Barcelona Recommendations

Hotels/Hostels
There are many, many hotels in Barcelona, be sure to reserve ahead especially in the high seasons. All of the ones listed here are right in the middle of Ciutat Vella, most in the central Barri Gotic district (the main touristy part of Barcelona).

Cheap
For youth hostels, I've only stayed at Itaca Youth Hostel (93 301 97 51 www.itacahostel.com), which is nice because it's on a quiet street but still in the heart of Barcelona. Dormitory rooms. Nice staff, it also has a full kitchen with stove, pots/pans, plates, fridge, etc. that you can use.

Arco Youth Hostel (www.arcoyouthhostel.com) is ok and very close to Las Ramblas. Dormitories range from 6-20 or so beds/room. They only have a microwave and fridge for a kitchen, but the place is very clean and orderly. They also have a nice website (ahem). Both cost between 17 to 24 euros per night per person, all in shared dormitories.

Hostal Galerias Malda is supposedly the cheapest place in central Barcelona, and you can actually get your own room. Every time I went by there they were always full, so I don't know anything else about it. But they are right in the heart of Barri Gotic, you step outside and you're in the shopping district. I'm not sure if you are allowed to reserve ahead though. tel: 93 317 30 02.

Other potentials are Gothic Point and Sea Point Hostels, both part of the same chain. The former is in the Borne district, a nice district just east of Barri Gotic, and the latter is on the beach about a 15 minute walk from Barri Gotic, just northeast of Port Vell. I think their website is www.seapointhostel.com or something try Googling them.

I DO NOT recommend Kabul Hostel, it is a loud, party place which attracts a young, grungy crowd. The closest to a frat party that you can get in Barcelona.

Mid-priced
I actually recommend one of my clients called Barcelona Accommodation (www.bcn-accommodation.com). They offer new, furnished apartments right next to Plaza Catalunya and Las Ramblas for about as much as you would pay for a hotel, if not cheaper. The rooms are very nice, they have TV, stereo, full kithcen, clean new bathrooms, and many include balcony and washing machine. Double rooms start at 90euros per night. The only problem is that they usually require you to stay for at least 2 or 3 nights.

I also did a website for Hotel Lloret, it is an ok hotel with a good location, rooms might be around 60 euros for a double. www.hlloret.com

Expensive
Hotel Oriente Banys in the Borne district looks very nice, as does Hotel Gaudi right next to Las Ramblas. I've never been inside either of them but they look nice from the outside. I think rooms are around 120 euros for a double in low season.

Restaurants/Food
Most important for tapas is that you go at the right time (around 2-3 for lunch and 9-10 for dinner) so that you get fresh tapas. I would skip most of the restaurants on Las Ramblas or in Plaza Reial, overpriced or not very good food.

For typical Spanish tapas, there is a place that is good but a bit expensive (maybe 15euro per person) on Carrer Ferran right near Las Ramblas. It is a Basque (Euskal) tapas place, meaning from Pais Vasco from which supposedly comes the best food in Spain. I forgot the name, but says something like Taberna Euskal on the sign, it is between the Chinese restaurant and the Starbucks coffee shop.

The other good place is in a little plaza on Carrer de l'Argenteria, just before you reach the Iglesia de Santa Maria in the Borne district (it is not in the plaza directly in front of the church). It is about a 10 minute walk from Las Ramblas. It is another Basque tapas place and very cheap (each tapa is 1.10 euro, so you will probably spend around 7 euros. I forgot the name, but it is on the corner and has a very long bar with standing room only, and huge barrels on the walls behind the bar from which they pour cava (champagne). There are also a ton of other nice restaurants in the Borne, unfortunately I never had the money to go to them.

Another good tapas option, especially for lunch, is the Boqueria Market. It is the huge famous market off of La Rambla near the Joan Miró painting on the ground. All the tapas are fresh because they come from the market. There are a number of tapas places inside, I liked the place at the very back, near the elevators. The mussels in red sauce are excellent.

If you get tired of tapas, I highly recommend my client's restaurant called Matsuri Restaurant. They serve Thai and Indonesian type of fusion food, with some Japanese and Chinese influence as well. Very, very good food for around 10euros lunch or 15 dinner. www.matsuri-restaurante.com

For cheap eats, try Conesa, a famous sandwich place in Plaza San Jaume, or one of the two Buenas Migas (focaccio, calzones) scattered around central Barcelona. Also the Bagel Shop in Plaza de la Vila de Madrid is cheap and serves stuff like tuna fish bagel sandwiches, lox, etc...

Bars/Dance Clubs
Ah, I am one of the experts in this area. Most clubs don't really start up until around 10 or 11pm. In the summer, many are open (and busy) every night of the week. Most free clubs are open until around 3am, then you can go to a club that charges entrance and they stay open until 5 or 7am.

