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Barcelona - places to visit, things to see, photos, top tips and chat

mrkikiet said:
doesn't sound too touristy...
if it's the one i think it is you aren't going to get much, if any, local flavour there.
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I got as far as the front door before spotting all the back-packer twats and turning around :D Actually called The Travel Bar - a meeting point for travellers. The Travel Bar - a fucking bubble from hell, as far as I'm concerned.

Barcelona seems to have lost something since I last visited (2001/2). The energy and edge has been glossed over. It's to clean and a little bit sterile. If I wasn't meeting up with good people here I would probably have moved on already TBH. May even leave this weekend. Enjoying good company, but the city is a little bit naff and full of pretense. I'd still sooner be here than Madrid, but perhaps that's more because I'm not as young as I used to be. Forget what I said in the previous post. Madrid is possibly a better option these days.

Meeting up with a local who used to live in Brixton tomorrow. Interesting to get here take on her home city. Coincidently, I was invited for coffee and eats at the home of someone who's daughter now lives in Brixton Hill. Small world innit!
 
yeah, that tallied with my recollection of the place.

Barcelona last something during the clean up of the city organised by the ayuntamiento in 2006. also the general redevelopment of the raval and barriogotico is affecting things.
 
Couple of budget (off season prices) hostel recommendations.

Hostal New York on Gignac just €13/night.
Hostal Sun & Moon just €16/night including breakfast and free internet. Very nice, new place with 180 beds in 4 bed dorms, so plenty of places always available. Got me own 4 bed dorm :) Right in the middle of tourist hell.

Music festival this weekend and I've finally sussed a police free zone for good selling, but I'm heading to Sitges tomorrow night, or possibly Sunday night. May return now I know how to make cash here. Still a few local people I want to meet up with. May come back with decent bar and club suggestions.

I'd seriously put Granada, Leon, Salamanca and especially Santiago de Compostela on a visiting list before Barcelona. All are far more real.
 
In short;

All style and no substance.

A let down of a city if ever there was one. It's a bit like flying far away to get to Blackpool in the sun. Really. It is honestly that crap!

It's shit basically. Really shit.
 
And, back to Barcelona after a couple of days in Sitges (I'll return to complete a sand sculpture of magnificent originallity).

Really struggling to find anything worth a mention in Barcelona. None of the locals I talk to can suggest an appealing idea. I may wander into the suburbs this evening. It's gotta be somewhere.
 
try gracia, or poble sec, or maybe even poble nou. and if you want some true barrio style get the yellow line to via julia and then go for a walk. but it won't give you much that another spanish city won't.
 
Just come back from Barca after a first visit and wont be rushing back.
Sagrada Familia was amazing though and loved the area around the cathedral but found the people rude and too keen to grab those euros.
 
I can't get away from Barcelona. Work keeps rolling in. That's a good thing, but even with plenty of cash I really don't enjoy this city. It's false in every sense. Sold as a party city, but you have to play by their rules and pay for it. There are many rules. For the first time in Spain I was instructed to poor a can of beer into a bin by policia local for having the cheek to sip a 40 Cent can in a plaza rather than paying €4 for gnats piss in a bar.

Other than some incredible architecture, Barcelona has fuck all to offer me.
 
i must agree - i live in barcelona since about four years and really do not think it is such a cool city.
there isn't even such good night life (or maybe i've grown old??). it is beautiful and it has the advantage of the climate, but
when you see how it really works ... not nice!

even so...i wouldn't know where else to go.
 
zazazoum said:
i must agree - i live in barcelona since about four years and really do not think it is such a cool city...
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I met lots of very cool people there. It's not all bad, and like you say, it's very beautiful. As for elsewhere; my hearts torn between Granada and Santiago so far. Zaragoza is looking interesting also. Very little cash in Granada, but you can survive on very little.
 
Well, I am due to go to Barcelona for 5 days next week, so I have been doing a bit of reading about it. To be honest, I wish I had never booked the break. By all accounts it seems to be absolutely teeming with thieves, possibly second only to Rome in this respect

Anyone been who can confirm this?
 
