Background

When planning for a family trip, I typically look for deals way in advance – like 6 months to a year way in advance. This works for some families, while others like to gamble with time and look for last-minute deals. I have never had any luck with last minute deals; although I have taken advantage of them when someone else finds them.

 

From time to time, I look at slickdeals.net or travelocity or any of these bargain sites, for any travel deals. That’s not where I found this one – this one was by luck. 

 

I have always wanted to go to Spain. And twice I tried going, both times back in 2008. First attempt was to do this amazing proposal to my then-girlfriend, but that was derailed by a family emergency. The second attempt was just a cancellation with no good reason given by a low-fare airline company, from which I’ve learned valuable lessons – “you get what you pay for” kind of thing. For a while I thought destiny just didn’t include me stepping foot in Spain.

 

 

During this COVID pandemic, I was excited to finally have an opportunity to take my family to an out-of-country destination. COVID restrictions had started to ease in most countries. Spain came to mind so I started looking at fares – I typically use kayak.com to just get started. Then once I see the different kinds of prices, then I cross reference with other sites like travel.google.com or booking.com. 

 

PRICING

Flights

From the Dallas area, I was able to find a pretty good deal, around $550 with one layover in London, using British Airways, but booked through American Airlines. With the way things have been going, I found that to be a very good price for a European destination. And from past travels, I found British Airways to be very good and comfortable. We always do coach, so it’s nothing fancy or luxurious; but their coach is much more comfortable than most other airlines’ coach seating. Even as I tracked the prices, the pricing didn’t change by much until about 1 to 2 months within the travel date. By then the price shot way up to over $2K. So I think – good on me to get those tickets in advance.

 

Flying out from Dallas, there were not many options on direct flights into Barcelona. There were plenty of options for 1 or 2 stops. If there was a direct flight option, I certainly would have considered it, even if it meant paying a little bit more. With kids especially, doing a non-stop is a bit less stressful and taxing. 

 

Lodging

In the past, I always stuck with hotels and places that have been established for a while, and located closer to major landmarks. More recently however, I’ve been more inclined to book through home sharing sites like airbnb or vrbo. Interestingly enough, when I do cross reference with sites like hotels.com, booking.com, etc, some of these places show up. That likely indicates that these places are managed by some company rather than being owned by individuals putting up their place(s) for rent. When looking for a place for a family, the previously mentioned sites work very well, being able to size the place just right for the size of your family. If backpacking, then I would definitely encourage checking out other sites with hostels and much cheaper lodging to fit that type of budget.

 

For many countries I visited recently, airbnb seems to have a very good selection of places to choose from. I do like their site, which allows for various filters based on your needs/wants.

 

For Barcelona, based on various sites I’ve researched, we decided we wanted to stay near the Sagrada Familia or Eixample areas. It seemed like this area had a good amount of restaurants, groceries, stores, public transportation stops, and housing. We also considered staying close to the coast/beach; thought it would be cool to hear and see the water every day. 

 

I was pleasantly surprised at the rates that were available during our trip, which landed in early March when our kids had their spring break from school. There were what looked to be some decent places for a few hundred dollars per night, all the way up to some very nice looking lodging for around $400 and up.

 

This was our experience traveling with the family (with 3 pre-teens), and so we had to make sure the lodging fit our needs.

 

These were some of the places we considered:

<UNDER CONSTRUCTION – Add 5 options from Airbnb>

For lodging, we typically look for the following options for our family:

• At least 4 beds, whether spread amongst 2 or 3 bedrooms

• Have at least 2 bathrooms

• Always a hassle with a single bathroom and family members are waiting to use it

• Especially useful since we have 2 females in the family; provides more privacy

• Higher floors (not on the first floor)

• Mix of safely reasons and potential for better views

• Grocery nearby

• Public transportation nearby

• Wi-fi 

• AC/Heater 

• Depending on location

• Safe area / neighborhood

• Not as important, but very nice to have:

• Washer and dryer

• Major landmark nearby or within viewing distance; i.e. beach, tower, church, etc

• Bath towels

• Fully furnished kitchen for home cooking

• Easy accessibility; i.e. elevators 

 

Lodging Location

Using Airbnb for Barcelona, we were able to find several units that were able to meet the majority if not all of the items on our list. As mentioned previously, we had narrowed it down to places in 3 spots: Barceloneta Beach, near the Sagrada Familia, or in the Eixample area. It would have been cool to be able to see and smell the beach every day, and get a tropical vacation feeling. But in the end, we decided that it would be more convenient to stay near Sagrada Familia, being able to see the landmark often, and close to many stores and restaurants. 

