Short Break In Barcelona At Christmas

Soldato
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Hi,

I’m planning to take my wife to Barcelona for three days (two nights) between Christmas and New Year. I have a couple of questions though.

• Have you been, what’s it like?
• Where’s best to stay?
• Is three days the right sort of length?
• What can we do there, we’re not really museum type of people?
Anything else I should consider?

Thanks,

Eddie
 
Soldato
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inb4 "you'll get robbed".

But you will. I did. :(

Go here, it's awesome. Totally packed and no idea how they keep track but the sandwiches and bites are awesome and cava is stupidly cheap (2 euro a bottle). Full of locals, no seats, you'll have to elbow your way to the bar, you'll be bewildered as to what you've actually got, but you'll have great fun. Go in the afternoon as prices get jacked up in the evening.
http://www.canpaixano.com/
http://goo.gl/maps/jcR1q
 
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Man of Honour
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Just came back from Barca this weekend.

We stayed in Apartments Sixtyfour, apartment for 6 of us. Very reasonable price and good facilities in a great location.

Three days is fine, we had 4 days and 3 nights. Could have done more stuff, but didn't feel as if it was too short.

Places I went to that aren't museums:

Camp Nou
La Ramblas - market there is pretty cool, lots of shopping in neighbouring streets.
Park Guell - it's ok for a walk around, I didn't feel like the place flowed particularly well though
Fountains
Tibidabo for a good view

The one place I can recommend for good tapas is a place called Bilbao Berria right next to the cathedral near La Ramblas.

Do NOT go to Tapas 24 as we were recommended to, was expensive and everything was fried. Probably the worst tapas I've had, yet places like tripadvisor rave about it?

Also watch out for pick pockets, we didn't get affected. But I've heard La Ramblas is notorious for it, especially during the later hours.
 
Soldato
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Soldato
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Cool, thanks. Is everything really within walking distance?

Depends what you want to see. We walked from the Sagrada Família right to the beach, though we got the underground from La Ramblas to it. If you want to visit the Nou Camp then you'll need to get the underground and the walk to the Magic Fountain is pretty long and best done with the underground. However, the old town is all pretty compact and walkable.
 
Soldato
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Depends what you want to see. We walked from the Sagrada Família right to the beach, though we got the underground from La Ramblas to it. If you want to visit the Nou Camp then you'll need to get the underground and the walk to the Magic Fountain is pretty long and best done with the underground. However, the old town is all pretty compact and walkable.

Underground hey, didn't know about that. Perfect.
 
Man of Honour
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I got the T-10 ticket for the underground/buses, which was perfect for us.

It costs €9.45 iirc and you're allowed 10 journeys with that ticket and is valid for 3 months I believe. You'll end up using the L2 line most frequently.

A train from the airport near Terminal A cost me €3.60 to the city centre.
 
Soldato
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The underground is a piece of cake and cheap. Get the T10 ticket for 9.65EUR and it does 10 stops, so you could use it all day.

We weren't robbed and didn't feel like we would ever be, but we kept things in sensible places, I was the only one with wallet, Mrs had bay that zipped up etc. but felt fine when there a couple of weeks ago. Agree you could walk most places, we did with the kids and they were even OK.

If you want to take the Mrs for a nice meal, try Lasarte. It was fantastic!

http://www.randomshenans.com/#/blog/4556125295/Lasarte---Barcelona---Boys-do-2*-dining/4114604
 
Soldato
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pick pockets are a right pain in Barcelona but it has been that way for years, keep you wits about you and you should be fine.

Amazing city to wander about great architecture, and the Spanish tapas culture of wandering from place to place having a few nibbles and a glass of Rioja is a great way to eat and sample the best a city has to offer.
 
Don
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Telford, Shropshire
Went there for my stag in September.

Took in a game at the Camp Nou, which was amazing.
You HAVE to do Sagrada Família, the building is amazing.

Get an apartment in the gothic quarter, it's lovely around there.

As mentioned, beware of pick pockets (none of us even saw one) but it's common advice.

Las Ramblas isn't as great as people make out, it's very touristy. It's OK and probably worth a wander, just keep your wits about you.
 
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