Barcelona Favorite Tips by Belsaita Top 5 Page for this destination

Areas of Barcelona (for touristy purposes) Tip #2 City Overview Review

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Barcelona has several and distinct neighbourhoods, with very different atmosphere. I will limit here to a short description of those more central

1) Barri Gotic: from the right side of Las Ramblas to Via Laietana. The oldest part of the town (some Roman remains close the cathedral), very narrow streets, charming for some but intimidating to others. Overall a nice area but too touristy to my taste: noise, crowds...

2) Raval is on the left of Las Ramblas on the map, between Ramblas and Ronda Sant Antoni. It was the old red light district but now is a vibrant multicultural area. Still quite seedy on some streets, but changing fast. The area around MACBA is actually quite nice, but I would not recommend anyone staying in the part closer to the seaport.

3) After Gotic, if you go a bit further away, from Via Laietana to Parc de la Ciutadella, you'll be crossing El Born-La Ribera. You'll find plenty of small nice shops, restaurants and clubs, as the old working-class neighborhood have been reconverted to probably the trendiest area in town.

Barri Gotic, Raval and El Born-La Ribera are all part of the Old Town district, Ciutat Vella.

4) L'Eixample (literally means "broad axis") is the area of the city build in the XIX century. It surrounds the Old Town. Its easy to see in the map as the streets do cross perpendicularly (up from Plaça Catalunya, most of the city center). This is a very good area of the city, elegant buildings, wide streets, safe, lots of shops, restaurants... More elegant and more convenient for sightseeing as closer to Passeig de Gracia/Rambla de Catalunya (do not confuse this one with "Las Ramblas"). Very "local" flavor in general.

5) Another area quite convenient for tourists is La Barceloneta (its name means"little Barcelona"). This is the old fishermen's neighborhood, just next to Port Vell (Old Port). Lots of restaurants to have seafood/paella, trendy new bars and old-fashion bars to have a "vermut" on Sunday morning.

Some nice areas not "that central" but very well connected to the city centre by public transport (or even walking):

6) Gracia: a bit more out of the way, but very interesting and lively neighborhood. Located in top of Passeig de Gracia, after crossing the Av. Diagonal. In fact, Passeig de Gracia was once the road from Barcelona (limited at that time to what's now Ciutat Vella) to the formerly independent town of Gracia, hence its name. Lovely small squares, great shopping and dining places. A favourite area for expats to live and for locals to hang out. Park Güell is located on the hilly edge of Gracia.

7) Poble Nou: a former industrial district, now in converted to a technological/business area. Like Gràcia and other areas of Barcelona, it was once an independent town, "poble nou" actually means "new town" and it was where the workers of the many factories built around a small lake used to live. You can now see some of these old factories reconverted to museums (Can Framis), University facilities (Ca L'Aranyó) or other uses. But the best part of this are is its Rambla: there, you can enjoy a true Catalan rambla, were locals walk, shop, eat, people-watch... Just 10-15 minutes from the city centre by metro and walking distance to the beach.

8) Poble Sec : between Av. Paral·lel and Montjuïc mountain. Not that "obviuolsy charming" as other areas (even it has some nice squares), but handy for visiting the sights in Montjuic and well connected with everything else by metro/bus. Av. Paral·lel is the "theatre street" of Barcelona. Some of the streets of Poble Sec are becoming popular for eating out and have a drink.

Areas of Barcelona (for touristy purposes). Tip #1 City Overview Review

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First of all, a couple of hints:

- The famous "Las Ramblas", is the promenade from Plaça de Catalunya to the sea.
Not to be confused with other locations as "Rambla de Catalunya", "Rambla Prim", "Rambla del Raval" etc. "Rambla" is a kind of avenue with a pedestrian area in the middle. The word rambla is derived from the Arabic term, ramla, which means "riverbed", and these streets actually once were riverbeds that channeled the water coming down from the hills. So, you can find streets with this name all around Barcelona (and many other towns along the Mediterranean coast).

By the way, not very advisable to stay right ON Las Ramblas. Too noisy and too touristy and too fake IMHO.

- If you look at a map of Barcelona, typically the sea is at the bottom of the page (odd, I know, not the South as usual in maps). Las Ramblas go up from the sea to Plaça de Catalunya and from there you can see two big parallel avenues up until you arrive to Diagonal: Passeig de Gràcia and Rambla de Catalunya (you should walk along these 2, the most beautiful houses of Barcelona are there). La Diagonal is the easiest avenue to spot in the map, as it crosses all Barcelona (obviously, in a diagonal way).

Here you have a good online resource to locate a particular adress: www.bcn.cat/guia

These references will help you to locate the other areas you may be interested on (pls see tip #2)

Books Information /Sources Review

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You may like to read a fiction book happening in Barcelona before, while or after your visit... Here you have a few ideas:

- "Cathedral of the Sea" ("La Catedral del Mar") by Ildefonso Falcones. I love Historic novels, provided these are well documented. This is one I really enjoyed reading. The plot takes place in 14th century, during the construction of Santa María del Mar church. You'll follow the life of an imaginary character, Arnau Estanyol, born as servant, he managed to become a wealthy man, then... (you have to read it to know!!)

