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MY RECOMMENDATIONS
Insider tips for restaurants and hotels in Barcelona.! Often visitors
appreciate a local’s advice about where to stay and where to eat. The
following are just some of my personal favorites, although my suggestions don’t
exclude other choices that can be also exciting! |
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RESTAURANTS
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When traveling, food is one of
the most important things to plan. To start with, in Spain we have quite
different meal schedules than in most places:
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LUNCH: From 1pm to 3pm. Most restaurants
open either at 1pm or 1:30, and close their kitchens around 3.30 or 4pm,
although you can stay eating what you’ve already ordered for a bit longer.
Locals hardly ever arrive earlier than 2pm.
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DINNER: From 8pm to midnight. Most
restaurants open either at 8pm or 8:30, and close their kitchens around 11.30
or midnight, although you can stay eating what you’ve already ordered for a bit
longer. Locals hardly ever arrive earlier than 2pm.
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If
you need to eat outside of these hours... The easiest choice will be tapas bars, opening
between breakfast time and noon and serving food non-stop until late night.
There are also a couple of seafood & paella restaurants such as Botafumeiro and Set Portes that have the kitchen open
all day long.
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And
if you don’t have much time… Barcelona has plenty of gorgeous bakeries where you can get yourself a
sandwich or some other bite: Look around, I’m sure you have one in less than a
couple of blocks from where you are!
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Talking
about eating and having fun… Have you checked my Tapas Tours?
CHECK MY RESTAURANT
GOOGLEMAP FOR GREAT RESTAURANT SUGGESTIONS!
See Barcelona Restaurants in a larger map
HOTELS
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TAKE THE FOLLOWING ADVICE INTO ACCOUNT BEFORE
BOOKING YOUR HOTEL/APPARTEMENT:
When choosing a place to stay, you need
to consider your budget, but also the area where you’ll be staying.
There are many great hotels in the
city center that’s why, unless you are staying for several days or this is not
your first visit, I wouldn’t recommend to stay in the neighborhoods. There are
three main areas where you might consider to stay:
In the old town: This is a good idea
if you’d like to be surrounded by a medieval setting and if you don’t mind
walking (some hotels are located in pedestrian streets and you won’t be able to
get to the door by taxi). The is divided in four different areas:
- Gothic Quarter. Monumental area around the
Cathedral and the Jewish Section.
- Born.
Hype district with plenty of shops and tapas bars.
- Ramblas. This busy street generates in me mixed feelings: in one hand,
there are some nice hotels and it’s a lively area (and I love being close
to the Boqueria Market!), but in the other hand it can get too busy
specially at night, it’s a quite touristy area and pickpockets might be
around. The lowest part of la Rambla (closest to the Port) at night gets an
unpleasant atmosphere.
- Raval. The dark side of the Old Town… although some areas have improved a
lot these last years, there are still many streets that are not at all
recommendable. Check my Raval
Googlemap for more info. I’d rather avoid to stay around here.
In the Eixample district (city center): The
Expansion area is the modernist part of the Barcelona, and is considered the
city center. Choose a place to stay around Plaça Catalunya, Passeig de Gràcia
and Rambla Catalunya. In my opinion, if you are staying more than 4-5 blocks
from them… it’s already too far to be considered the city center! In this area
you’ll be walking distance from the Gaudí apartment buildings, right in the
heart of the best shopping area, and you’ll have lots of food options nearby.
The seaside: I’d only choose a hotel
by the waterfront in the summertime, as in the winter you’d be better in town
(unless you have a strong preference for one of the international hotels
located here). There are three areas:
- Old Port and Barceloneta. This is the area nearest to the Old Town. It’s lively, there are
lots of seafood restaurants and the beach starts here, however, it’s not so
well communicated (specially the W hotel, at the very end of everything…)
and you’ll end up using taxis all the time or walking a lot.
- Olympic Village. This area is quieter than
Barceloneta, but it’s even further from the city center. The good point are
the restaurants along the beach and the marina, as well as the beach
nightclubs if you are planning to go out at night.
- Poblenou
/ Diagonal Mar. Although
some international hotels are located here... That’s really far from any
site (at least for the Barcelona scale… maybe for L.A. people it feels so
centric!). I see it more of a business hotel destination: if you stay there
be ready to take taxis all the time (or spend a lot of time in the subway).
There aren’t even fun restaurants: the only two remarkable points are a
huge shopping mall and the award-winning contemporary architecture of the
area.
For a list of recommended
apartments, click here.
CHECK MY HOTEL GOOGLEMAP
TO FIND OUT MY FAVORITE HOTELS, ORGANIZED BY CATEGORY AND LOCATION:
See Hotels in a larger map
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