Day/early evening bars - La Champagneria is an extremely packed, loud, cava (Spanish champagne) bar in the Barceloneta neighborhood, very close to the beach, on Calle Reina Christina. The Metro stop is Barceloneta, simply get off and ask for directions. You order one of 2 or 3 types of cava, and it comes with a free sandwich or other tapas, so you can eat and drink for very cheap. People usually go there during the day or in the early evening.

Another great place to relax on the beach is called El Chiringuito, which basically means little beach bar. There are a few along the beach in Barceloneta, my favorite is next to a sculpture of a bunch of stacked boxes.

Bars to start off the night, I liked La Penya Central (in Plaza Reial just next to La Rambla). It is on the second story above a popular restaurant called Le Quintze Nits (not very good food by the way). There is a secret entrance to the left of the restaurant, you have to ring a little doorbell and they buzz you in. Glacier also in Plaza Reial is decent with a good crowd, cheap beers, and here is where I met Manu Chao.

Les Fades del Bosque or something like that is a very interestingly-decorated bar that is part of the wax museum, in the lower Las Ramblas area. Very cool interior that looks like a forest, good sangria.

The Travel Bar on Carrer de la Boqueria is the classic place to meet young travelers. They also offer (expensive) internet and organized pub crawls, in which you pay 15euros to get fed watered-down alcoholic punches and meet cheesy people.

My favorite dance club is FonFone, on Calle Escudellers near Plaza George Orwell, about 2 blocks from La Rambla. It is a small, free, euro-style dance club with good electronic music that slightly changes night to night. Cheap drinks, good crowd, good place. Very crowded on Friday and Saturdays.

La Paloma is a Barcelona classic. It is at the top of El Raval district, maybe a 10 minute walk from Plaza Catalunya. Any taxi driver will know it. It is a huge, beautiful converted theater, they charge around 8 or 10 euros cover, and before 12 or 1:00 have ballroom dance music with a lot of old people. After that the regular DJ comes in and the old people leave and the young crowd fills in. They stay open until 5 or 6 or something.

Very popular with the locals is a small, weird club called El Cangrejo. This is a very inside, in-the-know club, don't tell anyone I told you about it ;-) They have drag queen shows until about 1am, then the crowd packs in and the party music turns on. It is a blend of 70's abba type with popular Spanish pop songs like Alaska. A little cheesy but very fun crowd. Highly recommend it. They charge 3 euros cover now, which includes a drink. It is in El Raval about 2 blocks from Las Ramblas. Go down La Rambla towards the ocean, take a right on Carrer Nou de la Rambla (opposite Plaza Reial) and when you get to a bar called London Bar (a good late-night bar to go after El Cangrejo closes) take a left. Walk 2 blocks, it will be on your left.

Inside tips on what to do
Sagrada Familia - Must see. If you go inside, go up the set of towers on the side WITHOUT the elevators, there are much better viewpoints.

Picnic in Parc Guell - beautiful park built by Gaudí. Bring food with you or buy the slightly expensive sandwiches there. Take the metro to the Vallcarca stop (green line) and follow the signs to the back entrance.

Day trip to beaches outside Barcelona. You have to take a train, but the beaches are much nicer than the ones in BCN. I recommend Sant Pol de Mar to the north about 45 min (very quiet but nice town with very nice beaches and a small castle on the hill, train leaves from the Passeig de Gracia station in Barcelona) or south to Sitges (more of a resort, touristy town but nice as well, train leaves from Sants Estacio and maybe Passeig de Gracia as well). Check train schedules, but about every hour.

Check out Figueres and Cadaqués. These are both towns to the north of Barcelona, for some more info and picts, see:
http://www.shimooka.com/travels/update8.htm

Figueres, although quaint, somewhat cute and with it's share of nice cobblestone plazas, wouldn't be anything incredibly special if not for the Gran Teatro Museo Dalí. This is the museum that Salvador Dalí built during the later years of his life, it is bizarre, surreal and cool, and if you see one Dalí museum, this is the one to see. Figueres is about an hour and a half by train from Barcelona.

Cadaqués is an extremely cute, beautiful town on the mediterranean coast, near the French border. White-washed houses with brightly painted doors, clear blue waters, nice seafood restaurants, cafés everywhere. Reminded me of the Greek isles, except without people bugging you constantly to come in and eat bad souvlaki. The tiny town of Port Lligat is also a short walk from Cadaqués, and there you can visit Dalís house. You can get to Cadaqués from the main bus station in Figueres, there are a few buses that run daily. The trip is about an hour and has beautiful scenery, although there are a lot of winding, hilly roads so be mindful of car sickness. Lonely Planet says that there are also buses from Barcelona and Girona. The bus company is Sarfa 972 25 87 13. You can easily do this trip in a day, although there are plenty of hotels in Cadaqués.