The one and only time I had visited Barcelona before was on a day trip in the middle of August while holidaying in Salou it was so oppressively hot that I did not enjoy the experience so a visit in April for a few days seemed a more sensible option for a short city break and despite the weather being cloudy and wet it was still a far more enjoyable visit a very attractive city which has a lot to offer most visitors. It is important to time your visit to avoid the worst of the heat in the summer and spring is an ideal time to visit as most attractions are up and running yet the temperature is comfortable enough to cope with the amount of walking you will find yourself doing.

Barcelona is the capital of the region of Catalonia and Catalan is the dominant language although Spanish is widely understood as well and I found particularly around the tourist areas that a mixture of my token Catalan and English was enough to get me buy. The Catalan people are very proud of their heritage which was oppressed under the Franco regime and most of the signs are in Catalan as well.

We arrived via Barcelona airport which is made up of three terminals, our flight from Coventry landed at Terminal A which is a large terminal but it was surprisingly quiet when we arrived at just after 22.00. The airport is located about 12km from the centre and a thirty minute taxi ride to the Barri Gotic in the centre was about 25 euro which is not bad. There is also the option of a train of coach from the airport but for three of us we would have only saved about ten euro by the time we had also picked up the metro from the drop off points so at that time of night a door to door service was the preferred option. As with all airports it is best to avoid the people touting for business in the arrivals lounge and head straight for the official taxi rank.

The city is located on the north east coast of Spain and is hemmed in by a number of mountains to the west. There are a number of distinctive areas to the city with the centre being defined by the 1km long Ramblas street which is a nice wide boulevard that runs from the harbour Port Vell and Barceloneta up to the Placa De Cataluyna and is a popular place for locals and tourists to take a leisurely walk along its pedestrianised centre looking at the street performers or sitting out on one of the cafes enjoying a drink. To the east of the Rambles is the Barri Gotic which is the old part of the town and a great place to explore. To the west is the slightly seedier Raval district which is the old red light area of the city although it has been cleaned up a fair bit in recent times helped by the opening of the Museum of Modern Art (MACBA).

For those staying longer it is also possible to visit Montserrat, Girona and the beach resort of Stiges which can all be done in a day.

One of the great things I liked about Barcelona is that much of it can be covered by walking and most of the old town, Eixample, beach front and harbour is pretty flat and not too hard on the feet. It is also served by an excellent public transport system which is fully integrated. The metro is very clean and easy to follow with six lines it is a lot less complicated than the London Underground. Despite warnings to the contrary I found the trains to be clean and pretty much free from beggars and trains were frequent as well even late in the evening. There is also a comprehensive bus service which we did not use as well as a couple of funiculars and a last surviving tram line. All of these work off an integrated ticket so you are able to switch from one to the other within a 75 minute time period, it is probably best to buy a ten ticket pass which you can use over a number of days as this saves you money, a ten ticket pass was 6 euro 90 cents. One day and one week passes are also available as are singe journey tickets.

Accommodation and Eating

There is a huge range of restaurants to choose from, it is well worth sampling the Catalan cooking and there is also a large number of Tapas Bars as well. Look out at lunchtime for the set menu which is often excellent value and I did find that prices did rise quite a bit in the evening. Having said that often three of us ate in the evening really well for less than 80 euro and that includes wine which is generally cheap and of a good quality.

Things to See

Part of the joy is to take the time just to wander around as you will stumble across some lovely buildings, especially in the Barri Gotic, home to the impressive Cathedral and along the Ramblas. A visit to Montjuic is well worth the time travelling via the cable car and then returning on the funicular. The Miro museum on Montjuic was well worth checking out as was the castle itself. In the harbour itself the Museum of Catalunya gives a great insight into the history of the region.

Picasso is the other famous artist to be connected with Barcelona however the crowds were too great when we planned to visit his museum and we did not have the energy to queue up to get in especially as the museum supposedly houses most of his early work rather than the more famous pieces.

There is a fair amount of traffic but nowhere near as bad as Rome and large areas of the city are given over to pedestrians. The transport system is really good and easy to navigate.

In summary Barcelona is a great city to visit and while it does not have the world famous sites like Rome or Paris it does have a lot to offer and plenty to do with some great shopping as an added bonus.

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