Barcelona must eat and do

[lovetotraveltx]

We have four nights in Barcelona post River Cruise at the end of March. Have never been. What are the must do's/eats? We enjoy local cuisine on our travels. We are staying at the H10 Cataluyna Plaza. We will have breakfast included, looking for lunches, dinners, treats, coffees... Thank you 

 

Also, any touring information? What do we need to book in advance? Any good city tours to get an overview on the first day? How do we get to the beach, can we walk? What shouldn't we miss?

 

Thank you!

[mevs904]

Hi lovetotraveltx!     We will be staying at the H10 Cataluyha  Plaza Hotel in April after our Mediterranean cruise and are very interested in any responses that you may get.  So far we are looking into Barcelona Day Tours for an overview experience.  They were recommended by a poster on these boards and have excellent reviews on Trip Advisor.  We also purchased Rick Steves’ Pocket Barcelona guide as a resource.  We, too, are looking forward to the local cuisine and we would also appreciate hearing any tips that other posters may have about exploring the neighborhoods of Barcelona, especially near our hotel.

[carlmm]

A few answers:

The hop on hop off bus provides a good overview. You can also use it to comfortably reach further out sights.

You should get advance tickets at least for the most visited sights like Sagrada Famiglia, Casa Mila and Parc Guell, and also for any cultural events eg in the opera house or the catalan music hall, both sights in itself. Many other museums offer pre booking, top.

Do wander around the old city, visit the cathedrale, a couple more of the medieval churches and the palaces.

What are you interested in?

A good guide book, not the aformentioned, will help to decide.

 

[carlmm]

Depending in where you stay, the beach is in a few minutes walking distance or a short metro or bus ride away.

You could combine the  beach and eg the museu d' historia de catalunja.

[carlmm]

Once at least you should feast on tapas, and once at least enjoy a dinner of really local dishes.

El Born would be one area to stroll around at night.

[luvtravel88]

If you're interested in Gaudi, Casa Batllo is a wonderful house to visit. Also the Picasso museum in Bario Gotic is also fantastic. The Picasso Museum is right across the square from the Cathedral.

[lovetotraveltx]

3 hours ago, carlmm said:

Once at least you should feast on tapas, and once at least enjoy a dinner of really local dishes.

El Born would be one area to stroll around at night.

Do you have a restaurant or two you recommend for local dishes, pleae?

[sailing canary]

How comfortable are you about eating late in the evening? Unless you go to a restaurant catering for foreign tourists - which will not be an authentic experience - dinner will start at 21.00 if that. On the other hand, lunch will start at 14.30!!

[Hlitner]

As Sailing Canary says, Spain is a country whion ere most locals do not have their dinner until after 9pm.  In fact, it is not unusual to see folks going out to dinner at well past 10.  In Barcelona, most restaurants do accommodate tourists by being open at more normal times.  But many Spainards, who are going out for the evening, will go to a cafe/bar early in the evening to enjoy some libations and tapas.  That holds them over until they later go out to dinner.  

 

Hank

[edinburgher]

Do you have a restaurant or two you recommend for local dishes, please?

 

You asked the same question for Bordeaux, and as Barcelona is so much larger and spread out, andTripadvisor Barcelona has over 700 restaurant reviews in all sorts of categories,including steak, fish, vegetarian, vegan, local, Mediterranean, Spanish, Chinese and many more, I am suggesting the same selection process I suggested to you for Bordeaux.  Also do you want fine dining, cheaper eats, indoor or outdoor seating etc? And in  which areas of Barcelona would you like to find restaurants? An  area which might be convenient for your accommodation?  (we use online maps to locate dining options close to our accommodation then read reviews of them)  or where you might be around lunchtime on a given day, because sightseeing can be tiring and you may not feel like trailing a long way across the city on foot or by bus or metro  to reach a particular restaurant and would prefer something closer to hand.  it is either a case of doing a little pre-trip "homework" or taking pot luck walking in to one you like the look of at the time.

 

Using the filters will help you narrow the number of restaurants you might want to consider, because the bigger the city, the bigger the number of choices and the more time you need to  search through them to find which might suit you best.

 

Once you find some restaurants of interest to you, do try general  internet searching for reviews of each as there are sites in adition to Tripadvisor, although that is usually a good starting point

 

Hoping you used the same advice to find Bordeaux restaurants  and that you found  few of interest to you.

Edited January 30, 2023 by edinburgher

[lovetotraveltx]

On 1/29/2023 at 1:52 PM, carlmm said:

A few answers:

The hop on hop off bus provides a good overview. You can also use it to comfortably reach further out sights.

You should get advance tickets at least for the most visited sights like Sagrada Famiglia, Casa Mila and Parc Guell, and also for any cultural events eg in the opera house or the catalan music hall, both sights in itself. Many other museums offer pre booking, top.

Do wander around the old city, visit the cathedrale, a couple more of the medieval churches and the palaces.

What are you interested in?

A good guide book, not the aformentioned, will help to decide.

 

Do you think we should get a guided tour of the Sagrada Famiglia? Or, is just the audio on your own OK? Not much into art museums. Do like old buildings, love to eat where locals eat. Enjoy hop on/hop off buses. Really like walking tours. Would like a cooking class and/or food tour.  Love to stop for a coffee in the afternoon. Thank you

[lovetotraveltx]

17 hours ago, sailing canary said:

How comfortable are you about eating late in the evening? Unless you go to a restaurant catering for foreign tourists - which will not be an authentic experience - dinner will start at 21.00 if that. On the other hand, lunch will start at 14.30!!

We are OK with eating a late snack and/or coffee and a treat and eating when the locals eat. At home I don't eat quite that late, but we aren't early diners either.

[edinburgher]

an OOPS! on post#10

 

i had a senior moment when posting and said this :

you found  few of interest to you.

 

it should of course have read

you found A  few of interest to you.

 

Astonishing that the omission of  a one letter word could give the very opposite meaning of what was intended..

[sailing canary]

21 hours ago, lovetotraveltx said:

We are OK with eating a late snack and/or coffee and a treat and eating when the locals eat. At home I don't eat quite that late, but we aren't early diners either.

Eating when the locals eat ..............not sure what you mean by that??

The 'locals' will be having

Lunch 14.00/14.30

Dinner 21.00 - not unusual for people to go out for dinner at 22.00

 

Also not sure what you mean by 'late snack/coffee and a treat. 

Just curious.

[cleobella]

Seeing the highlights in Barcelona is easy: Guell Park, Las Ramblas, National Catalonia Museum of Art, La Pedrera, Sagrada Familia.  A hop on hop off can help get you around but is slow, much is walkable or a short taxi ride. With 4 days you can also book a tour out to Monserrat to see a gorgeous Cathedral on a mountain, and view the famous Black Madonna Statue, stand in the courtyard on a spot said to be a healing vortex. We also went out to a  Cava Winery which was very fun.

[mskaufman]

Monserrat

[sverigecruiser]

 

We like Can Paixano.

 

I don't know if that is genuin or food for tourists but we like it!

[marazul]

On 1/25/2023 at 1:35 PM, lovetotraveltx said:

We have four nights in Barcelona post River Cruise at the end of March.

 How do we get to the beach, can we walk? What shouldn't we miss?

 

You should miss going to the beach.  In March the water will be frigid and beach facilities will be closed.  The Med is not the Caribbean.  Barcelona is about the same latitude as NYC.

[Mrs f.]

We used Spain Day Tours. Went to Montserrat in the morning and a lovely small family run winery in the afternoon.  A great day

[AJCM]

Montserrat and Gaudi definitely.