 

How Did it Go

We found a high floor 3-bedroom, 2-bath unit that sat between the Sagrada Familia church and a nearby hospital, Hospital Dos de Maig. There was a grocery store and a fruit/vegetables store in the nearest street intersection, as well as a small restaurant underneath the building. There was multiple public transportation access nearby: bus stop right in front of the building; metro stops 4 blocks away, about 10-15 min walk. It seemed the building housed more than one unit for airbnb-type rental, since we saw at least 3 other groups of foreign travelers during our stay there.

 

 

 

 

PLUGS

Reminder: Please be sure you have the appropriate plug converters for Barcelona. They have round 2-prong connectors split wide. I believe there’s a 3-prong version of the plug also but we didn’t use those. We didn’t have time to obtain a converter, so we just purchased them for a couple of the variety stores you will find all over the city. The prices did range from about 8 to 20 euros, so shop accordingly. Also, please note that Spain operates on a 230V supply voltage – so don’t plug in anything that does not support that. Or you will break your electronics.

 

Itinerary and activities

I typically do the activity itinerary planning for the family. Initially, I felt ambitious and thought about, in addition to Barcelona, hitting up some spots north of the city – the many beaches along the north east coast of Spain, the mountain regions, or even the areas close to the Spanish-French border including the Salvador Dali museum in Figueres. There are options to ride trains or even rent a car, which would not have been challenging since they drive on the right side of the road, same as in the US. But as I researched more and we got close to our travel date, I soon realized that there would be more than plenty to see in Barcelona to last the 7 days we are spending there. Additionally, I had to consider that we may need some portion of our time to just sit or lay around and take a break, especially with the pre-teens. 

 

We created a list of the main places we wanted to see:

• Sagrada Familia
• Montserrat 
• Gothic Quarters
• La Rambla
• Guell Park
• Barceloneta Beach

 

We tried not to pack in too many items in our schedule, so as to not feel rushed. This ended up working out very well for us. During our one week vacation, we were able to hit up these spots, some more than once, as well as some additional locations.

 

Arrival

We arrived at the main Barcelona airport (BCN) late afternoon. It was a good time, still plenty of daylight to get a good look at the city on our way to the AirBnB near Sagrada Familia, which took about 30 minutes or so. Because we were a family of five and considering the amount of luggages we had, we decided to go with a van taxi. It’s not the cheapest option, but certainly the easiest or most convenient. 

 

It was interesting to view the city for the first time. It reminded me of cities like New York or San Francisco, with a mix of Paris. We arrived at our lodging as the sun was starting to set. I don’t know if all AirBnB units are like this in Barcelona, but it was absolutely top notch in terms of welcoming service. We met with our concierge at the building, and he gave us a pretty good tour of the place with some details to ensure our stay would be comfortable. We signed some documentation, and the first phase of our trip – the arrival, was complete.

 

 

 

Summary of Our Days In Barcelona

 

Day 1 Arrival

After settling in, we went for a walk around the neighborhood to see what was nearby. Close to our building intersection was a small grocery and then a fruit store across the street. We had decided that we would make breakfast for a few days after some likely sleeping in, so now we know where to get the groceries. We also didn’t have enough time to order plug adapters, so we had to look for a place to buy them. We found out that you can find them in several small stores all around the city.

 

Getting hungry, we found a few restaurants nearby. I guess we were right in the middle of dinner time and most places had a wait. We then came upon a bar/restaurant place called Restaurant Santuxto. 

 

There was live music in the bar area, which was great. But the family wanted some peace and quiet during dinner, and so we were seated towards the back in a quiet dimly lit table. Here is our first dinner in Barcelona and we wanted it all! We ordered several dishes from the menu, to include some tapas, and our first Tempranillo wine. It was all delicious. The kids were curious about the small portions, so we had to give a brief explanation for the concept of Tapas. I guess it could be compared to the Chinese version of dim sum. Santuxto was not a fancy place, but it definitely did a great job with introducing us to Spanish cuisine. I walked into the bar for a few minutes to enjoy the live music and it did not disappoint.

