Barcelona Quick Guide

Barcelona Quick Guide

City info | Getting there | What to visit | Shopping | Restaurants | Hotels | Going out | Avoid

In this short guide, ( PDF Barcelona Quick Guide ) we will try to recommend you the “not to miss” in Barcelona during your short stay and all practical information about the city.

• The City
  

  

Barcelona is the passionate capital of Catalonia, an unforgettable city of art, culture and beauty. Gaudi's works, museums, concerts and FC Barcelona’s football team homeland.
Walk along the Ramblas to enjoy street musicians, living statues, hustlers and just plain loonies. Hop onto the Tramvia Blau for a tram trip up to the top of Tibidabo and take in the magnificent sights of the city below you. Shop along the Passeig de Gracia, at the most well known boutiques in Barcelona.
Have a sunset drink at a chiringuito bar on the Barceloneta beach, then after dark, join the locals for pub crawling at the Barri Gotic for a huge selection of tapas bars, wine bars, cocktail lounges and even Irish pubs! Now that you've worked up an appetite, head for El Born where you'll find the finest in new catalonian cuisine.

• City Info
  

  

Population: 1.6 million
Currency: Euro €
Language: Catalan and Spanish
Opening hours: Usually 9.30 a.m. to 1.30 p.m. and 4.30 p.m. to 8 p.m. Monday – Friday with some variations. Many establishments have the same opening hours on Saturdays and some open until lunchtime on Sundays. Shopping centres and many large stores do not close for lunch/siesta.
Emergency numbers: 112 all emergencies / 092 local police / 061 medical emergencies

• Getting There
  

  

The easiest way to get to Barcelona is by airplane. But watch out with the different companies. Easyjet, Vueling, Condor, Air Berlin, Niki and others flies to Barcelona El Prat airport, which is the principal airport in Barcelona, and can reach the city by bus, train and taxi or if you have a higher budget, use our private transport directly to your hotel in less than 30 minutes. Ryanair, probably the cheapest one, flies to the Girona or Reus airports. From there you need to take a bus (one way aprox. 12€) that takes about 1:10 hours and leaves you at the Estacio del Nord.
Check our flight search engine for the best value flight to come to Barcelona, including all low cost companies.

Moving around – Transportation

Walking: ok and obvious, but also the best way to visit the Old Town, Gothic quarter streets, the old fisherman’s village of Barceloneta and the beach, the fantastic Palau de la Musica Catalana in the Borne district, leading you all the way over to the garden of Barcelona – La Cuitadella . This is a huge part of Barcelona and is a really great way to spend a day, believe me.

Buses and Metro: Metro stations are the best way to move around and the fastest way. You can buy a 2 day (11.20€) or 3 day (15.90€) tickets. You can combine the metro with the bus system, and the new "tranvía".
With the public transportation system, you will save time, money and will be more ecological.
For a global visit, we recommend to use the Bus Turistic, that has 2 different routes and visits the major tourist places in Barcelona. Also called the Hop-on Hop-off Bus.

Car Rental : If you will be visiting for a few days and have limited time, do not bother renting a car. Otherwise you can rent a car to go outside the city and visit the Costa Brava, Montserrat or other places worth if you have the time and already visited Barcelona.
Also, the Barcelona Card gives nice discounts on transportation and museums.

• What to Visit (do no miss!)
  

  

Museums & Monuments

Sagrada Familia : Gaudi's unachieved cathedral
Address : Sicilia, 286 / Phone : 00 34 932073031

La Pedrera – An impressive Gaudi building at the Passeig de Gracia
Address : C. Provença, 261-265. / Phone : 00 34 93 484 59 00

Santa Maria del Mar : XIV century Gothic Church with famous stained glass windows.
Address : Plaça de Santa Maria

MACBA : Museum of Contemporary Art of Barcelona
Address : Pl. dels Angels, 1. ( el Raval) / Phone :00 34 93 412 08 10

Picasso Museum (La Ribera, El Born)
Address : C. Montcada, 15-23 / Phone : 93 319 63 10

Areas to walk & visit

Las Ramblas & Gothic Quarter

Port Vell, Barceloneta & Port Olimpic

Interesting

Nou Camp : The F.C. Barcelona football team Stadium
Address: Avinguda Aristides Maillol, s/n

• Restaurants by budget
  

  

Very low-cost restaurants from 10 to 15€
Typically Catalan… Often tapas or worker menu (fixed price menu).

El Quim
In the Boqueria market, on the Rambla. Delicious tapas for your lunchtime stop..
Phone:+34 93 301 98 10
Ès
In the Raval area, this little restaurant has a very fine 10 Euro menu!
Address : Carrer del Doctor Dou, 14 Phone : +34 933 010 068?

