Barcelona, the venue of the 1992 Summer Olympics is one of the best destinations in Europe. I remember having read somewhere that it is the second largest tourist destination.
Being a tourist hot spot also means that hotel accommodation has to be reserved sufficiently early. And sufficient, on European standards, should mean *at least* two months before. Otherwise you stand to have a tough time.
We - my wife and I - were in Barcelona in early October 2001. A nice trip it was, and we were very lucky on many grounds. The weather was very good - it was the first time we could venture out in any European city without jackets - and so were our travel plans. We had two days and that’s not so short for a visit to Barcelona.
Must see places
La Rambla (Les Rambles) is the famous walkway in the heart of what is known as the old quarter. The tree-lined path bustles with hawkers, performers and what not!
Sagrada Familia is an incomplete Cathedral that was being built by Antoni Gaudi, famed sculptor-son of the city. Work on the cathedral is still going on! Not to be missed, if you are in this City.
Poble Espanyol is a recreated village, built for the 1929 World Fair. The village provides very interesting examples of typical Spanish architecture. In the centre of the village we could listen to music performances by Spanish singers while eating at the outdoor cafes.
Montjuic (Mountain of Jews) is one of the two mountains that’s part of Barcelona-scape, the other one being Tibidabo. The Castell de Montjuic is on top of this mountain. From top you can have the best views of Barcelona, its port, the city and more. You can get to Montjuic either by bus, or by funicular from Parallel and then by cable car. I recommend the latter for going uphill because of the splendid airborne view.
The Olympic Stadium, the communications tower and the Olympic ring are downhill. A nice place to take photographs.
The magic fountain - which we missed :( - is situated in front of the Palau National is really said to be a spectacle. This works on all summer nights before 8:30 pm. (Now you know how we missed it.)
The Gothic quarter contains a lot of old buildings including the famous Gothic Cathedral. The mountain Tibidabo has a fun fair and some Olympic installations. If you have a penchant for museums (I don’t), Barcelona has plenty including the famous Museu Picasso.
Moving around
The main train station is Sants (Estacio Sants) and the main metro station is Plaza Catalunya, which is at the end of La Rambla. To connect to the airport, you can have buses from Catalunya or faster trains from Sants or Catalunya.
For moving inside the city, the metro and the bus are good options. Also there is the Bus Touristic - open double deckers that go on two routes that cover most of the city’s tourist attractions - for which you can a get a one-day pass which includes discounts for sight seeing as well. For metro and buses also, day passes are a cheaper option.
Safety First
Be warned that Barcelona is notorious for bag-snatchers. The crowded area of La Rambla is the most vulnerable place, mostly because of its proximity to the shady El Raval. And even the airport area including the buildings is not safe. We had our handbag (with the passport, flight tickets and camera) snatched inside the main terminal building, but some agile running by my wife forced the thief to throw the bag back. And I know of at least 5 Indians who had their passports stolen while inside the airport. The general operandi of the snatchers is this. They operate in gangs, and while one of them distracts you - pointing to some phone card or paper or coins - his accomplices will get away with your valuables.
Those who have travelled extensively will know that the danger of snatchers is not something that should scare us from travelling, but something that should remind us to be cautious and wary, especially while in a foreign country.
Links
Just find below some of the links that helped me a lot to plan and arrange my trip.
Barcelona Online: Provides accommodation finding service (I found my last minute accommodation through them), and a lot of brief tourist information.
URL: https://barcelona-on-line.es/eng/
Frommers Guide to Barcelona: Frommers Guide gives you tips on what to do if your trips is for one day, two days, three days or more. Also make your custom miniguide selecting portions from the extensive guide.
URL: https://dest.travelocity.com/DestGuides/0, 1840, TRAVELOCITY|2346|3|1, 00.html
BCN: This is the official Barcelona Site. The best thing I could find here is an address locator, which, if you type in the street name and number, will get you the map. Was really helpful to locate the hotels.
URL: https://bcn.es/english/ihome.htm
About Barcelona
URL: https://aboutbarcelona.com/
Fodor’s Mini-guide to Barcelona
URL: https://fodors.com/miniguides/mgresults.cfm?destination=barcelona@23