 

 

 

 

Day 2 La Rambla

As you’ll notice, most of our vacation days include a sleep-in. It’s vacation! If we don’t have to get up early, we try not to.

 

We kicked off the day with some breakfast from a small restaurant at the bottom of the building. They were breakfast plates – with meat, eggs, rice/fries, ran about $10 a plate. 

 

Plan

The list today included Tibidabo, La Rambla, and Plaza d’Espanya. We got up late, so going to Tibidabo was scratched, and stayed off the list for the remainder of the trip. So off to La Rambla we go.

 

Barcelona Metro

One of the favorite things our family likes to do on these trips is getting around the city. Lucky for us, Barcelona has a great public transportation system. We did some research, and found that our best option was to do a T-grup, about 80 euros; online description:

 

A multi-person travel card valid for 70 journeys in 30 consecutive days from the first validation. In the case of one-zone cards, passengers have 75 minutes between the first and last validation when changing lines or mode of transport.  

 

Between the 5 of us, that comes out to 14 rides. We found later that we actually ended up needing more, so we purchased another one.

 

Highlights (Day 2)

• The family loved walking around La Rambla, with people watching, unique stores, and all the food stands. We tried some of the street foods – mostly sweets, and our family enjoyed it.
• We found Mercat de la Boqueria (market), but it was closed! Argh, we’ll have to see if we can check it out another day
• Had lunch at a little hole-in-the-wall place down an alleyway off of LaRambla, called Bo De Boqueria. It was a little cold, but we decided to eat outside and enjoy the air, and they provided a heater near our table. The food was delicious, had our first taste of Spanish paella and it was decent, but not great.

 

 

 

• We continued to walk around La Rambla, and eventually made it down to the Columbus Monument, which is close to the waterfront

 

 

 

• Walked across Rambla De Mar, and into a shopping mall area, Maremagnum.
• For dinner, we continued to walk along the waterfront and into a restaurant recommended by our taxi driver from the airport – La Barca del Salamanca. This was located amongst other restaurants on the waterfront / marina. The food and service was excellent, top-notch! We had a full meal – wine, appetizers, octopus, seafood paella, mixed seafood grille, dessert, the works! Entire family was full and satisfied.
• Had no time for Plaza d’Espana today

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Day 3 Sagrada Familia

Please note that there was lots of walking, coffee-drinking, wine-drinking, dessert-eating that goes on during our trips. It is a vacation after all! We got up early today, and prepared some breakfast at home – luncheon meat (SPAM, yes!), eggs, rice, fruits, milk, and juice. It saves money, but also we like having a good breakfast.

 

Plan

Today we have a morning booking reserved at Sagrada Familia. And later in the day, plan to visit the Gothic Quarter. 

 

Highlights (Day 3)

• Visiting Sagrada Familia, initially designed by famous architect Antoni Gaudi, is a must when going to Barcelona. It is over 200 years in the making, and who knows when it will be completed. But already, it has so much amazing architectural detail! Coming from a Catholic upbringing, we love visiting churches all over the world. This one has to be one of the most memorable.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

• Interesting restaurants and stores in the neighborhood surrounding the Sagrada Familia area.
• Gothic quarters area was pretty cool; small streets with gothic style building architectures
• Barcelona Cathedral was beautiful to see from the outside; we decided not to go inside – there was a long line. We had spent a good amount of time in Sagrada Familia earlier in the day, not sure how much church the kids can handle in a day

 

 

 

 

• Found a plaza Plaza de George Orwell, and had a nice lunch at outside tables. Kiddos played in the small playground in the plaza. The plazas in Spain remind me of similar areas that we saw in Rome, London, or Cartagena; just places where you can hang out, eat, play, etc. 

 

• From the Gothic quarters area, we made our way back to the nearby La Rambla area and visited the Market. The market had all sorts of food, drinks, fruits, etc. Very cool place, and good eating too!
  

 

 

 

 

• For dinner, I was in the mood for some meat, so we found and went to a restaurant Asador de Aranda near the Eixample area. The lamb meat was uniquely prepared and was so good. The wife had a steak that was tender and had a really good flavor. The kids also had some meat along with some pasta. Highly recommend this place, and I will certainly go back if the opportunity comes again.