- The best novel placed in Barcelona I've read so far: "The Shadow of the Wind" ("La Sombra del Viento") by Carlos Ruiz Zafon. It was a real phenomenon: the novel most sold in Spain (from a Spanish author) during two consecutive years, and well sold in other countries after translation. It is a mystery story, the action happens in Barcelona during the Franco's regime. It can be very instructive about our recent history. Most of the places that appear at the book do still exist (even there are touristy tours based on the book).

- "City of Marvels" ("La ciudad de los prodigios") by Eduardo Mendoza is quite interesting too, and it happens at the changing Barcelona at the beginning of the XX century.

- "Murder in the Central Committee" ("Asesinato en el Comite Central") by Manuel Vazquez Montalban: I don't remember much of this book as I read it too many years ago. But the adventures of the private detective Pepe Carvalho are always a pleasure to read, and you'll learn quite a lot about our eating and drinking culture!

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And a couple of classics now:

- "The Time of the Doves (Diamond's square)" ("La Plaça del Diamant") by Merce Rodoreda. To know the Barcelona during and after the Civil War. The history took place at the Gracia district, around the Plaça del Diamant (Diamond Square). This one can be a bit depressing, but really good literature.

- "The gray book" ("El Quadern Gris") by Josep Pla. Autobiographic history, from the youth years of Pla (who later became one of the best Catalan authors)

Films Information /Sources Review

Favorite thing: And you may like to see a film that happens in Barcelona:

"l'Auberge Espagnole" ("Una Casa de Locos", the Spanish title :) , a French film about foreign students in Barcelona. It shows quite well the authentic contemporary Barcelona. Not to be missed by anyone planning to study in Barcelona or to stay there for a while... even it's so fun that's highly reccomendable in any case.

"All about my mother" ("Todo sobre mi madre") You may love or hate Almodovar's films, but you'll see many parts of Barcelona at this film.

"The burned city" ("La ciutat cremada") Film about the events from 1899, which were later known as the "tragic week". It's difficult to imagine now, from this cosmopolitan and peaceful city, that we had such a bloody past. Really disturbing film, I'll only recommend it if you're very interested on these historic events.

Preparing your trip Information /Sources Review

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There is too much too see and experience! It's very difficult to advise what to prioritize, want are the “must sees”, as each one have it's own tastes, preferences, budget…

When planning your trip to Barcelona, I suggest you doing a little research at these sites:

- Barcelona City Council webpage: www.bcn.cat

You'll find there a complete guide to the city events, you can search at the "diary" . You can look for events in a given date, do specific searches, or just see the highlights.

In addition you have loads of interesting info about places, itineraries, etc in the "turisme" section.

- Another good website with tourist info: Barcelonaturisme

- TMB , Barcelona public transports services: TMB.net , there you have also links with suggestions of routes around the main sites of interest, transport cards, prices, etc.

Where to find info once in Barcelona? Information /Sources Review

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You have several TOURIST INFORMATION CENTRES: where are provided all kind of services you may need such as tourist information, maps, brochures, money exchange, gift shop, etc.

Contact:
Tel. 807 117 222 (From Spain), +34 93 285 38 34 (International calls)
E-mail: teltur@barcelonaturisme.com

Main offices:

- Plaça de Catalunya, 17-S. Open every day of the year from 9 to 21 h. Closed on 25th December and 1st January. LOcated underground, in front of El Corte Inglés department store, near the corner of Portal de l'Angel/carrer de Fontanella

- Sants Railway Station. Plaça dels Paisos Catalans s/n. Opening hours: from Monday to Friday 8-20 h, Saturday, Sunday and holidays 8-14h, Summer, daily 8- 20 h. Closed on 1st Janary, 25th and 26th December.

- Plaça Sant Jaume. C/ Ciutat, 2. Opening hours: from Monday to Friday 9-20 h, Saturday 10- 20 h, Sunday and holidays 10-14 h.

CATALONIA TOURIST INFORMATION CENTRE "PALAU ROBERT"

To get info about Catalonia, daytrips from Barcelona, local events, etc. have a look at Palau Robert webpage

Palau Robert is physically located at the top of Passeig de Gracia in Barcelona, and there is the "Centre de Informacio de Catalunya". You will find a tourist office, a youth information point, exhibitions, etc.

- Tel. Tourist office: Tel. 93 238 80 91 Fax. 93 292 12 70

- Tel. Youth Information Point: Tel. 93 238 40 07

Address: Passeig de Gracia, 107. Opening hours: from Monday to Saturday 10 to 19h, Sundays and Holidays 10 to 14h.

What to do??? Information /Sources Review

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