Thoughts and Suggestions

[scoobie]

We have just booked Hotel Espana for our pre cruise hotel. Has anyone stayed here before? Would like to hear thoughts on this hotel. We have a day and a half to explore Barcelona. Will we be able to walk to the "must see" sites? What order should they be done in from the location of our hotel?

 

We arrive Friday Nov 8th at 9am and board our ship the morning of Nov 10th.

[English_in_Spain]

We have just booked Hotel Espana for our pre cruise hotel. Has anyone stayed here before? Would like to hear thoughts on this hotel. We have a day and a half to explore Barcelona. Will we be able to walk to the "must see" sites? What order should they be done in from the location of our hotel?

 

We arrive Friday Nov 8th at 9am and board our ship the morning of Nov 10th.

 

Do you mean Hotel España Ramblas?

 

What sites were you hoping to see? You will not be able to see everything in a day and a half. You need to prioritise. Let me know and I will try and plan a route/order for you.

 

To get an idea of what to see look at my Barcelona information pages (link in my signature).

 

[scoobie]

Do you mean Hotel España Ramblas?

 

What sites were you hoping to see? You will not be able to see everything in a day and a half. You need to prioritise. Let me know and I will try and plan a route/order for you.

 

To get an idea of what to see look at my Barcelona information pages (link in my signature).

 

Yes, it is Hotel Espana Ramblas.

 

We would like to see:

 

Cathedral of the Holy Cross and Saint Eulalia

Gothic Quarter

Las Ramblas

La Boqueria Market

Magic Fountain of Montjuïc

 

Would also like to see La Sagrada Familia but not sure if it is worth the cost for us. I have heard the towers can take some endurance. My husband can do regular walking fine but stairs are an issue on his knees.

[gingerspike]

Bumping this up. We're staying here, too, so I'm interested in any comments.

 

Sent from my ASUS Transformer Pad TF700T using Tapatalk HD

[Chloe1500]

Yes, it is Hotel Espana Ramblas.

 

We would like to see:

 

Cathedral of the Holy Cross and Saint Eulalia

Gothic Quarter

Las Ramblas

La Boqueria Market

Magic Fountain of Montjuïc

 

Would also like to see La Sagrada Familia but not sure if it is worth the cost for us. I have heard the towers can take some endurance. My husband can do regular walking fine but stairs are an issue on his knees.

 

Just my opinion, but I would not leave Barcelona without seeing La Sagrada Familia. You do not have to climb the towers to enjoy the interior. If the one full day you have is the same day you arrive from an overseas flight, I'm not sure you would want to see everything on your list. On the first day, you could walk through the Barri Gotic and visit the cathredral, as well as stroll Las Ramblas and walk through La Boqueria. If you can stay awake longer, you could go up to Montjuic to see the Magic Fountains, but in my opinion, this is not a must-see. You would need transportation there, either a taxi or the metro.

 

On your half day, you could visit La Sagrada Familia when it opens. Buy tickets in advance to avoid the line. You will need transportation here as well, and if you are pressed for time, take a taxi.

[English_in_Spain]

Yes, it is Hotel Espana Ramblas.

 

We would like to see:

 

Cathedral of the Holy Cross and Saint Eulalia

Gothic Quarter

Las Ramblas

La Boqueria Market

Magic Fountain of Montjuïc

 

Would also like to see La Sagrada Familia but not sure if it is worth the cost for us. I have heard the towers can take some endurance. My husband can do regular walking fine but stairs are an issue on his knees.

 

Before you go I would suggest getting a good street map of Barcelona as a lot of what you want to see is easy to do on foot.

 

Friday 8th November

 

I assume when you say you arrive at 9am you mean that is when your flight lands. This would mean you would be at your hotel at about 10.30am or 11am at the earliest.

 

At your hotel find out what time your room is likely to be ready (usually around 2pm) and ask them to store your luggage for you. You might also ask if you can put your valuables (passport, credit cards, excess cash etc) in the hotel safe until you can get to your room safe.

 

You can then walk down to Las Ramblas, turn left and walk up to La Boqueria market. Have a look around the market. You may even feel like stopping at one of the bars there for a cup of coffee or a snack.

 

When you are finished at the market you can walk to the Cathedral and have a look around in there. Then walk back to your hotel through some of the narrow streets of the Gothic Quarter. I would suggest going via Plaça Sant Jaume and Plaça Reial. This should take 30-45 minutes (depending how often you stop to look at things and take photos).

 

By this time you should be able to check into your hotel and go to your room. I suggest you take a short rest, unpack etc so you will feel more able to see and do things later,

 

Friday evening

 

As you are there in November, bear in mind that it will get dark quite early (around 6pm).

 

As it is a Friday in November you can see the Magic Fountains (weather permitting) from 7pm – 9pm (musical displays every half hour from 7pm to 8.30pm). The best way to get there from your hotel is by taxi. It should take about 10 minutes and cost about €8-10.

