line beforehand and you walk right up to the window to get them.  We did so and walked right into the church with zero waiting.

I can also add that Barcelona and Costa Brava has titties galore on the beaches.  Titties...Galore!

Don't you mean "Barceloneta" here? The name of one of the beaches and the neighborhood adjacent to the beach?

[Mo Horn 8848]

One of my favorite cities in the world. Gonna live there for at least a year when we retire.

[AnonymousInternetPoster 163]

20 hours ago, High Plains Drifter said:

Don't you mean "Barceloneta" here? The name of one of the beaches and the neighborhood adjacent to the beach?

We spent our last night at  "The W" and some scalliwag had the alarm clock in the room set for 3:23 am.  I was not happy about that.

[52-80 19162]

23 minutes ago, AnonymousInternetPoster said:

We spent our last night at  "The W" and some scalliwag had the alarm clock in the room set for 3:23 am.  I was not happy about that.

Theyre just waking up to prepare for a night out.  Nothing wrong with that.

[Big D 249]

1 hour ago, AnonymousInternetPoster said:

We spent our last night at  "The W" and some scalliwag had the alarm clock in the room set for 3:23 am.  I was not happy about that.

Other than the alarm clock idiot.  How was the W?  We are staying there for the week.

[Robin Masters 122]

Barcelona is more and more over run with tourist. Huge hordes of them are Chinese coming off tour buses in vast waves.
More and more of the city has to be booked ahead. Sagrada Familia for sure, but also most of the Gaudi architectural sites, Palau de Musica and even the Park Guell, require you to be there at the certain time on your ticket to get in. All but Park Guell make you go with a tour group.

Get a Rick Steves Spain guidebook, or the general Europe one that has Barcelona, and follow his itineraries. 

Park Guell has a great view of the city and some Gaudi stuff, but there's not a subway stop super close and you have a pretty steep uphill walk to get there. Unless your Surly1% where you have to worry about your chauffeur running over one of the Chinese and scratching the Bentley. 

The water will be very chilly that time of year but there will still be some great tits at the beach. Read some recent reviews, then book ahead for a paella down by the beach.

There's a couple of old ass cathedrals. One is the main city one. Decently ornate, worth a look. The other is north east of there a short distance, not as great but if you're in the area, worth popping in. Seemed like some mandatory donation to go in.

They have a couple of hop on hop off tour bus companies but those are more and more worthless now that you have to book practically everything ahead.

 

[Anastasis 23474]

We originally scheduled to spend a few days at W, but after checking out the map, we moved our reservation to Le Meridien right off rambla. I think that was the right move for us, as we were not there in beach season, and its kind of a hike out to the end of beach where the W is. Much preferred being right in the mix and near the subway. If we there during beach season, that would have changed the calculus.  Also spent a couple nights at some B&B in Eixample, which was a good mix. https://calamariabarcelona.com/en/

[AnonymousInternetPoster 163]

10 hours ago, Big D said:

Other than the alarm clock idiot.  How was the W?  We are staying there for the week.

We only stayed one night.  We had been in Madrid, Rioja region, Pyrenees, Costa Brava and stayed at the Barcelona W the night before our flight home.

[High Plains Drifter 11050]

13 hours ago, 52-80 said:

Theyre just waking up to prepare for a night out.  Nothing wrong with that.

Pre-partying nap.

[Kringelbert Fishtybuns 943]

Based on the results from the first leg of the quarters, Barca should be the semifinals of the Champions League while you are there.  Games are 4/24 or 25 and 5/1 or 2.  Tickets will probably be difficult and they may be away for the first leg, but the atmosphere around the city leading up to the game should be pretty fun.

[mycox 582]

I got tickets from vividseats a few years ago for the chanpinship game against Madrid. They were around  $120 for nosebleed seats, but owrth it.

[Johnny Chimpo 478]

I’m gonna be in Barcelona five nights 4/20 through 4/25. Then Granada 2 nights, Malaga 2 nights, Seville 3 nights and Madrid 3 nights. Pretty stoked on the trip and looking forward to the recommendations... and the tits. 

[clapclapclap 9000]

 

[Mo Horn 8848]

10 hours ago, Johnny Chimpo said:

I’m gonna be in Barcelona five nights 4/20 through 4/25. Then Granada 2 nights, Malaga 2 nights, Seville 3 nights and Madrid 3 nights. Pretty stoked on the trip and looking forward to the recommendations... and the tits. 

What specifically are you looking for?  The big places to go and do in those towns are pretty straight forward.

[Johnny Chimpo 478]

Oh yea, I have it pretty figured out. I’m just gonna fuck around. I just meant picking off some of the things recommended in this thread. 

[6th Street 6412]

On 4/4/2018 at 8:53 PM, Robin Masters said:

Barcelona is more and more over run with tourist. Huge hordes of them are Chinese coming off tour buses in vast waves.
More and more of the city has to be booked ahead. Sagrada Familia for sure, but also most of the Gaudi architectural sites, Palau de Musica and even the Park Guell, require you to be there at the certain time on your ticket to get in. All but Park Guell make you go with a tour group.

