Barcelona! Ideas wanted.

In My Humble Opinion
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So Tom Scud and I are going there in a couple of weeks. We will have a week to spend, and we have both been to Spain before, and we have a couple of guidebooks, and I speak Spanish (and yes, I am aware that people there speak Catalan, but hey, how many languages can they expect us to speak?), so we should be able to get around just fine.

So of course we will do lots of touristy things, but we’d like to experience the Real, Non-Touristy Barcelona too. Which touristy things are worth it/not worth it? We plan to stick to public transportation mostly, but is there a day trip outside of town for which we might want to rent a car? (Wineries spring to mind.) We like all kinds of things: art, music, architecture, and especially food. Non-super-touristy restaurant recommendations would be especially welcome, and for that matter, the place where we are staying will have kitchen facilities, so favorite spots for interesting groceries would be good, too. Any favorite spots for live music, particularly something we wouldn’t see at home?

And we will be there on Easter, and staying near the Sagrada Familia: is it likely to be completely crazy around there? Will we have a hard time finding places open on Easter, particularly finding something to eat? Any and all tips welcome.

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I’m a huge fan of Gaudi, so the tour of Casa Mila was completely worth it. One thing that I regret not having known about was the Boqueria Market, which sounds like all kinds of awesome.

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One of the more obscure things I really enjoyed was the maritime museum. One of the best examples of gothic civil architecture, plus a great replica of the galley from which John of Austria commanded the victory over the Turks at the Battle of Lepanto.

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Hmmmm, looks like Penedes wine country is totally doable by train. Yay! I think that goes on the list. And the Boqueria, for sure.

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I spent an afternoon strolling through Parc Güell. Also, go window shopping through La Rambla. I also visited the Museo Picasso and the Joan Miró Museum. And the Museu Nacional d’Art de Catalunya (National Art Museum of Catalonia). I also saw the zoo and the aquarium, but that may not be what interests you (I was a future vet student when I went to Barcelona).

Yes, they speak Catalan, but in Barcelona you can speak Spanish.

What was tricky for me was going to Majorca, where they spoke, besides Catalan, their own local dialect of it. Yikes, so sometimes I did encounter people who didn’t really speak Spanish, it was either the local dialect or Catalan. Spanish was, if they knew it, their third language.

Add: The thing in Majorca was that I did “non-tourist” stuff, and ended up around people who were not into dealing with tourists, even less those from outside of Spain. Had I spent my time around tour groups or bunch of tourists, I wouldn’t have had that experience. This did not hamper my enjoyment of the island, just an observation.

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I am posting to mention the Boqueria Market, but I see that it has been mentioned.

Do not miss it, it will blow your mind.

You might want to hop on the train for a run up to Figueras (about an hour?) to visit the Salvador Dali museum, very cool.

The mountainous ridge to the west of the city offers stupendous views, well worth it.

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The Barcelona card, which covers transport and free entrance to some museums and galleries, is a very good thing to have. You can buy the card from tourist information offices.

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Already ordered one (actually two) online for 10% off, to be picked up on arrival :smiley:

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I will third the Boqueria Market as well as Parc Guell & Sagrada Familia of course. I would also suggest at least wandering into the lobby of the Palau de la Musica for more Gaudi.

If you are interested in early Picasso you should check out Museu Picasso. You should spend an afternoon getting lost in the Gothic Quarter. Plenty of amazing things and buildings to see there.

For food I would suggest Cata181 if you want a modern twist on tapas. For a more traditional feel Maitea has a local crowd with a friendly feel to it. I also liked Taverna del Bisbe located pretty much in the middle of everything. This place was maybe a little more touristy but in a great setting, the food was good and there were plenty of locals coming in after they got off work.

ETA: In my experience pretty much everyone is bilingual in Catalan and Spanish if not also a little trilingual (English).

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I was there last year for a week when I was backpacking through Europe. I took a bike tour and saw all the sights in about three hours, and got a picture of myself in front of the Sagrada Familia. Didn’t really do much beyond that now that I think back on it. I spent most of my time hanging out at the beach or my hotel room.

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I second this. Note, though, that it isn’t by Gaudi, but his contemporary,Lluís Domènech i Montaner.

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I was going to start a similar thread but guess I don’t have to start it now.

I’m traveling to Barcelona for the first time next month for an event. My only free time will be late evenings on thursday-saturday and all day on a sunday. The event is at this place Fira de Barcelona I will be staying in an apartment about a block away.

I’m looking for places that are cool to look at at night. Restaurants worth finding. And an attack plan for what to see with my sunday.

I don’t speak any Spanish nor will my traveling companion.

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Give me a PM or I will never forgive you! I’m in Barcelona now! (well, ok, two towns over. Three. A hop and a skip by train, anyway.)

… ok, ok, I’ll forgive me, since I’ll be away from Holy Wednesday to Monday after Easter, damn…

The Paralel is where most of the theaters in Barcelona are; there are usually a few shows on which don’t have a lot of talking. It ends at the Fira’s main gates, although most of the theaters are at the other end (2 metro stations away). These guys have a magic show right now that looks quite spectacular, and it’s on for a couple of months.

