Barcelona

[MrJan]

Me and a mate are heading to Barcelona in a few weeks. For people that have been there/live there what sort of things are recommended/should be avoided?

Obviously the Sagreda Familia and Nou Camp are on the list (hoping to catch a game but not sure how likely that is), apart from that I think the plan is to enjoy a few local bars and see where the week takes us.

[MrMetro]

http://www.barcelonaturisme.com/English/_3Ngb8YjSpL2a3y4pka50kmRE9iFJMC0YdWvWz1Lskxte8mAvG UHL7kB_KzwVqMNcKs3T9_-TIcY

perhaps this may be of some use...

[MrJan]

Cheers for that, it's also reminded me of another question I had. When I went to Toronto they had a card on the metro/subway where you pay x amount for a little card and you get easy travel for a week/month/year. As we'll probably be moving about a lot I was wondering if this exists, how easy it is to get hold of and what's the best option. Also how easy is it to get hold of for someone who learnt a bit of schoolboy Castellano but hasn't spoken it properly in nearly 10 years. Food and beer I can order but a little train deely is probably out of my league :D

[schmenke]

Does this mean we won't see you around the forum for a while, Miguel? :bounce: :D

[Donney]

Take a look at this for the metro/subway travel cards:

http://www.tmb.cat/en_US/barcelona/moute/targetes/targetes.jsp

You can buy them in any metro station as you would if you bought a regular ticket.

You should be fine if you speak a little Spanish and English, most of the bars in the touristic areas have someone able to communicate in English.

[Mark]

We found that the open top bus ride is a good way to get yourself familiar with the layout of the city and the major attractions.

[fandango]

What part of the city are you going to stay in? Try to be as central as possible. The tourist bus ride is popular, everyone I know who's gone on it says it's good.

DO NOT eat on the Rambla, way, way overpriced. Have lunch at 2, and dinner at 9, and go to places that are crowded (there's a reason why they're crowded) and don't be put off by it, Catalans don't turn business away!

Are you going to be in town for the F1 testing?

Camp Nou is hard to get tickets for these days, people are enjoying the 5-0 matches too much. However, they have a season ticket sell-back scheme, which you can find out more about here, eh, somewhere:

https://entrades.fcbarcelona.cat/web/en/entrades.html

Basically, when people with season tickets decide they're not going they can sell their seat for that match back through the club, so that sometimes a match that's sold out for weeks in advance can have tickets available a few days before the date. You have to keep checking.

Don't be afraid to lose yourself in the centre wandering around. It's a nice city for that. BUT, watch out for pickpockets. They're not violent, but they are sneaky. So if someone abruptly stops in front of you to light a cigarette, for example, watch out for his stealthy friend behind you...

The T10 ticket is probably your best bet for public transport. I think it costs about 8€, and for that you get 10 journeys of integrated (metro, bus, tram) unlimited travel for a time period of one hour fifteen minutes. You can buy them on machines, that AFAIK have an English language option.

The weather will be pleasant if you're coming from the UK. Not really t-shirt weather, but getting there, and cool in the evenings. You probably won't need the flip-flops and shorts, but if you do, it's kind of frowned upon to walk around the city in them. It's usually nice and sunny in the afternoons, and then the temp drops at about five-thirty, six.