If you're worried about thieves exercise caution.
Avoid going to El Raval, which is the area west of The Ramblas. It's actually a rather interesting and recently much-cleaned-up if much-maligned area. And features some cool shops, graffiti and the awesome Modern Art Museum.
Avoid flashing wallets/bags/cameras around anywhere, and you should be fine.
I've seen one bag-snatching in the town, and I've been a lot.
Basically, don't get pissed up and wander down dark alleys in the Gothic quarter alone.
To be honest, last time I was there, the police presence round all the touristy areas had been increased enormously and it felt a little sanitised.
 
Been there several times - never seen anyone getting robbed. Always had a good time! Just keep your wallet close and be sensible.
 
ChocolateTeapot said:
Well, I am due to go to Barcelona for 5 days next week, so I have been doing a bit of reading about it. To be honest, I wish I had never booked the break. By all accounts it seems to be absolutely teeming with thieves, possibly second only to Rome in this respect

Anyone been who can confirm this?
Click to expand...
I've been to both Barcelona and Rome and must say had perfectly good, thief-free weekends.

I don't think the problem is anywhere near as bad as you think. London's probably less safe.
 
Its a big city of course theres going to be thieves/pick pockets etc.

Can't say i've ever felt intimidated there. Or Rome, or london or amsterdam or umm anywhere other big city except paris really and can't say i cared about that one either.

dave
 
Yeah, maybe I am just getting a bit paranoid after 2 hours of reading virtual tourist: the jist of it seemed to almost be "there's nothing you can do! you WILL be robbed! Even if you put all your money in a condom and swallow it, you will be sliced open whilst innocently watching a game of "find the pea""

I should have stuck to Centre Parcs...
 
Nah fuckl that, it's a great city to visit and you can have a very enjoyable robberyless time with minimal effort.
Don't leave your bags lying around, don't leave your wallet in your back pocket... it's all basic stuff. You're probably more likely to be mugged with violence or threats of violence in London than you are to be pickpocketed in Barca. (n.b. I have NO statistics to back this up at all).
 
A friend and I went for a few days about three years ago and we had no problems, I can't remember ever reading that crime was a particular problem there in any of the books I looked at before we went and I've never heard anyone mention it before.

I'm sure you will be fine if you just keep a normal awareness.
 
don't leave your wallet in your front pocket either. Just keep it in your hand and punch anyone who comes near you.
 
ChocolateTeapot said:
Yeah, maybe I am just getting a bit paranoid after 2 hours of reading virtual tourist: the jist of it seemed to almost be "there's nothing you can do! you WILL be robbed! Even if you put all your money in a condom and swallow it, you will be sliced open whilst innocently watching a game of "find the pea""

I should have stuck to Centre Parcs...
Click to expand...

I've been wlaking around drunk, on my own on the phone probbaley with my wallet easily visible walking along the ramblas and not had a problem.

If you can deal with london, liverpool, brum, machester or whaveter then barca is no different.

If you get para whenever theres people around then you probabley should reconsider.


dave
 
Nice city. Bit OTT with the monuments.

Keep an eye about you in Las Ramblas. It is the side streets that are the problem, not the main thoroughfare.
 
kained&able said:
I've been wlaking around drunk, on my own on the phone probbaley with my wallet easily visible walking along the ramblas and not had a problem.

If you can deal with london, liverpool, brum, machester or whaveter then barca is no different.

If you get para whenever theres people around then you probabley should reconsider.


dave
Click to expand...

Oh OK. I live in Edinburgh and don't particularly bother about theft / mugging and it's never really bothered me here and all the times I've been in London, it's never crossed my mind really (possibly because I was the one being regarded by others as potentially dodgy). Been to Hamburg, Munich and Berlin plenty times enough and never even seen an incident, never mind been involved in one.

Perhaps this website I was reading was being a bit hysterical wealthy gullible US tourist-based: I did read one comment where some guy said "DO NOT EVER STAY AT THIS HOTEL: the desk staff could not even recommend me a good tailor!" ) oh, the horror of that...
 
Avoid Las Ramblas and the beach-front promenade by Hotel Arts if your worried as they're the two main areas for pick pockets. The Gothic quarter can also see a lot of pick pockets as they can run down the alleys to get away. Best idea if you'r ereally worried is to take money out each night and leave cards etc at the hotel.
 
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