barcelona hotel recommendations and day tours

[biggytaz]

we will be arriving 1 day before our cruise on the vision of the seas leaves. What are some good hotel recommendations? Do any hotels offer free transportation from airport or is it easy enough and cheap enough to use public transportation? this is our first time cruising in Europe. my wife and I will be celebrating our 10 year anniversary. 

 

also what are some good and reasonable priced tours to do in Barcelona?

 

and finally what is the best and cheapest method to get back to the airport from the cruise terminal when we depart?

 

Thanks for any good information that you may be able to share!

Mat & Kristin

[mapleleaves]

if you look under TOP QUESTIONS on the Barcelona forum of tripadvisor you'll find good info about hotels, areas to stay, etc.   I found it very helpful.  Plus i pulled up old trip reports to get past recommendations. Then I used tripadvisor and booking.com to narrow down my choices within a specific area.

 

As for transportation, a cab from the airport to 'downtown' Barcelona will be around $30.  We're taking the Aerobus to Placa Catalunya for about 6E then walking 2 blocks to our hotel.  We'll taxi to the port because by then there will 4 of us.    There is a fixed fee of 39E from the cruiseport to airport.

 

 

[mapleleaves]

Another suggestion is to pick up Rick Steves book " Mediterranean Cruise ports " .  It has lots of great info on the various ports, things to do, excursions, DIY activities, etc.

[yoshi]

We just stayed 1 night pre-cruise at Hotel 1898, on Las Ramblas. The hotel was very comfortable and clean. The room included a great patio balcony, could have hosted a party of 12. It was a short walk to La Boqueria Market, fun to walk around and eat tapas and get some goodies. We took a cab to Sagrada Familia where we had pre-purchased a skip the line tour. Also took a cab to the Picasso Museum.

My one tip is to have all of the destination addresses written down to hand to the cab driver, we asked to go to the "port" and the driver thought we meant the "airport", took a little detour.

Have a great trip!  

[WallyNDiane]

We stayed at Hotel Lleo. It was inexpensive, had a perfect location and a great breakfast.

 

We walked the La Rambla for 3 hours or so. Mostly a people watching excercise but some nice shopping. We also walked the old gothic streets. Really enjoyed Barcelona's Cathedral. We took the metro to take a pre booked guided tour of La Sagrada Familia. We booked that tour ~90 days before departure. 

 

We thought that Abarcelona was easy to do on your own. 

[caripoo]

Hotel Majestic.....GREAT area.....Made for Spain is a great travel company, they took great care of us for many days....ENJOY

[lamchops]

On 1/1/2019 at 4:40 PM, biggytaz said:

we will be arriving 1 day before our cruise on the vision of the seas leaves. What are some good hotel recommendations? Do any hotels offer free transportation from airport or is it easy enough and cheap enough to use public transportation? this is our first time cruising in Europe. my wife and I will be celebrating our 10 year anniversary. 

 

also what are some good and reasonable priced tours to do in Barcelona?

 

and finally what is the best and cheapest method to get back to the airport from the cruise terminal when we depart?

 

Thanks for any good information that you may be able to share!

Mat & Kristin

We have been to Barcelona a couple of times and with only 1 day prior to the cruise you will be jet lagged from the flight. I would visit the Sagrada Familia (must see) with pre-purchased timed tickets and audioguide or do the HOHO though I’m not a big fan of any HOHO buses. Just choose the route that passes by the Sagrada Familia. The metro system is color coded and very straight forward to use and there’s a station at Plaça Catalunya.

If budget is a concern (always for me😀) I would take the aerobus to Placa Catalunya and walk to a nearby hotel. Just use hotels.com to locate a hotel within 400 mitres of the plaza as there’re lots at different price ranges. 

You can walk 20 minutes down Las Rambla to the Columbus monument where you can catch the port shuttle for 3€ to the ship. If you get up early, you can explore the  Las Rambla area before checkout at noon and still be at the pier by 1:00.

 

If you buy the 5€ return trip on the port shuttle you can do the reverse to get back to the airport. Just factor in 2 hours preflight at the airport and 90 minutes to make your way from the ship to airport.

