What do you do when you're on a tight budget but want to go to Barcelona? My friends and I spent about 400GBP per person for a two week trip to Barcelona and Costa Brava, which is pretty reasonable considering the duration of the trip..:) The cost included the five-day rental of a beachside apartment in Blanes, a small town on the costa Brava.
Firstly, to make things work into your budget, plan early!! Very important, especially if you're planning to go during summer, because that's the peak season (duh!) and it will be pretty difficult finding cheap flights, accommodation etc. We went during early Easter, so the flight prices were still pretty reasonable (about 86 pounds for a return trip on Easyjet); however in summer it is, apparently, cheaper to go through a travel agency for your flight tickets. THe cost of the whole package is cheaper than the price of a return flight ticket alone!
But I'm digressing. Anyway, we did not book any accommodation ahead of time, so when we got to Barcelona, we spent approximately 2 hours just looking for a place to stay! Mind you, the cheaper hostels (look for signs saying Pensione hotels, they're the cheapest) were fully booked and those that weren't, were extremely dodgy. However, La Ramblas is a good place to look; most ho(s)tels are located there. Otherwise, there is also a youth hostel there in Plaza Reial which undoubtedly the cheapest place to stay, about 5-6 pounds per night.
We stayed at this charming hostel called 'Hotel L'opera' or something like that, just opposite the metro in La Ramblas. the rent was 13 pounds a night, but the service was good and all the rooms were en-suite. If you're in a group, sometimes the rent will work out to be cheaper (due to triple rooms / quad rooms), so go do your math.
You can virtually walk anywhere in Barcelona. THe weather is excellent, not rainy or cloudy like in England, so you don't really have to worry about rain. La Ramblas is set out like the Parisan sidewalks, with lots of cafes along the way, and performers everywhere. VEry interesting. But if you wanna rest your feet, you can take the Metro - Spain's train system is very organised, very easy and fuss-free. Besides, it's dirt cheap compared to the subway in dear old London - single tickets to ANYWHERE cost 60p approximately. Course, you can drive but the traffic there is mad, like London - not to mention the right hand drive system. So you might want to think about that. Oh, there is also the 'Tourist Bus' where you pay 12 pounds for a two day 'hop on hop off' tour; much like the tourist buses in London. This is quite worth it as well.
As for food, well, the prices range - depends on whether you want to eat in a nice cafe or a simple one. Of course if you eat seafood it's more expensive.. However, there are lots of small cafes in various streets and alleys off La Ramblas that serve excellent home-cooked Spanish food at cheap prices. Expect to pay about 4-5 pounds for these kind of meals. A meal at Mcdonald's is the cheapest, about 2.65 pounds.
Oh yeah, do get a Spanish phrase book if you don't know Spanish. The Spanish don't really fancy speaking English and would rather not, if you get my drift..And get a map as well, so you can plan where you want to go etc.
Ok, that's about it for now. Hopefully this will help anyone who's planning to go to Spain.
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