 

 

 

 

• After a good sized dinner, we went for a walk and went to see the Arc de Triomf. It is a magnificent landmark that was built in 1888 for an exhibition hosted by the city.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Day 4 Montserrat

We really don’t like waking up early during vacations, but we had to do it for a second day in a row. This was due to having an appointment for a sky rail to get to Montserrat. We don’t know how busy it gets, but when we travel we don’t want to risk it.

 

Plan

Today’s only plan is to visit Montserrat – a place on a mountain peak close to Barcelona. We had booked a ride on Aeri de Montserrat to get to the mountains

 

Highlights (Day 4)

• We don’t have a full understanding of how all of the various public transportation systems in Barcelona work fully or together. We waited for a bus that would take us to Aeri de Montserrat, and when the bus got there, we found that our T-grup pass did not work because it did not contain the zones required to get us to our destination.
• Back at a metro station, we (sort of) figured it out and purchased additional passes with the right zones. We went back to the bus stop, waited another 30 mins, and got on the bus. We were on our way!
• The journey to Aeri de Montserrat lasted about an hour – some cool sights along the way, but most of us took advantage of that time with a nap or on our tech (phones, kid’s ipads)
• The ride to Montserrat was very cool and spectacular. The clouds were on their way in, but the sights were awesome until then.
• The Basilica de Montserrat is a lovely, stunning place. We were able to see the Black Madonna, not much of a line at that time fortunately. And we waited for a short mass to witness the well-known boys choir, who sounded as good as you would expect. They remind us of the boys choir in Westminster Abbey in London, and it sounds just as good.
• Food available in Montserrat was so-so, nothing to be excited about. We did find some vendors who sold us some tasty cheese produced by local farms. I would recommend to other travelers to perhaps pack your own lunch if possible.
• When we returned to Barcelona, we made our way to the Plaza d’Espana, and walked around the area. We did look closely at any landmarks, but just walked and people-watched. We found a small poke bowl restaurant and had dinner there, before calling it a night. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Day 5 Park Guell

Sleeping in is so underrated. We have had a busy few days and so we rested a bit. Well, the family did. I took some time to go for a run around the neighborhood, into the Sagrada Familia area, and back – some lovely views.

 

Plan

On the list today was supposed to be a day trip to Figueres where the Salvador Dali museum is located. And perhaps try to visit Sa Tuna beach on the way there or back. But alas, we rested today, so our plan to see Park Guell on Day 7 was moved to today.

 

Highlights (Day 5)

• It was afternoon by the time we made our way to Park Guell. Family was getting hungry so we looked around in the Gracia neighborhood nearby.
• We found a hole-in-the-wall spot called Bar Casi. What a wonderful, lovely restaurant. When we got there, it was still 30 minutes from their opening time. We were about to walk out, the owner insisted that we stay and that they would make lunch for us. That’s the kind of hospitality we found everywhere in Barcelona! The food was great and the service even better!

 

 

 

• Made it to Park Guell – please be aware that it does take a bit of a hike to get there. Like in many places, there is a cost to get inside. This park was designed by Gaudi and it has some interesting mosaic covered structures, as well as some good views of the city. The kids played, and we just hung out there for a bit.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

• Later in the afternoon, we ventured into the Gracia neighborhood. Lots of cool mural art, and small shops

 

 

 

 

• We found a small wine shop, which turned out to be a chain that can be found across the city. We hung out and had some wine, cheese, and crackers to get us a little boost.
• Kids played in a couple of plazas that we found in the area. The plazas were full of families, with kids just out and about, playing with friends.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Day 6 Montjuic National Palace

Another late start for us. We did prepare breakfast for the family at home – this time with some ham and eggs. Today we had probably our single error throughout the whole vacation – getting COVID testing done, except we did it too early. We went to KNO Medic near the Gracia area for our COVID testing. I guess I didn’t keep up with the updates that the testing results need to be within 24 hours of your return flight to the US. And we leave on Day 8! 

 

Plan

COVID testing needs to be taken care of (or so we thought), and then on to Montjuic National Palace through Plaza d’Espana. We have a plan to rest mid-afternoon today before going out for the wifey’s birthday dinner!