 

 I will be doing exactly what I suggested next month on my NCL Spirit cruise though I’ve chosen a hotel closer to the Columbus monument.

 

if you use google maps, you can plan a walking route to the Columbus monument that takes you to the market (street breakfast) , gothic quarter, and the Guell palace. 

Edited January 5, 2019 by lamchops

[grnrab]

Hello

I always recommend hotels associated with Catalonia Hotels and Resorts chain especially their Magdalanes, Catedral and Portal D'Angel locations - these happen to be in Barrio Gothic area very close to barcelona cathedral, shopping and food and sights of the Born/Barrio Gothic and close to both Las Rambla and Placa Catalunya, all walkable. They have 8-10 hotels in the city in different districts including Gracia. Many/most rennovated with elevators, spacious rooms, rooftop patios/dipping pools and bar/lounges also. They are often located off busy areas and the three I mention are very quiet. All reasonably priced in 2018.

[b2dave2003]

I am taking the Vision in May staying at the Casa Camper

[njcruiser27]

We are booked on the Epic in September and arriving 2 days prior to the cruise. We did a lot of research and spoke to friends who have been to Barcelona and finally chose Casa Camper. Hotel rate include breakfast and an all day buffet. I would definitely book something soon, hotels tend to sell out pretty early. 

[oufpat]

We had pre-booked with Barcelona Day Tours, they picked us up at airport in am, we had a arranged for a 4 hour tour of the city including tickets for La Familia Sagrada. After our time with them, we stayed at Hotel Colon, which was across from the Basilica Barcelona and it was an easy walk Los Rambas to see some sites. Yes, we were exhausted but excited, so we thoroughly enjoyed our day in Barcelona and the hotel arranged a cab for us to the port the next morning.

[gma rae]

I can recommend Barcelona Day Tours, Runnerbean free walking tour of the Gothic Quarter, Park Guell with pre purchased tickets, La Sagrada Familia with pre purchased online tickets and headsets.  We toured La Sagrada the morning we boarded our ship, left luggage at hotel and picked it up late afternoon to taxi to port at 3 pm. It worked out well.

We also stayed at Hotel Colon and loved the location and  rooftop terrace bar!

[pno4te]

On 1/11/2019 at 8:34 PM, oufpat said:

We had pre-booked with Barcelona Day Tours, they picked us up at airport in am, we had a arranged for a 4 hour tour of the city including tickets for La Familia Sagrada. After our time with them, we stayed at Hotel Colon, which was across from the Basilica Barcelona and it was an easy walk Los Rambas to see some sites. Yes, we were exhausted but excited, so we thoroughly enjoyed our day in Barcelona and the hotel arranged a cab for us to the port the next morning.

Would you be willing to say what you paid for this tour/transfer?

[erby2283]

On 1/1/2019 at 9:02 PM, mapleleaves said:

As for transportation, a cab from the airport to 'downtown' Barcelona will be around $30.  We're taking the Aerobus to Placa Catalunya for about 6E then walking 2 blocks to our hotel.  We'll taxi to the port because by then there will 4 of us.    There is a fixed fee of 39E from the cruiseport to airport.

 

 

Do you know how to search and see if an Aerobus stop is near our hotel (Arc La Rambla)? Trying to figure out if taking a cab is the best way to get there in August. 

[mapleleaves]

3 minutes ago, erby2283 said:

Do you know how to search and see if an Aerobus stop is near our hotel (Arc La Rambla)? Trying to figure out if taking a cab is the best way to get there in August. 

 

The aerobus only makes 4 stops from the airport. 

http://www.aerobusbcn.com/en/lines

 Placa Catalunya is the last stop and will be your closest.  According to Google Maps, your hotel is an 8 minute walk from P Catalunya. 

[erby2283]

4 minutes ago, mapleleaves said:

 

The aerobus only makes 4 stops from the airport. 

http://www.aerobusbcn.com/en/lines

 Placa Catalunya is the last stop and will be your closest.  According to Google Maps, your hotel is an 8 minute walk from P Catalunya. 