The red hop-on/hop-off tourist buses are good, you can get several-day tickets.

A touristy thing which many foreigners miss is the tomatitos, the hanging cars which “fly” over the harbor. If you’re not afraid of heights nor get dizzy easily, the views are cool. Their extreme stops are at the Drassanes museum (which has among other things a 1:1 reproduction of Lepanto’s Captain Galley) and at one of the docks.

Make that day trip to Sitges. Wineries and modernisme in a small place, and the train trip is shorter than to Penedés (even people from Villafranca will admit Sitges is a lot prettier).

Search for previous combos of Nava or matt_mcl plus Barcelona (both of us love to talk about the place), and PM or email with any specific questions please.

One of my favourite Modernisme buildings is Puig i Cadafalch’s Casa Terradas, aka La Casa de les Punxes - I used to think it must be a princess’ castle, it sure looked like one. It’s relatively close to the Sagrada Familia (1 metro stop away).

After visiting the Sagrada Familia, take Passeig Gaudi. It’s the diagonal avenue which travels “uphill and right” from the Sagrada Familia’s corner; Hospital de Sant Pau, on the opposite end, is also an important moderniste piece. It’s by Domènech i Montaner, like the Palau.

The usual advice for restaurants: often, looking in the side streets will get you perfectly fine meals for a lower price than sticking to the biggest ones. Remember that you can ask about daily menu (two dishes plus water plus dessert-or-coffee; a soda or wine is likely to be included but other drinks will be added) and many restaurants offer a lower price for half-menu (one dish plus water plus dessert-or-coffee); you want menú del día (mehnou dehl deeah), not menú. And everything takes place 2 hours later than at home.

Pueblo espanyol: yes, there’s foreigners, but it’s still more of a “nationals or people being bused in without knowing why” thing. It was built for one of the International Expos, each house is a reproduction of another from one of our provinces and there’s artisan shops; watching someone make beaded jewelry isn’t much of a thrill, but I love watching the glassblowers. Check whether they’re open before dropping by. It’s close to Montjuich Castle, which isn’t very Castle-ish but again spectacular views. Walking up the steps from the head of the Fira to the top of Montjuich counts as “a lot of exercise”.

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boytyperanma, I was going to PM you but can’t. A couple of the things I mentioned are close to where you’ll be, but I don’t know whether you’ll have the energy for any of it after a fair.
If you want, I can come “play guide” on Sunday; with only one full day, I’d say take advantage of the red tourist buses.

There are quite a few restaurants around the Fira, mostly down Parallel or up Tarragona. You’ll find “gourmet” places, places with normal prices but pretty presentation, and holes in the wall. The old Las Arenas bullfighting ring has been transformed into a mall, it’s directly across Plaza de Espanya from the Fira’s main gates. The food places in the mall will mostly be chains but I haven’t visited this one’s food court so I don’t know whether it’s just “a BK and a Foster’s” or there is a wide variety. I’m going there today to buy some shampoo, I’ll drop by the food court.

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I guess my PM’s got turned off somewhere along the line. That’s fixed now.

Thank you for the offer, I’m not opposed to meeting but don’t want to commit to anything, our energy are an event varies from lets just sleep in and be lazy all day to lets see everything.

The hop on hop off bus tours have been very successful for me in other places, sounds like a good idea for Barcelona.

Even if it is just fast food in the mall I’m glad to hear there is nearby food. I’ve been to events where getting food was simply not an option due to distance.

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If you can fit it in your schedule:

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Eh, we’ll be there until the morning of the 15th, so maybe we can figure something out :slight_smile: Will touch base later.

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Yay!

boytyperanma, the mall has restaurants on the 4th (an “american” Bar and Grill) and 5th floors (several styles including “Masia”, local farm style). There are also places for lighter meals on floor -1, including a bar that has tapas, raciones and subs, and a Farggi. Farggi = great ice cream (there are quite a few around town).

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:: bump, because ::

Oh goody - anyone care to place bets on how ugly this is likely to get? I got tear-gassed while vacationing in Paris once and would not like to repeat the experience. Or is the BBC sensationalizing?

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When you go to Sagrada Familia, definitely take the elevator ride up one of the spires. It was a very long line when i was there, but worth it.

Do not miss the Palau de la Música Catalana, one of the most gorgeous buildings I’ve ever been in . . . and NOT designed by Gaudì. Take the tour to see the magnificent concert hall, with the inverted stained-glass dome and on-stage sculptures of the muses.

And if there’s a very clear afternoon, go up to Tibidabo (you have to take a train, and I think a trolley, and a funicular) for a spectacular view over the city and shore. Don’t waste time with the little amusement park.

Also great views from Parc Güell.

And by all means stop at the Boqueria Market in the morning, and put together a picnic lunch, or just stuff to munch on throughout the day.