jamesisleo
Rising Star
I will be visiting Barcelona, Spain, during Christmas. Any must-recommendate place to visit?
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Anyone from Spain
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Nachooo1
Esteemed member
Watch carefully your phone and belongings specially in those tourist places and do not wear expensive writchwatch at sight, sadly Barcelona has one of the big concentrations of pickpockets in Europe, mostly not spanish locals. Except this, is a great place to visit. You can go to Tibidabo or Montjuic to see all city from above. Have a good trip.
Good advice, this one. I have an acquaintance that got robbed in Barcelona. Unfortunate, but that's how big tourist hubs are 99% of the time.
hugfortysix
Esteemed member
I spent a lovely summer in Barcelona almost 20 years ago, working in Port Olympic helping a friend restore an old wooden motor cruiser that had nearly sunk in the harbour. The boat was basically very rotten and we had to change many of the ribs and re-plank it, among many other jobs to do.
I stayed in Barcelonetta in a friend of a friends art studio.
I'm a bit out of the loop but i would recommend trying to find places off of the beaten track rather than the tourist traps. There was a great little restauraunt in the residential part of Barcelloneta, where you could buy plates of rabbit or pork with green peppers swimming in olive oil with nice cheap carafes of red wine, followed by a coffee mixed with brandy.
The ramblas is rammed and very touristy but if that is your bag, it's worth a look. We found an absynthe bar off of the ramblas with a nice ambience. The proprietress was called "the panda" due to her heavily mascaraed eyes.
Yes , you have to watch out for the pick pockets. We didn't get much attention because most of the time we looked like down at heel workers .However, one night, for some reason we found ourselves in a horrible night club by the port and on the walk home by the beach, a bunch of young Spanish started walking with us. One of the guys put his arm round me and started talking to me about English footballers (i'm English but not that keen on football) and he lifted my wallet. As they said goodbye and sauntered off in front of us and i am realising i no longer have my wallet, i approach the miscreant, put my arm round him and lift the wallet back, waved it in front of his face and said "what's this then?????". It all ended reasonably amicably.
I would also recommend going into as many old buildings as possible, not just the Gaudi stuff. Probably loads of stuff that i have missed. Most of my best memories are of food which just goes to show how much of a boring twat i was even then...
Ive got a mate that lives there , so if you need any specialist inside information he may be able to give some insights. He's got 3 kids now, so may be out of the loop when it comes to hedonistic adventures tho.
I stayed in Barcelonetta in a friend of a friends art studio.
I'm a bit out of the loop but i would recommend trying to find places off of the beaten track rather than the tourist traps. There was a great little restauraunt in the residential part of Barcelloneta, where you could buy plates of rabbit or pork with green peppers swimming in olive oil with nice cheap carafes of red wine, followed by a coffee mixed with brandy.
The ramblas is rammed and very touristy but if that is your bag, it's worth a look. We found an absynthe bar off of the ramblas with a nice ambience. The proprietress was called "the panda" due to her heavily mascaraed eyes.
Yes , you have to watch out for the pick pockets. We didn't get much attention because most of the time we looked like down at heel workers .However, one night, for some reason we found ourselves in a horrible night club by the port and on the walk home by the beach, a bunch of young Spanish started walking with us. One of the guys put his arm round me and started talking to me about English footballers (i'm English but not that keen on football) and he lifted my wallet. As they said goodbye and sauntered off in front of us and i am realising i no longer have my wallet, i approach the miscreant, put my arm round him and lift the wallet back, waved it in front of his face and said "what's this then?????". It all ended reasonably amicably.
I would also recommend going into as many old buildings as possible, not just the Gaudi stuff. Probably loads of stuff that i have missed. Most of my best memories are of food which just goes to show how much of a boring twat i was even then...
Ive got a mate that lives there , so if you need any specialist inside information he may be able to give some insights. He's got 3 kids now, so may be out of the loop when it comes to hedonistic adventures tho.
jamesisleo
Rising Star
I will be careful. Thanks for thee heads up
jamesisleo
Rising Star
Please suggest some local delicates to try.
One thing I can suggest is that you should definitely try their wine tasting tour Wines of Spain between Madrid and Barcelona | spain.info You will love it. I found this article really helpful in general planning of your trip Tourism In Spain Statistics 2024: Your In Depth Travel Guide You can check it out.
Nachooo1
Esteemed member
Avoid specially at night The Raval zone which is in the surroundings of famous Ramblas place. If you are interested in local food, you should visit el Mercat Central, known as La Boqueria where locals buy food. If loking for a restaurant avoid places where tourist eat, there you will only find classical famous Paella, tortilla at high prizes, etc, instead look for the ones used by spaniards workers which will have better food and will be cheaper. Traditional catalan cuisine is very good : Esqueixada, escalivada, butifarra amb mongetes, cargols, suquet.. Lot of seafood and also food from the countryside. I miss that a lot..was born there...
One of my favorite vloggers Spanian has made 3 videos on Barcelona that you might find interesting in case you want to experience a different side of the city which usually provides a fuller understanding:
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There are many pickpockets but it's generally safe, at least during daytime. It helps not looking like a tourist. That usually means avoiding sandals (particularly sandals with socks) and being dressed in summer clothes with bright colors. Avoid expensive, hip clothing brands too. I personally have no issues when I have to go there, but I'm not a tourist.
I can't really recommend going there, it's too touristy. But if someone does go, they may be interested in knowing that there are legal cannabis clubs that in practice work in a similar way to the Amsterdam coffee shops. You shouldn't buy anything there to take outside, but smoking inside is safe.
DM3
why not
What's wrong with sandals? I wear them in my hometown, where I'm definitely not a tourist. What's wrong with them? What's wrong with bright clothes?
I've seen too many criminals and non-locals over there in Barcelona... I felt like I was in a savage world. I'm just describing my feelings. I didn't feel safe there.
DM3
why not
What I supposed to wear instead?
Just to be clear: I'm not saying it's your fault if you felt unsafe because of how you dressed or anything like that. I'm just making some suggestions of how to look less like a target to the eyes of people that are looking for targets (and only in the context of touristy areas in Spain, and for people of European ascent). The problem is those people, but as long as they are there I think it's better to avoid them.
I think clothes with more muted or darker colors that aren't from any hip or expensive brand will go a long way in making anyone look less like a tourist in Barcelona. And any kind of non-sandal shoe. You should still be careful with pickpockets, but you will likely see less sketchy people trailing or staring at you.