Get a Rick Steves Spain guidebook, or the general Europe one that has Barcelona, and follow his itineraries. 

Park Guell has a great view of the city and some Gaudi stuff, but there's not a subway stop super close and you have a pretty steep uphill walk to get there. Unless your Surly1% where you have to worry about your chauffeur running over one of the Chinese and scratching the Bentley. 

The water will be very chilly that time of year but there will still be some great tits at the beach. Read some recent reviews, then book ahead for a paella down by the beach.

There's a couple of old ass cathedrals. One is the main city one. Decently ornate, worth a look. The other is north east of there a short distance, not as great but if you're in the area, worth popping in. Seemed like some mandatory donation to go in.

They have a couple of hop on hop off tour bus companies but those are more and more worthless now that you have to book practically everything ahead.

 

Park Guell was cool but a real tourist shitshow. People everywhere, selfie sticks, etc. So just be prepared for that. 

[Mo Horn 8848]

41 minutes ago, Johnny Chimpo said:

Oh yea, I have it pretty figured out. I’m just gonna fuck around. I just meant picking off some of the things recommended in this thread. 

Great.  Enjoy the tapas in Granada. They still give you something free when you order a drink. Other places in Spain aren't doing that as much. My one regret about Granada was not reserving a dinner at a Maria overlooking the Alhambra at sunset. That would be one tip I'd pass on. 

[Spankytoes 1741]

Flamenco show



View from Park Guell



Casa Battlo



Sangrada Familia (Meh)



Spanish Tittays

Edited April 8, 2018 by Spankytoes

[ramirezut 63]

Bump.

Headed there for 5 days in late May (20-25). Any recs on good places to get pintxos and/or cocktails bars in the Eixample neighborhood? The fiancée (no pics) is really into the classic cocktail bars. 

We're thinking about cutting Barca a day short and get a cheap flight to San Sebastian and checking that out. 

[gmr548 16580]

Love Barcelona. We were there right around that time this year and had a great time. We were there for three days and it felt right, but we were coming from hanging out on the beach so we weren't looking for that. I could easily see five full days. Never been to San Sebastian though.

We aren't big cocktail bar folks, but my best suggestion would be to check out El Nacional. I'm still not even sure if it is technically one establishment or several, but it is a mix of small bars and restaurants under one roof in a really cool building. A lot of variety, so there may be a space you guys are looking for there. Even if it doesn't check the cocktail bar box, it is still a really cool experience.

Edited December 5, 2018 by gmr548

[Johnny Chimpo 478]

On 12/4/2018 at 9:08 PM, ramirezut said:

Bump.

Headed there for 5 days in late May (20-25). Any recs on good places to get pintxos and/or cocktails bars in the Eixample neighborhood? The fiancée (no pics) is really into the classic cocktail bars. 

We're thinking about cutting Barca a day short and get a cheap flight to San Sebastian and checking that out. 

You can easily fill five full days in Barcelona If you want. I’ve spent about six weeks there myself off and on this past year  

El Nacional is a great recommendation, I’ve been there before and I only had a couple of cocktails but the food at the various restaurants looked and smelled great. 

For tapas in Eixample one place I wouldn’t miss is Cerveseria Catalana. Just excellent tapas there, I’ve been there multiple times. It’s a great date spot as well. 

Another cool spot nearby in the Gracia neighborhood is Plaza Del Sol. It’s surrounded by restaurants and bars with patios and lots of young people hang out there in the evenings. 

I’m sure you know this, but dinner in Spain is typically from 8 at the earliest until 11. 9 pm is prime time for dinner. Unless y’all wanna eat alone don’t go out for dinner at six or seven. 

I wasn’t too big on the cocktails myself while I was there, usually I was either drinking wine / cava or Estrella on draft.  

[ramirezut 63]

On 12/6/2018 at 6:20 AM, Johnny Chimpo said:

You can easily fill five full days in Barcelona If you want. I’ve spent about six weeks there myself off and on this past year  

El Nacional is a great recommendation, I’ve been there before and I only had a couple of cocktails but the food at the various restaurants looked and smelled great. 

For tapas in Eixample one place I wouldn’t miss is Cerveseria Catalana. Just excellent tapas there, I’ve been there multiple times. It’s a great date spot as well. 

Another cool spot nearby in the Gracia neighborhood is Plaza Del Sol. It’s surrounded by restaurants and bars with patios and lots of young people hang out there in the evenings. 

I’m sure you know this, but dinner in Spain is typically from 8 at the earliest until 11. 9 pm is prime time for dinner. Unless y’all wanna eat alone don’t go out for dinner at six or seven. 

I wasn’t too big on the cocktails myself while I was there, usually I was either drinking wine / cava or Estrella on draft.  

All places look excellent. We'll definitely have to check them out. 

Obviously we really want to check out the beaches, Barceloneta, etc. and hopefully it's warm enough in late May 

[Johnny Chimpo 478]

I was on Badalona in August and the bare titties were out in full force ☺️

Edited December 11, 2018 by Johnny Chimpo

[ramirezut 63]

22 hours ago, Johnny Chimpo said:

I was on Badalona in August and the bare titties were out in full force ☺️

Amen.