Restaurants at low-cost 15-30€
Quality menus that includes wine, or very good bargain restaurants.

Cuines Santa Caterina
This restaurant offers 4 different types of kitchens: Asian, Mediterranean, Italian and vegetarian in the beautiful market Santa Caterina. Not to miss.
Address : Avinguda de Francesc Cambó, 20 Phone : +33 - 93.268.99.18
Los Caracoles
Typical Catalan restaurant specialized in paella and rice..
Address : C/ Escudellers 14 Phone : +34 933 023 185

Average cost restaurants from 30€ to 50€
Very good restaurants… But at the Spanish price!!

Vinya Roel is a restaurant enoteca in Barcelona where you can enjoy traditional catalan recipes in combination with a full wide-ranging list of wines.
Address : C/ Villaroel, 190-192 Phone : +34 93 430 72 79
Cinc Sentits
The Cinc Sentits (Five Senses) is one of the nicest tables in Barcelona. Creative dishes far from traditional flavors but with incredible tastes...
Address : aribau, 58 Phone : +34 93 323 9490

High prices restaurant, over 50€
It is expensive obviously… but it is really an experiment…

Alkimia
Jordi Vilà the Chef of Alkimia (alchemy in English) is part of the young guard of the New Catalan cuisine. The best for this experience…
Address : C/ Indústria 79 Phone : +(34) 93 207 6115
Casa Calvet
For the ones in love with Gaudi, the unique experience of having lunch or dinner in a building of the Master: La Casa Calvet.
Adventurous Mediterranean kitchen.
Address : Casp, 48 Phone : (+34) 93 412 40 12

More restautrants by budget...

• Shopping in Barcelona
  

  

Barcelona is an extremely practical city to shop, almost all is concentrated in the centre and in the historical city.
Opening times: most of the shops and shopping centers are open from 10.00 (10am) to 20.30 (8:30pm) or 21.30 hours (9:30pm). Traditional shops open from 10.00 (10am) to 14.00 hours (2pm) and from 16.30(4:30pm) to 20.30 hours (8:30pm)
Sales: the winter sales generally begin in the second week of January and last until the end of February and the summer sales begin on 1st July and last until the end of August.
How to pay: most people pay in cash or with a credit card, when you must show your passport or identity card.

Women and men fashion, shoes, leather and gourmet shops are unavoidable!

We recommend the Corte Ingles department store in Plaza Catalunya, as a major and centrally located store, and the Illa Diagonal or the more central Bulevard Rosa for a bunch of nice fashion boutiques. Also do not miss a walk on Paseo de Gracia for the best brand shops in Barcelona.

• Going out
  

  

A Drink
Mirablau for the view
Address: C/ Manuel Arnús, 2 / Phone: 00 34 934 188 559?
Marmalade for the happy hour
Address: Riera Alta, 4-6 / Phone: 00 34 93 442 3966
Kasparo for the terrace
Address: Plaça Vicenç Martorell 4 / Phone: 00 34 93 302 20 72
Gimlet for the finest cocktails..
Address: C/Rec, 24 / Phone: 00 34 93 310 10 27
More bars..

Night Out
Night clubs for never ending nights:
Ommsession the hypest one
Address: C/ Rosselló 265 / Phone: 00 34 93 445 40 00
Club 13 still on top
Address: Plaza Reial, 13 / Phone:00 93 317 23 52
Luz de Gas in the “zona alta “
Address: Muntaner 246 / Phone: 00 34 93 209 77 11
Razzmatazz for the big sound
Address: C/ Almogavers 122
Sala Apolo for Nitsa club and Dj’s
Address: Nou de la Rambla 113 / Phone: 00 93 441 40 01
Club Danzatoria for the people
Address: Av Tibidabo, 61 / Phone: 00 93 272 00 40
La Paloma because it is The Paloma..
Address: C/Tigre, 27 / Phone: 00 93 301 68 97
More night clubs...

• Recommended Hotels by budget
  

  

Hotels 300€ and UP / per night for 2 persons

OMM*****
All the Tragaluz Group know-how is concentrated in this hotel in order to satisfy the international jet-set as well as local gotha. Omm is ideally situated at the corner of Passeig the Gracia and not far from La Pedrera de Gaudi, seen from the terrace. Some only go to its famous restaurant Le Moo, others for the Ommsession night club, finally some others for the cocktail bar 50’s styled. We love his amazing façade, the magnificent design rooms, the pool at the roof terrace facing La Pedrera, the Spa and finally the new look hairdresser. An atmosphere hard to leave…
Availability and prices

