Wednesday, October 8, 2008

How To See Barcelona with (Seemingly) No Effort

So, you want to take a weekend break in Barcelona? Be smart, book your Barcelona apartment or Barcelona hotel as early as possible. Also, book flights as far in advance as possible, because no matter what people tell you, the more seats that are taken on a flight, the more expensive the price gets…

Research where you want to go before you head off. A weekend is not that long and even if you’re going for a long weekend, that’s still only four days with travel included. I would recommend that you do a shortlist of important places to see. For me, these would include;

The famous works of Antoni Gaudí; La Sagrada Familia, Casa Batllò (fantastic interior and spectacular roof) or La Pedrera (famous for its ornate mosaic chimneys) and Parc Güell. La Rambla (make sure you got to La Boqueria market here), Port Vell/Barceloneta, Parc de la Ciutadella, Plaza Espana, Montjuïc and the Picasso Museum are all must sees too. By doing this you can schedule in a bit of shopping, a lovely meal and a bit of tapas at the top floor restaurant of El Corte Ingles!

To accompany your top 10 list, it is always a good idea to jot down the metro line needed to get there and or any information with it beforehand. This means you can relax and take your time with no need to stress about getting lost when you get there. Luckily, we’ve done this for you!

1) La Sagrada Familia – L2 Sagrada Familia, 10€ entrance fee, 8€ for students, open 09:00-18:00 (Oct-Mar) 09:00-20:00 (Apr-Sep), go round to Calle Mallorca 401 to enter.
2) Casa Battlò – L3 L4 Passeig de Gracia, (Address: #43 Passeig de Gracia, (+34) 93 216 03 06, infovisites@casabatllo.cat, 16.50€ with 20% discount for students)
3) La Pedrera – L2 L3 L4 Passeig de Gracia (Address: Provenca, 261-265, 08008, 9.50€ entrance)
4) Parc Guell – L3 Vallcarca then follow street signs
5) La Rambla – L1 L3 Catalunya or L3 Liceu (further down la Rambla)
6) Port Vell/Barceloneta – L4 Barceloneta
7) Parc de la Ciutadella – L4 Ciutadella Via Olympica
8) Plaza Espana – L1 L3 Espanya
9) Montjuïc – L3 L2 Para-lel, then take the vernicular up to the top, then a further ski car upto the castle.
10) Picasso Museum – L1 Arc de Triomf, L3 Liceu, L4 Jaume I (Address: Montcada 15-23 08003, (+34) 93 256 30 00, museupicasso@bcn.cat)

Once you’ve got that sorted, you can sleep easy in your Barcelona accommodation, enjoy a cracking paella at Barceloneta and be inspired by the amazing works of Gaudí!