Help with Barcelona - please!

[leo22]

We will be in Barcelona for 4 days in July. While there we would like to visit Sitges, Monserrat, wine & bike tour and maybe a Flamingo show. Now there are like 1001 tour companies in Barcelona and we don't know which one to pick - please help!

 

It seems Barcelonians eat really late compares to North Americans - would we have problems finding breakfast at 7 am in the morning?

 

This may be a naive question and we apologize for it, but we really need to know.......we heard that the drag shows in Barcelona are amazing and we wanted to know if, as a heterosexual couple, can we still go?

 

Much appreciated!

[Friscorays]

Here is a recent thread on Flamenco in Barcelona:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=945917&highlight=barcelona+flamenco

 

It is my understanding that the Barcelona drag shows are open to all and that you should have no problem at all as a heterosexual couple.

[CathyCruises]

I got a lot of good info from this website: http://www.barcelonayellow.com/component/option,com_magazine/func,show_magazine/id,2/Itemid,286/

 

FYI, you don't need a tour to go to Montserrat, very easy on your own taking the train from Espanya station. There is exact info on this website and it was easy to do.

 

While you are there, don't miss the Gothic Quarter and all of the Gaudi stuff.

 

Cathy

[CruzinFamilyof5]

We will be in Barcelona for 4 days in July. While there we would like to visit Sitges, Monserrat, wine & bike tour and maybe a Flamingo show. Now there are like 1001 tour companies in Barcelona and we don't know which one to pick - please help!

 

It seems Barcelonians eat really late compares to North Americans - would we have problems finding breakfast at 7 am in the morning?

 

This may be a naive question and we apologize for it, but we really need to know.......we heard that the drag shows in Barcelona are amazing and we wanted to know if, as a heterosexual couple, can we still go?

 

Much appreciated!

 

Bus Turistic has a 2 day tour and 3 routes for 27 Euros each. This is the HoHo bus. They also have the 11 hour tour to Montserrat, winery, sitges and the 11 tour to Girona and Figueras. One of these tours was listed at $300 with another tour company, but Bus Turistic is about 69 Euros. If you have 4 people, they drop the price by 12 Euros to about 57 Euros each. We took all except Girona, because we drove there instead, on our way to France. Bus Turistic just added a night tour that begins at 9:30pm on weekends for 16 Euros. This will take care of your 4 days. If you want to rent a car from an American company, it was very easy to pick up from the Estacio Sants where they also have 24 hour luggage storage. The roads to Girona and Figueras were easy and very modern. We returned the car on the same day. We have travel photos of all these. We're going again for 3 days in June. They are wonderful for the price and service!

 

No problem finding breakfast anywhere. Lots of pastry and cafe's open. Their McDonald's have a good breakfast too as a last resort - If you're unsure, there was also Starbucks near the HO HO stop. We grabbed our coffee in the mornings and hopped on the tour bus on Via Laietana near Las Ramblas and La Boqueria. Hope this helps :)

[Bowie MeMe]

Breakfast was no problem in Barcelona. Dinner was not so hard on Las Ramblas but we did eat mostly in touristy places that we really opened at 6:30 PM and only American accents were around us. Good thing was that the waiters were so friendly at that time of day because no customers. Try the cafe at the top of the L'Engles department store at the top of La Ramblas. Food was ok but the view from 12 stories up windows was outstanding and the price was cheap. Probably best for lunch.

[leo22]

Thanks everyone for your help.....good to know we can get a cup of coffee early in the morning....Starbucks yeh!

[jwds]

We used http://www.rabbies.eu.com/ for a tour to Montserrat and a winery. Rabbies offers small group tours from Barcelona.

 

We actually booked this tour through viator.com which is a booking agency. They offer a wde variety of tours and, at least in my experience, charge no more that the actual tour operator.

[QueScaisJe]

Thanks everyone for your help.....good to know we can get a cup of coffee early in the morning....Starbucks yeh!

 

Starbucks? Bah. Spain's coffee is uniformly the best in Europe, and you can get it inexpensively at any bar. Unless you are into chi-chi flavoured coffees, stick to the basics: Cafe con leche + sugar = double-double.

[cruiseluv]

Starbucks? Bah. Spain's coffee is uniformly the best in Europe, and you can get it inexpensively at any bar. Unless you are into chi-chi flavoured coffees, stick to the basics: Cafe con leche + sugar = double-double.

 

You are so right!!! I just came back from 10 days in Spain, and their cafe con leche wins hands down against cafe au lait in France or caffe latte in Italy. It doesn't matter where you order it, even at the airport or train stations is to die for!

[avacruiser]

Turistic bus tours, (price includes discount vouchers for restaurants, museums etc)the Gothic walk, visit both Gaudi houses and various museums. The market is a colourful delight to visit and there are lovely restaurants out the back. Shopping is a must as is watching the live statues on the Ramblas.

Enjoy :)

[daring]

To change the question a bit, how big of a pain is it to take public buses to the ship from the airport? Has anyone done it? Another question, does anyone know who might do a tour of the city and a transfer from the airport? And lastly, what is the earliest you can check your luggage if the ship leaves Barcelona at 7PM.

We arrive at 8:35 AM so I'm trying to figure out how to best manage my money and time. Any thoughts? What would you do with that amount of time and a limited budget?

[CathyCruises]

You know what I would do? I would collect my luggage and head (by taxi, about 30-35 euros) to the port. By the time you clear customs, etc., you won't get there before 10:30 ish, and you will be able to check your luggage, although not board at that time. Then I would hop on the port bus for a euro or so, and walk the length of Las Ramblas, heading off into the Gothic Quarter, maybe taking the metro or a cab to at least see the outside of Sagrada Familia, and the take a taxi back to the port or catch the port bus again--depending on how much time you have. And of course stop for cava and tapas along the way!

 

Cathy

[daring]

Ok, I like it! Thanks Cathy. With so many decisions to be made it's nice to have help.