 

After seeing the fountains you will probably be ready to eat and get some sleep.

 

If you feel too tired to see the fountains on Friday evening, they are on at the same time on Saturday.

 

Saturday 9th November

 

I would suggest making Sagrada Familia your first place today. If you book the tickets online in advance you will not have to wait in a long line. As Chloe1500 said, you can enjoy Sagrada Familia without going up the towers (in all my visits I have never been up the towers :o - mobility problems and don't like heights). It is definitely worth the cost and if you only see one thing in Barcelona it has to be this impressive building.

 

You can get to Sagrada Familia from your hotel by walking about 10 minutes to Paral·lel metro station and then taking line L2 to SF.

 

Apart from exploring the rest of Las Ramblas that is everything on your list.

 

I would keep an open mind what else you want to do. It will depend on how tired you are, the weather and you may have seen something else you fancy doing that you hadn’t thought of before.

 

[Pearl64]

I was very interested in your suggestions, English in Spain. We are also arriving 9ish from JFK on Nov. 8. We are staying at the Catalonia Cathedral. The Friday we arrived I was going to focus on Las Ramblas and then spending Saturday at the Gaudi places including Sagria Famila. I will try to purchase tickets ahead of time. You say to be there when it opens? On Sunday we would like to see the dancing at the Cathedral. Does it still go on in November. We would have the hotel hold our luggage until the performance is over and take a taxi to the port. We would like to see the Cathedral as well. when would be the best day and time to do that? the day we arrive?We will be back in Barcelona on the 20th which is a Wednesday I believe. We will only be able to do one thing as we will be on the next cruise as well but we need to change cabins. I was thinking of doing the Picasso that day but get tickets ahead of time possibly doing that when we are in Barcelona before the first cruise. Again, we should probably be there before it opens.

 

On another note, do you know someplace that understands English where I could get a hair cut and my husband could get a hair cut? We know the ship will charge a small fortune. Even though we will have done this before we leave , it will need done before our return home.

 

Thank you so much for your invaluable information you have given on these boards.

 

Pearl

[English_in_Spain]

I was very interested in your suggestions, English in Spain. We are also arriving 9ish from JFK on Nov. 8. We are staying at the Catalonia Cathedral. The Friday we arrived I was going to focus on Las Ramblas and then spending Saturday at the Gaudi places including Sagria Famila. I will try to purchase tickets ahead of time. You say to be there when it opens? On Sunday we would like to see the dancing at the Cathedral. Does it still go on in November. We would have the hotel hold our luggage until the performance is over and take a taxi to the port. We would like to see the Cathedral as well. when would be the best day and time to do that? the day we arrive?We will be back in Barcelona on the 20th which is a Wednesday I believe. We will only be able to do one thing as we will be on the next cruise as well but we need to change cabins. I was thinking of doing the Picasso that day but get tickets ahead of time possibly doing that when we are in Barcelona before the first cruise. Again, we should probably be there before it opens.

 

On another note, do you know someplace that understands English where I could get a hair cut and my husband could get a hair cut? We know the ship will charge a small fortune. Even though we will have done this before we leave , it will need done before our return home.

 

Thank you so much for your invaluable information you have given on these boards.

 

Pearl

 

 

You say that on Friday you are going to focus on Las Ramblas. That will not take all day.

 

You can walk the full length of Las Ramblas in about 30 minutes. Allowing time to stop at La Boqueria market and maybe stop and look at, and photograph, the street performers you will probably not need more than a couple of hours.

 

Sagrada Familia – I didn’t say get there when it opens. What I said to scoobie was “I would suggest making Sagrada Familia your first place today”. By that I mean whatever time you are comfortable with.

 

There should be dancing on Sunday in Cathedral Square assuming it is not raining or too cold – remember this is November. Spain is not always hot :)

 

It is usually around mid-day and is just around the corner from your hotel.

 

I must point out that this dancing is not a ‘performance’. Musicians play Catalan music and, if the mood takes them, the people start to dance.

 

As I said above, the day you arrive will not all be taken up by seeing Las Ramblas. That would be a good day to see inside the cathedral.

 

Maybe you could do something like the plan I suggested to scoobie except that you will start from near the cathedral instead of Las Ramblas.

 

I would not make any firm plans or book any advanced tickets for when you come back for a day on the 20th. By then you will know what you have and have not seen and have more idea what you want to do. By the end of November you should be able to get into most places (except perhaps Sagrada Familia) quite easily.

 

With regards to English speaking hairdressers there is this company

 

You may get a few more suggestions here

 

I have not used any of them so I cannot comment on the quality of their hair skills. Whether you want to try a new hairdresser depends on how fussy you are. Personally I would pay the extra to have it done on the ship where, if anything goes wrong, you have some comeback.