 

Highlights (Day 6)

• We looked into several places where COVID testing can be done, and found KNO Medic, which was (1) close to our place, and (2) looked to have reasonable costs – about $30 per person. Arrived there with the completed forms, no issues. Got tests done, and waited in the area for about an hour for results.
• While waiting for our COVID test results, we found a plaza and just hung out with the kids while again having some tasty coffee and pastries. One coffee and pastry place we found in the (near Gracia) area was Don Cuernitos – good stuff! We watched some older folks play a game at the plaza – looks similar to bocce, not sure what it was, but it was interesting
• Traveled back to the Plaza d’Espana via the Espanya metro stop. Walked through the Venetian Towers, and Magic Fountain of Montjuic – fountains not running when we were there, and then up multiple stairs into the front of the Montjuic National Palace and museum.
• While we did not enter the museum, we just enjoyed the sights from up there – again, a nice spot to view the city.

 

 

 

 

• When we finished enjoying the sights, we walked around the El Poble-sec area to the east of the palace. 
• We found another hole-in-the-wall place with very limited seating – Petit Montjuic. This city never ceases to amaze us. This place, as small as it was, just gave us the best service and the food was amazing. They had a wide selection of wine, and gave us a taste of quite a few until we decided on one to have a glass with. This is another place we would highly recommend if you’re in the area. The owners and workers are just so unbelievably nice.

 

 

 

 

• We visited Arenas de Barcelona (Barcelona Arena) back at the Plaza d’Espanya, because it looked interesting from the outside. The arena, which was used for bullfighting back in the day, has been converted to a mall area. A few interesting stores, but again we found ourselves giving in to some good desserts and coffee. 
• All over Barcelona, we met people from all over the world – all friendly. This was the case at the mall – we met a gentleman from Florida. And in our discussion we talked about taking the COVID test before going back. And this is where we found out we did the test one day too early! Good thing for friendly people! According to this gentleman, using KNO was actually a very inexpensive option.
• We rested at home for a bit before heading out to the birthday dinner
• Wife’s choice is back to La Barca de Salamanca! The dinner and experience was just as awesome as our first dinner there. 

 

 

 

 

Day 7 Day to Relax

We left this day open on purpose just to relax and perhaps revisit some places we liked, as well as check out additional sights and sites we heard or found out about. 

 

Plan

Relax. Have coffee. Enjoy the family.

 

Highlights (Day 7)

• After staying in during the morning, we made our way back to the Gothic quarters for some brunch. But all the spots were full, with lines out the door. We found a brunch place that served American/British food – The Benedict. Food was so-so, but the service was pretty good. It was packed, but they were able to find us some seats within 10-15 minutes.

 

 

• We made our way to Barceloneta beach. The beach was enjoyable; there was good sand, but the water was too cold (spring time weather). I can see this place getting very busy and packed during warmer months.

 

 

 

 

 

• We also revisited La Rambla, which was one of the kids’ favorite spots. 
• Being a sneakerhead, I was curious what goods they had at the nearby Foot Locker. Lo and behold! Retro Jordans (XII Taxi) was to be released the following week in the US. But they were released one week early here! They had a couple left; one that was my size! What luck! I mean, what were the chances. Of course, I took advantage of the opportunity and added it to my collection.
• At the end of the day, and it being the last night of our trip, we were all so full and satisfied. Alas! I wanted to try steak one more time. We visited the Buenos Aires Grill Restaurant in the Eixample area. It was good, but not memorable, or exceptional to where I would highly recommend. As we’ve seen across most Barcelona restaurants, the service was excellent. 

 

 

 

 

 

Day 8 Return Home

Our hearts, our tummies, and our souls were full and refreshed after a week in Barcelona. Even with that amount of time, there was still so much that we didn’t get to see or experience. I am sure, if the wifey and I came back to visit just as a couple, we would likely experience other things and enjoy it just as much.

 

Highlights (Day 8)

• We obtained a contact during one of our previous taxi rides, and arranged a van taxi ride to the airport in the AM. We felt that this was the most convenient, although not the most cost effective.
• Airbnb checkout was simple. The host provided a checklist which we followed. There was no need to wait and meet with anyone on the way out.
• Barcelona airport experience was no different that many other major international airports.

 

 

 

 

Additional Information Gathered from Our Trip

 

Impression

Barcelona left such a wonderful lasting impression on us. To sum it up – it was a beautiful, clean city rich with culture and history, and full of diverse friendly people. 

