1st time in Barcelona/HOHO or T10

[Emma1]

We are a family of 5 and are arriving on 7/6 in the morning and departing 7/9 for a cruise. So basically 2 1/2 days to tour the city. Any advice - kids will be 11,14,15. Thought to get a car service from airport to hotel and just leave luggage since we will be early for checkin. Then go to Ramblas (spelling?) area to walk around and hit the well known market there to get food supplies. We are planning on booking our stay at Hispano Siete Suiza which had a full kitchen.

 

Then second day either purchasing the T10 or HOHO - what makes the most sense - since the HOHO gets you discounts to musems woud this be the most economic. Or are there certain walking tours we can research to do the city ourselves? My kids and I are up for a lot but my DH will get tired more easily and will still have an 11 nt cruise ahead of us.

 

Is going to Montserrat doable in this time period - or am I really pushing it and we should just do the city itself? Also, saw something about the flameco show at the spanish village - is this good to do onlour last night - you can do tapas and show or dinner and show - does anyone know anything about this?

[riffatsea]

There are lots of other markets in each neighborhood not just the one on Las Ramblas. Your hotel will be closer to others so for food supplies I'd buy closer to the hotel.

The hoho is better for an overview than for actual transportation. I think if you decide with your family what they'd like to see and do the T-10 would be faster/easier to use. IF you are not comfortable using buses/metro then the hoho would work fine. The discounts offered by the hoho are fairly small.

I'd do some reading about sights and then have a family discussion about it. There's a lot from the Nou Camp soccer stadium to the wild Gaudi architecture to the Chocolate museum with its fun classes and the Park Guell etc.

"Las Ramblas" itself might be fun for one walk but it is not the "be all and end all" of sights. It is full of tourists and pickpockets so be extra careful there!

 

[caripoo]

We just stayed 3 nights post cruise in Barcelona. We used both the red and blue HOHO bus lines. They are different. We also did a day trip to Montserrat, it is WELL worth it, fantastic day spent. We spent the first part of a day staying on the bus, and then deciding where we wanted to get off the next day, also alot of walking.

 

ENJOY;);)

[Kerry's Girls]

There is a market/shop around the corner from Hispanos 7 Suiza that will be easier than lugging your groceries from La Rambla. We were able to check in early on arrival at Hispanos - though I'm sure this has to do with whether they have the room ready or not.

 

We had planned to do the Hop On/Hop Off bus on our 2nd day (it was not open on the day we arrived 1/1), which worked out great because once we saw how easy it is to use the metro, we saved TONS of money not buying the HO/HO bus tickets - the HO/HO is far from economical - just useful if you prefer to pay a premium not to ride the metro. The only place we did not take the metro to was Parc Guell since a cab drops right at the entrance.

 

Make sure to wander over to Sagrada Familia in the evening - it's a spectacular sight lit up at night, and the area around it is fun to wander.

 

Best,

Mia

[debbeck]

We had a party of 5 also and bought the T10 and also did the HOHO bus. You can buy a 1 or 2 day pass and it is really not such a bad investment for all the sights with narrative that you get with the ride. If we had only used the Metro, we would not have had time to walk to all the sights that you are able to see and hear about. We made good use of the T10 passes. It is 10 rides and it does not matter who the rider is so that the party of 5 used 1 T10 pass for a round trip to go somewhere on the Metro. Once you leave the Metro station, you have to have another pass to go again. The HOHO bus lets you see the whole city and then you can use the Metro passes to go back to something you want to see more in depth. Barcelona is Wonderful!

[debbeck]

Another point with just using the Metro is that sometimes the Metro stops are blocks and blocks away from the sight that you might want to see and it takes time and lots of energy to see several sights in different parts of the city in a day.

What ever you decide, you will love it and then like me, you can hope you get to go back someday and see more! ha

[gopatriots]

We, too, are a family of 5 visiting Barcelona in April, 2011 and staying at Hispanos 7. Mia, did you purchase the breakfast option at Hispanos 7 or are there places nearby that we can pick up something on our own? Our children are ages 10, 14 and 16. We plan to take a private tour to Montserrat upon our arrival to Barcelona with a dropoff to our hotel in mid-afternoon. Will board Liberty of Seas next day and spend one day post-cruise in Barcelona, again staying at Hispanos 7.

 

Will definitely plan to visit Sagrada Familia at night after reading this thread. Always helpful reading your comments - thanks!

 

Maureen