This summer the soon to be Mrs. Debaser and I will be heading on our honeymoon to Europe. The main focus of our trip will be a Royal Carribean cruise for seven days leaving from Barcelona and heading to France and Italy.
However, before leaving on the cruise we’ve got about a week to kill on the mainland. Since all the flights I’m looking at seem to layover at London, that seems as good a place as any to spend a couple of days. We’re also planning on spending some time in Barcelona doing the tourist thing before the ship leaves port.
Are any well traveled dopers out there (or locals) willing to give me some advice on what to see and do in these cities?
My fiance and I both like different things, so all options are really out there on the table as possibilities. I like hiking and sightseeing, she likes shopping and spa treatments. We both enjoy museams, martini’s at nice restaraunts, and a quality hotel that’s not too expensive.
Any help, advice, tips or thoughts would be appreciated and possibly put to good use!
There are plenty of London threads, so I’ll concentrate on Barcelona, where I’d simply say it’s a city best taken-in at a leisurely pace. It’s a very relaxing city, with a pretty healthy nightlife and slow lazy afternoons. It’s fun (and I found fairly safe) to simply walk around the city, taking in the various Gaudi installations, from the Park Guell to the Sagrada Familia. Eat Paella at the wharf, browse local shops, and just relax–that’s definitely the vibe there. Public transportation is very easy there, too, so getting around the city isn’t a problem (though it helps to speak Spanish, naturally).
For a day trip, definitely check out Montserrat.
Have fun!
London is a great city, and there is lots to do and see. As mentioned there was another thread recently about things to do there, so I’d recommend you check into that.
But given that this is your honeymoon, I am surprized you are not going to hit Paris ! If it were me, I would spend the extra days either all in Paris, or between Paris and Barcelona. Heck, if it were me, I’d pass on the cruise all together (of course, I’m anti-cruise to begin with), and spend all the time in Paris and Barcelona, and in-between ! It sounds like your cruise will be hitting parts of France, but come on ! Being on your honeymoon, in europe, and NOT spending time in Paris !
But back to Barcelona. I loved Barcelona. It is a great walking city, but I’ve heard the public transit is really good as well. We made the mistake of trying to drive around (which isn’t so bad, but there’s very little parking), and therefore learned that walking is the way to go. Some things to add to your list:
- the Picasso museum (awesome museum that goes through all these phases of his work . I was really impressed by his really early work).
- Ramblas. This is THE hang out, leisurely stroll avenue. It is a wide street, with the sidewalk down the middle. And there are all these street performers and vendors lining the walk. Be sure to hit this both during the day and during the night. The best people watching and hanging out place around !
- As mentioned the Gaudi architecture.
- I can’t remember the name, but up on the top of this hill on the south (?) end of town, there was this cool old fort that you could walk around. And you got some really nice views of the city from up there.
I couldn’t tell you where this one thing was, but in just walking around the neighborhood of our hotel one morning, I came across this really fascinating cemetery of all things. I know it sounds kind of morbid, but aside from all these interesting headstones, it was really interesting to see these rows of like “coffin apartments” (3 or 4 “floors”/rows high).
The point is aside from all the stuff that will be listed in the guide books, I think there are just really interesting things all over. So it’s just a matter of going for a walk around some area.
Hope this helps.
I’ve been to Barcelona a couple of times and loved it. Despite getting my phone stolen and a huge bill run up. So watch out for pick pockets.
For eating out, the locals seem to eat pretty late, so if you go a little earlier than them, there’s no waiting for an hour to get into a good restaurant. Avoid eating on La Rambla, it’s over priced, and I was disappointed on those occaisions. Very near by, in the Barri Gothic, however, are a two restaurants I’ll recommend:
La Fonda as well as being good food, it’s also cheap. We found this by accident. We were always ready to eat earlier than the locals and this was one of the few that would let us in shortly after noon. We we entered it was just us and another English couple. By the time we left it was full (mostly locals) and there was a queue stretching down the road. We went back there (I had envied my friend’s choice of lamb and wanted to try it) and the same happened, so we’ew not the only ones who loved it.
Nearby was Taxidermista where we had dinner. We’d seen it earlier in the trip and been amused by the name. Passing by on our last evening after our plans to dine elsewhere had been thwarted we gave it ago. Again busy, a mix of locals and tourists, with fabulous food. More expensive than La Fonda, but excellent value for money, and at least by UK standards, not really expensive at all for what we had (and we certainly didn’t stint).
La Rambla is good for having a drink and watching the people. The Cafe de l’Opera was cool too in a days gone by sort of way.
Getting around - get a pass for the underground system, which will take you near most places you need to go. Parc Guell is a treck from the nearest station, but worth it.
This site was useful in getting a sense of the layout of the city and for finding a hotel.
Strolling in Barça don’t take anything * in your bag you would regret losing, it is THE capital of pick pocket bag snatching. Dropping change in the floor and taking your purse as you helpt to pick it up, crowding unnecissarily close when getting ontp public transport, telling you you have bird s** on you and ‘helping’ to brush it off, you name it, they do it.
Parc Guell as already mentioned is lovely as is Pedralbes Monastry in the South West (I think) of the city - really peaceful and mediterranean. Don’t think about eating till 10 at night but keep the hunger pangs at bay in the Basque tapas bar on calle montcada near Santa Maria del Mar and the Picasso museum.
cormac262 seems to be pushing Paris - can’t say as how I blame him - you can do an overnight train up from Barcelona which could be kinda cool, I think they do ‘hotel’ cabins with double beds which could be interesting … or just do a quick Eurostar over from London.
Thanks for all the advice so far. We will be stopping in France twice: Marseille, and Nice. Both stops are for a full day, so that’s why I would prefer to say in Barcelona for a longer time to get a feel for Spain.
I’ll check out that London thread.
Neither of us know any Spanish at all. I’m hoping that won’t be too much of a problem. Hotal staff would most likely know English? How about waiters at most restaraunts?
We got by just fine with English, there are plenty of Brits in and around Barcelona, and a lot of the restaurants had their menus translated into English. But the local language is Catalan, which is just different enough from Spanish to be confusing at times. And then there’s the lisp …
Barcelona is the capital of Spanish Catalunya, notices on metros etc. were in Catalan, English then, grudgingly, Spanish IIRC. Most people in contact with tourists should be happy to use English (more so than Spanish in my experience).
Barcelona is quite cosmopolitan, consider getting a train up to Girona or down to Tarragona (both easy day trips) to get away from the crowds. For a bit of hiking the Pyrenees aren’t far away and you could consider getting a train as far a Girona then hiring a car.
Oh one thing - the metro in Barcelona, you use your left hand to put your ticket in. Most other countries it is your right hand and you do so automatically, but in Barça tourists often end up with sore thighs as they collide against a locked turnstila and may give someone else a free ride. I know this sounds a tad odd but trust me.