 

Language

In Spain, Spanish is the language to speak obviously. However, we were pleasantly surprised how many people understood enough English. I think if you knew zero Spanish you can still survive in the city. We would highly recommend that you learn the essential words, for example ‘hi how are you?’ ‘Where is the bathroom?’ ‘I would like to order that.’ ‘Excuse me.’ ‘Thank you!’ ‘Sorry!’ ‘Can I have a …?’. Luckily the wife and I know sufficient Spanish to get around Barcelona just fine. Wifey works at a county hospital where there are many Spanish-speaking patients. And I grew up in San Antonio, Texas, a city that is majority Hispanic. I don’t know enough Spanish to carry on a long conversation, but just enough to be dangerous.

 

The cool thing about Barcelona,  we found there are so many people that are not from there. We met people from all over the world, many of them from Spanish-speaking countries. This is interesting because even though it is Spanish there are little differences among the different countries in the Spanish words, accent and slang. But ultimately they all understand each other and I guess it makes it easier to come into the country and do fine with communication with one another.

 

Food

We’re a family of foodies, and so we were excited to have tried so many new and good Spanish flavors. If we had to choose a favorite, I would say it’s the seafood. Being a coastal city, I would expect that the seafood is fresh and it was. The preparation was quite simple, but it was flavored well. Our kids loved the different calamari, mussels, and octopus dishes. Comparable to other big American cities, Barcelona has so many restaurants – felt like there was at least one on every block or corner. We saw just about all type of food there – Spanish, Italian, British, French, Mexican, Peruvian, Chinese, Japanese, etc. In addition to the decent to nice restaurants, there were many of these smaller restaurants that served all the same stuff – paella, other seafoods, burgers, kabobs, rice, and veggie sides.  

 

The one food type that I was disappointed we were not able to find while there was a great steak place. The steak places we went to was decent; one of them had that really good lamb roast. But otherwise I could remember how much I enjoyed the steaks so I guess it was not very memorable. 

 

We definitely enjoyed having good coffee and desserts available just about everywhere in the city. The kids enjoyed having gelato, crepes, croissants, while the wifey and I had our fill or lattes, americanos, and cappuccinos. 

 

Every place has its common things for drinks. For TX, I would say soda and sweet tea! I guess soda is universal nowadays. In Barcelona, we found there was always pineapple juice available.   

 

Lastly, we do enjoy some good alcoholic beverages, and that was aplenty here. Having heard of Spain having good wine, we had to try them. We did, and we loved it – had it just about everyday. One in particular that we really liked – was a type of wine called Tempranillo. I’m sure there’s something specific that makes them what they are, but it seems they are available in different levels and price points. Perhaps it is due to its quality, age, or source. When we returned home to TX, while at the store, we found an inexpensive bottle of Tempranillo wine and absolutely enjoyed it. That’s one good outcome of our Barcelona visit – we’ve added to our list of favorite adult beverages.    

 

Prices

Based on our experience, the price of things seem to match well with what we pay for things, food, etc. in Texas, USA. I’m sure there were items that were a little bit cheaper and then there were also some that were a little bit more expensive. So overall I would say that it basically evens out. 

 

The Euro is what is currently in use in Barcelona. The Euro has about a 1:1.1 (easy estimate) exchange rate with the dollar. Be sure to know the rate before you head out to Spain so you are aware whether or not you are getting a good deal when doing money exchange. 

 

People

Throughout our entire trip we met friendly people from all parts of the world. I was pleasantly surprised at the diversity, friendliness, and inclusion of the people in Barcelona. I’m pretty sure we met at least one person from every continent (except Antarctica). 

 

It seems that there may be good opportunities for people to immigrate into the country. One South American lady we met said she moved there from Argentina because there were better job opportunities here. A few others said that it was easier to work and start businesses there. On the surface at least, it looks like the economy seems to be flourishing. 

 

For the seven days our family traveled around the city, we watched and sometimes talked with people. We didn’t feel threatened or disrespected at any given time. We are Americans, but just look Asians to anyone else. We never felt like we were treated or talked to differently. That kind of environment always helps to keep anyone relaxed on a vacation. Of course we always tried to be aware of our safety and our personal belongings, same as for any other destination to which we’ve traveled. 

 

Getting around

We found that a car was not necessary when touring Barcelona, unless you plan to leave the city. At first we thought about touring the northwest part of Spain, along the coast which I expect to be just gorgeous. And then up the mountains towards the Spain-France border. We checked the weather in early March and found that there would have been a chance of winter (snow) weather up north, so we decided to abandon the idea.