[Hollywood 342]

Anyone been to Barcelona with kids? Headed there in July with our 4.5 year old son. Wondering if there were specific recs for kid shit and kid-friendly restaurants. 

[Tailgate 3022]

Booking our Airbnb today/tomorrow. Looks like the Gothic area is a good spot to stay. Any others I should review? Appreciate any thoughts.

[Mo Horn 8848]

2 hours ago, Tailgate said:

Booking our Airbnb today/tomorrow. Looks like the Gothic area is a good spot to stay. Any others I should review? Appreciate any thoughts.

That would be my first choice. The other are is the Sagrada Familia neighborhood. Nice area, but totally different vibe. Somewhat more upper scale and not as touristy, away from the cathedral. Can get the metro to anywhere. 

[Frieda’s Boss 181]

I’ll plug a restaurant - Parrilla Alfonsina - an Argentine steak place near the Tetuan metro stop. I assume the owners are the same (husband and wife, with other family members working there as well); they were awesome and accommodated our group of 8 people, which included 4 kids ranging from 8 to 14.  Favorite empanadas on our trip. Everything was great. 
 

We were there during the terrorist attack when they drove down La Rambla so the mood of the city was not typical. Definitely want to go back. 
 

I liked Sagrada Familia way more than I expected. Park Guell was cool but crowded. Take the climb up above the park for good views of the city. Gothic Quarter is great to walk around. We took in a game at Camp Nou - I would do it if you’re remotely interested. Barca played Real Betis so the crowd was not what I was hoping for, but cool nonetheless. 

[Tailgate 3022]

5 hours ago, Frieda’s Boss said:

I’ll plug a restaurant - Parrilla Alfonsina - an Argentine steak place near the Tetuan metro stop. I assume the owners are the same (husband and wife, with other family members working there as well); they were awesome and accommodated our group of 8 people, which included 4 kids ranging from 8 to 14.  Favorite empanadas on our trip. Everything was great. 
 

We were there during the terrorist attack when they drove down La Rambla so the mood of the city was not typical. Definitely want to go back. 
 

I liked Sagrada Familia way more than I expected. Park Guell was cool but crowded. Take the climb up above the park for good views of the city. Gothic Quarter is great to walk around. We took in a game at Camp Nou - I would do it if you’re remotely interested. Barca played Real Betis so the crowd was not what I was hoping for, but cool nonetheless. 

Thanks for the thoughts. Can’t wait to get there. Unfortunate Barca won’t be playing while I’m there. 

[Buzzrock 14921]

Landed this morning at 8am local time and just finished a fantastic three hour dinner with colleagues. Restaurant recs are almost pointless, everything is kickass.

This was Cherie/Secret Tapas just off of Diagonal and Granados.

[alphahydro 334]

On 2/25/2024 at 1:58 PM, Buzzrock said:

Restaurant recs are almost pointless, everything is kickass.

 

Might be heresy in this thread, but for me only 2 reasons to go to barcelona:

1) clasico when barca is good

2) the food

one standout for me is LAB: https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g187497-d14962029-Reviews-LAB_Restaurant-Barcelona_Catalonia.html

it's like ikea chairs on the inside, but really innovative cuisine.  when we were last there, the opening dish was tacos, but the shell was lettuce and the meat was ground up chicken bones.  that kind of food.  but unlike a lot of avante garde places, a) the food was really tasty and b) the meal had a great narrative arc - like the dishes built on each other in a way that made a lot of sense. 

if you are into this sort of meal, LAB is can't miss, imho.  way better than, for example disfrutar.  again imo. 

[Buzzrock 14921]

Do we need to consolidate the Spain threads?

It’s a 10/10 weather day here today. I walked from my hotel in Gràcia to the Rambla all the way down to the big market La Boqueria. Holy shit is it fantastic. Go early because it gets crowded.





Then walked over to Cal Pep to meet my cousin for lunch. Thought it was good but not mind blowing. They open at 1 and we got there at 1:30 and got seated immediately, but they were already out of a couple of specials. Maybe those would have been better.

Snack at La Boqueria:

[Mo Horn 8848]

2 hours ago, Buzzrock said:

Do we need to consolidate the Spain threads?

It’s a 10/10 weather day here today. I walked from my hotel in Gràcia to the Rambla all the way down to the big market La Boqueria. Holy shit is it fantastic. Go early because it gets crowded.





Then walked over to Cal Pep to meet my cousin for lunch. Thought it was good but not mind blowing. They open at 1 and we got there at 1:30 and got seated immediately, but they were already out of a couple of specials. Maybe those would have been better.

Snack at La Boqueria:

I've said this before but I want to give tons of rep, and at the same to cuss you out, because you're there and I'm not. Lol

[Buzzrock 14921]

Some badass cocktail bars in the Gràcia area







NOLA and Bloody Mary Bar were great. NOLA bartendress was gorgeous (and only a little racist) and bartender at Bloody Mary Bar was badass. Would have fucked up Tom Cruise in Cocktail.

Great pizza at La balmesina too