I have only visited Barcelona once, just over a year ago, with a group of my closest friends. I organised, and booked, a week long break for me and 8 of my closest friends to Barcelona in July 2004, and I have never had a more enjoyable holiday.
There is so much to say about Barcelona that it is hard to know where to start, but the most obvious point I suppose would be the travel links and it's accessibility as a location. Well personally I found organising travel to Barcelona, in theory, shouldn't be an issue, however, as we were all poor students the matter was complicated slightly. If money is an issue for you then it can take some time to research the best methods of travel, however after extenxive reviews we found the quickest and cheapest method, by far, to be by airplane. Not only is this the most direct route, and therefore quickest, and easiest form of travel to endure, it also often works out to be the cheapest, epecially since the introduction of budget airlines. The airport is situated close to the city, and from there it was only a short bus ride to the city centre. The journey is quick and easy from start to finish,
as well as being relatively stress free, leaving you to relax into the start of your holiday.
One of the obvious attractions about Barcelona has to be it's climate. During our stay the weather was truly impressive the nights were balmy and comfortable and the days were perfect for either lazing on the beach or doing a bit of sightseeing. Although, it has to be said that over our 6 day stay there were a few moments, usually around midday, that the heat did start to become a bit too much. However with the useful combination of both sea and sand, and the vast array of shops and restaurants on offer it was easy not to let this spoil things.
This really is one of Barcelona's key selling points, it can offer you an easy mix of both a beach and a city break for great value for money. In a group of 9 girls you can imagine how vast the diversity was in what we were looking to get from our break, but this is where Barcelona worked so well, allowing all of us to get what we wanted. I found that my time was spent fairly evenly divided, I spent 2 days lazing on the beach topping up my tan, roughly 2 days trawling the high street shops and exploring the exquisite back-street boutiques, and at least 2 days exploring the city itself taking in the sights and the vast amount of culture that Barcelona has to offer.
One of the highlights of my week has to be taking the city bus tour, as a student this wasn't cheap - although can't remember exactly how much it was, and as a result only four of our group wanted to take the trip, however you really do get value for money. We visited most of the major cultural sights we wanted to see, and we also got to see a lot more of the city such as some of the less famous artworks around the city you may not toherwise have been aware of, and if nothing else this was great for orientation purposes and finding your bearings!!
If your a sun worshipper looking for a beach holiday I probably wouldn't recommend Barcelona, as although there is a beach there are better places to go for that type of holiday. The sea is also not one of the cleanest around with rather a lot of sewage and waste floating in it, leading to a potnetially rather unpleasant beach experience! If however you would like a few days of sun but are also looking for a bit more to boost the experience then in my opinion Barcelona is perfect.
My final area of discussion has therefore to be the restaurants, bars, clubs and general nightlife. In terms of restaurants and cafes there are certainly enough to choose from. One of my original worries was that food could turn out to be pricey, and indeed it wasn't what you would call cheap, however if you're prepared to go a bit off the beaten track you can find some truly exquisite restaurants, with a bit more authenticity than some of those along Las Ramblas, who for a very reasonable price serve truly delicious food. If money is tight for you then you do have to be prepared to do a bit of leg work to search out some of these cheaper restaurants, however in such a beautiful city I never found this a chore. If money is not such an issue then there is no doubt that few things could compare to the atmosphere along Las Ramblas during the evening, and if you can afford it I'm sure it would be money well spent for the atmosphere alone. If your looking for food during the day, most cafes will serve sandwiches or tapas at a reasonable price, again with peak prices being along Las Ramblas, but as long as you avoid the main strip daytime snacks shouldn't be too much of an issue. As you can imagine we did more than our fair share of exploration of bars and clubs suring our stay and I have to say that although at times drinks could be a bit pricey, the atmosphere more than makes up for it, and again there are so many to choose from that if you wanted to I'm sure costs could be kept to a minimum.
Barcelona really is a city that never sleeps, on more than one occasion we found ourselves walking home at 4/5 in the morning, with the streets still busy with people, which also meant that I never felt threatened or worried about being out at this time of night - one of the nicest aspects of the holiday.
In terms of accomodation I have little experience to offer advice from. Being students we stayed in a youth hostel situated near the centre of town, and although it could in no way be described as luxurious, it was comfortable and excellent value for money, particularly as it was located so close to the city centre. For our purposes it was ideal, and I woudl thoroughly recommend it for anyone on a budget. If however money is not an issue then I am sure there are plenty of stunning hotels to choose from, equally suited to your needs.
Overall I would highly recommend Barcelona as a holiday destination, be it for a short weekend away or a longer break. I really feel that it has something to offer everyone and I think you would struggle to find a more rounded destination. It also caters for every budget making it ideal for almost anyone.
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Jan 18th, 2006
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