 

In the city, there are the following main methods of getting around:

• Metro
• Walking
• Bus
• Taxis
• Rideshare (just returned to the city)

 

Our family found these options to be completely sufficient. As you can expect, the more walking you do, the easier it is on the wallet. But if you have a family member or travel companion that is not able to walk long distances, then the walking would be limited and you would still have the other options to get around the city.

 

The street names are in Spanish, and most of them can be found on the street corners. They are either posted on a street sign post (like in the US), or posted up on the building wall nearest the intersection. I have seen similar street signage in Boston or in Cartagena; I’m sure they do that in many other places. It’s just not something you see often in Texas.

 

The locals use the same public transportation, which I’m sure is more cost efficient. However, on the streets we did see all sorts of cars and SUVs, as well as lots of motorcycles and bicycles.

Metro

The Barcelona Metro – officially the TBM – Transports Metropolitans de Barcelona, consists of the metro (trains) and the bus systems. 

https://www.tmb.cat/en/home

 

Purchasing a ticket allows you to use the various trains and buses, but it does depend on the type. So you will need to check and make sure you have the correct type of ticket depending on where you want to go.

 

For our family, we just wanted to get around within the city of Barcelona for the week, so we decided to go with the T-grup card:

https://www.tmb.cat/en/barcelona-fares-metro-bus/single-and-integrated/choose-ticket

 

The T-grup card allowed for 70 journeys. One card, so we had to make sure we did not lose it! I’m sure there’s a way to resolve if we did lose the ticket. So, one card, which means we had to have one person run the tickets as each family member went through the ticket gates. Once your journey starts, you are allowed to do unlimited transfers within a specified amount of time (75 mins) until you get to your destination. Our T-grup ticket was only for one zone (within the city), so it did not work when we tried to use it to go to Montserrat. We had to get another set of tickets for that.

 

In terms of cost, we thought it was reasonable. Definitely the cheaper way to get around and not take up too much time. I feel like there was a stop probably within a 5-10 block radius of wherever we were in the city. And if a metro stop is too far away, there is always a bus stop you can rely on.

 

Much to my surprise, all the public transportation was quite clean and reliable. I guess we assumed that Barcelona being such an old city as it is, we would have observed much older and dirtier trains and buses. 

 

Traveling the metro felt pretty safe in our opinion. Although we always try to do best safety practices when traveling to other cities – there’s thieves and no-good-doers everywhere and I”m sure Barcelona’s no different. We make sure to follow:

• Don’t attract attention by wearing anything too fancy
  • Clothing
  • Jewelry
  • Electronics
• Speak quietly – again so as to not draw attention; give away that we’re foreigners
• Keep track of any bags often
• Have zipped pockets whenever possible
• Check pockets and valuables at the start and end of every travel segment (i.e. getting on/off the train)
• Be aware of people around you; and yes, stereotyping and prejudgements can prove valuable

 

We never ventured out too early or too late; earliest was around 8am and latest was around midnight. During those times, the public transportation system was still running, but likely not as often. When it did get too late, we thought it better to go with a taxi so as to limit travel time and improve safety especially with the kids traveling with us.

 

Stores

In the city, there are a plethora of stores and small shops. The grocery and small stores will have everything you might need on your trip. There are plenty of pharmacies as well. We found and walked around a couple of the malls, and most of the shop types are similar to what you would find elsewhere.

 

What we love are the numerous cafes you will find everywhere you go. There are a variety of coffee stores and brands besides your typical Starbucks, so there’s something for everyone.

 

Spots/Sights

The seven days spent in Barcelona was not enough to see all the spots we wanted to check out. If given more time, we would likely visit:

• Take more time to see inside Barcelona Cathedral
• Casa Mila (La Pedrera)
• More beaches
• Castles
• Picasso Museum
• Camp Nou (and watch a Barca game)

 

And other places we’d like to visit in Spain

• Costa Brava
• Figueres (Dali museum)
• Pyrenees region (mountains, Spanish-French border)
• Madrid
• Pamplona (running with the bulls!)
• San Sebastian 
• Valencia
• Ibiza
• Seville
• Bilbao

Link

<SITE UNDER CONSTRUCTION>

 

 

Link