Hotel Neri H&R****
Two steps from the Cathedral at the Gothic Quarter, in a little XVIII palace rebuild with an exquisite taste, the Hotel Neri is a little pearl with only 22 rooms. Some artist have participated to the decoration with big paintings over the beds, giving a unique tonality to each room. Bath rooms at the terraces, library and a Mediterranean cuisine restaurant worth a good meal, all with an extreme refinement. A nice detail: you can rent Segways and bicycles. No doubt!
Availability and prices

Hotels from 150€ to 200€ / per night for 2 persons

Cram ****
A four star hotel well situated in the Eixample. We appreciate on this design hotel the Spa and the little pool at the terrace, the charming cocktail bar and his excellent restaurant Le Gaig, one of the best tables in the city, renown by his traditional cuisine ( one Michelin star). The rooms are relatively small but very functional, perfectly equipped and definitively very comfortable. If you can, ask for the Privilege Suite, larger, offers a magnificent view of the city. Well ranked by our clients, we can only recommend it. Availability and prices

Pulitzer ****
Hard to be more centric, two steps from the Ramblas and the Plaça de Catalunya. 91 rooms decorated by Lazaro Rosa, all black and white, marble and leather with sophisticated lightning. Not very large but well distributed. We appreciate this hotel for the atmosphere: à la mode bar, meeting site for locals on Wednesday and Saturday nights, and during summer time the “Bar du Ciel” (Heaven’s bar) animated by local DJ’s to profit of a magnificent view of Barcelona. We love it!
Availability and prices

Prestige Paseo de Gracia****
Imagine yourself in the middle of the Paseo de Gracia, surrounded by La Casa Batlló and the Pedrera of Gaudi and by the most prestigious restaurants and boutiques of Barcelona. The prestige stands to his name: 45 divine and large rooms, particularly the ones offering terraces over an adorable interior patio, charming decoration, impeccable and resourceful personnel…
A nice and classic ambiance! Availability and prices
Availability and prices

Granados 83****
Opened early 2006, this original hotel was an old hospital. The dimensions are therefore unusual with rooms conceived as lofts in an Art Nouveau style, joining iron and apparent stone walls, wells of vertical light, all in a great Asian Zen influence very relaxing. Archetype of design hotels, the hotel has taken its place among the hotels in vogue in Barcelona. It is also ideally placed close to La Ramblas and the Paseo de Gracia. To discover!
Availability and prices

Hotels from 100€ to 150€ / per night for 2 persons

Jazz hotel ***
Very well situated close to Palça Catalunya, this hotel with an austere façade is surprising ones inside. Nice ambiance with brown and beige tones, slick design and confortable and relaxing rooms. We adore the terrace, the pool and evidently the very animated “Jazz Bar”. Watch out with prices, since they vary a lot depending on the season, but they also have very good offers. If you can wait, book it when they show a good price!!
Availability and prices

Catalonia Port***
At the port, in the Gothic quarter not far from Las Ramblas, this new and little 41 room hotel is very pleasant. Clean and modern decoration, large and silent rooms with large beds, a roof pool and solarium. We appreciate the friendly and efficient personnel, and we love its strategic location to visit the city without too long walks.
Availability and prices

Hotels Under 100€ / per night for 2 persons

Abba Rambla hotel***
A brand new hotel on the Rambla del Raval, that means a 2 minute walk to the Ramblas…A nice effort has been made to decorate the hotel and the rooms. We are in a “Barcelonese” design, no big names but clean and pleasant. The rooms are relatively large. Why not ?
Availability and prices

Hotel Gat Xino**
A new hotel chain « Gat », and BOPBAA, a reputable architect office ( they have done the extension of the Thyssen-Bornemisza in Madrid), results in this little hotel not to miss in the Raval. Urban ambiance, young and modern. Its basic but efficient. Every room has its bathroom and a suite that has even a terrace (adorable). All white and green, fresh and dynamic, and really not expensive….A good choice for a low budget !
Availability and prices

Hotel Constanza**
A little 2 star that’s well worth 3 stars. 10 minutes walk to Plaça Catalunya, offers a minimalist decoration but with good taste. 14 comfortable rooms with batrooms. The personnel will treat you as real guests and at a very reasonable price.
Availability and prices

More hotels in Barcelona and more recommended hotels by budget

• Weekends to avoid
  

  

Check before coming for weekends with big events or congresses in Barcelona. You might want to avoid such weekends in order to find better prices on hotels, fllights, etc.

• Beware of
  

  

Violent crime is almost unknown in Barcelona, but bag-snatching and pickpocketing are rife – the former especially occurs in the Old City and on the beach, the latter on public transport and along La Rambla. Leave whatever you can in your hotel, and be ware of anyone trying to clean something off your shoulder or sell you a newspaper. Those wanting to swap a coin for one from your country may also try to empty your wallet.

City info | Getting there | What to visit | Shopping | Restaurants | Hotels | Going out | Avoid

Download the PDF Barcelona Quick Guide