Thank you. Not sure I want to lug luggage from there but maybe a cab from there will be cheaper than the airport? So it dead ends there? I'm always worried I'll miss my stop.lol

[mapleleaves]

7 minutes ago, erby2283 said:

Thank you. Not sure I want to lug luggage from there but maybe a cab from there will be cheaper than the airport? So it dead ends there? I'm always worried I'll miss my stop.lol

 

I use taxifarefinder.com to get estimates ....a cab to your hotel from the airport will cost around 30E.  

The aerobus is 5.9 E pp. 

I travel light so public transportation isn't ever a problem. I'll have one 22" wheeled case.

If you can't easily handle your luggage, a cab might be the best best.  

[Ashland]

We're cruising on Vision  this May and our pre-cruise stay is booked at the Hotel Jazz. We've stayed at the Hotel 1898 but opted to try something different this time. Lot's of good reviews for this hotel.

[taylortime05]

On 1/11/2019 at 2:41 PM, njcruiser27 said:

We are booked on the Epic in September and arriving 2 days prior to the cruise. We did a lot of research and spoke to friends who have been to Barcelona and finally chose Casa Camper. Hotel rate include breakfast and an all day buffet. I would definitely book something soon, hotels tend to sell out pretty early. 

 

We are in Barcelona Sept 26 - 30.  We'll be on Reflection Sept 30.  I just confirmed a reservation at Casa Camper.  It was little pricier than I wanted but they have very good reviews.   Can you provide any other tips for feedback from your friends on this hotel?  Thanks

[njcruiser27]

20 hours ago, taylortime05 said:

 

We are in Barcelona Sept 26 - 30.  We'll be on Reflection Sept 30.  I just confirmed a reservation at Casa Camper.  It was little pricier than I wanted but they have very good reviews.   Can you provide any other tips for feedback from your friends on this hotel?  Thanks

We like to stay in “Boutique “ type hotels, we find the service tends to be better. We stayed in a great hotel in Paris and wanted something similar. Our friends who are familiar with our Paris hotel (Hotel le Six) suggested Casa Camper as it has the same feel and the service was excellent, the breakfast is good plus they have all day snacks and sandwiches included in the rate.  Reviews are really good for this hotel so we didn’t hesitate to book. 

Edited March 9, 2019 by njcruiser27

[hun]

We’ve stayed at hotel Jazz (post cruise) and Hotel Continental (precruise), loved both.  

I loved the Continental - Loved our balcony room on Las Ramblas as well as all the prosciutto and cappuccino I could enjoy at the buffet!

My husband loved Jazz as it’s more modern.   While in Barcelona we also enjoyed a couple of free walking tours, so you may want to check it those out too. 

(You’ll love the Vision! )

Edited March 14, 2019 by hun

[Ashland]

On 3/13/2019 at 6:43 PM, hun said:

We’ve stayed at hotel Jazz (post cruise) and Hotel Continental (precruise), loved both.  

I loved the Continental - Loved our balcony room on Las Ramblas as well as all the prosciutto and cappuccino I could enjoy at the buffet!

My husband loved Jazz as it’s more modern.   While in Barcelona we also enjoyed a couple of free walking tours, so you may want to check it those out too. 

(You’ll love the Vision! )

Thanks....Yes, looking forward to being back on Vision.

[Lovincruisin1321]

I just looked at Hotel 1898 in Barcelona for September 2020.

 

All booked??!!

 

How far in advance to book this hotel?

 

Recommendation on other hotels on Las Ramblas at this category?

[pno4te]

We are booked into Hotel 1898 for 4 nights prior to our June cruise.  We booked it in October of 2018 and got a terrific rate.  Keep an eye on their website because they often have codes that reduce the room cost by 25% or more!

[Lovincruisin1321]

23 minutes ago, pno4te said:

We are booked into Hotel 1898 for 4 nights prior to our June cruise.  We booked it in October of 2018 and got a terrific rate.  Keep an eye on their website because they often have codes that reduce the room cost by 25% or more!

I did that and put in the code but no availability.  The calendar is all greyed out until March 31, 2021 😞