If you had one day free in Barcelona, what would be the best things to do??

Visit the Sangrada Famila and Gaudi park.
Stroll down Las Rambles.
There is great indoor market selling great fresh fruit and juices.

Visit the harbour

Cheers,

think the Hotel is quite close to the Sangrada Familia

You must go to Sagrada Familia which is the Gaudi cathedral in the centre of Barca.

Why go? Its an amazing building by a unique architect (just google for images) and you can climb up the stairs inside it and see the whole of Barcelona. Its breathtaking .................. and its also cheap to get in and climb up! You'll need a head for heights.

Next go to Placa de Catalunya (Metro from Sagrada Familiar). You may want to go to the Corte Ingles cafe and get a coffee and sit and watch the world go by below. The Placa is like Barca's Trafalgar Square. Then walk down the Ramblas.

Why? Its the lifeblood of the city, a long sprawling market which runs down to the sea. Great for bars, cafes, people watching and of course the hawkers and market items! Half way down on the right go into the fruit, fish, meat and veg market. Its huge and again you'll see the people of Barca going about their business plus the colour and bustle is fab. If you go into the streets on the left of the Ramblas then you go into the medieval gothic quarter. Seek out the cathedral and walk the narrow streets.

At the bottom you come to the sea and the harbour. Then you can go up on the cable car to the top of Mont Juic (sp) from the harbour.

Why? Its the little mount that sits on the coast in the centre of Barca and from up there you get the great views you saw at the Barca olympics in the diving.

Alternatively you may want to go to the Picasso Museum?

Those things are enough but you must also try to see it at night and wonder the bars of the old town, all to the left of the Ramblas and get some food at a good restaurant: I like Las Caracoles.

And thats more than enough!

Do the open top bus tours early - you can do a whole circuit or too and you can hop on and off at wherever takes your fancy and it takes in the Footy / Olympic stadiums too along with most of the things mentioned above.

Pincher is a good contact as he lives there might be worth a PM for a few ideas too.

Thanks for that. Much appreciated. Was thinking of getting a hop on/hop off bus tour to avoid wasting time working out the public transport system but might be packing in too much. The route you suggest sounds just about perfect. I'm actually there for 3 days but only have 1 day free, so despite having meals organised in the evenings we should still be able to get out to see some of the nightlife.

Already been said I know but the indoor market is fantastic, one of the best I've seen anywhere.

Las Ramblas again, stroll down and soak it up.

Be careful though, don't get involved in any of the street games being played by the locals, they'll try and scam you. Feel free to watch on the fringes but do not get involved.

Thanks Knulpuk,
Thought of the bus tours, but a bit concerned that we'll end up spending too long on a bus instead of seeing the city from the ground. I guess you can do different routes that just take in the bits that you fancy? I don't want to get dragged round the 4 corners of the city when I've only really got a day. Have you done the bus tours?

Thanks for reminding me that Pincher lives there as well. Might drop him a quick PM later.

Yes - There are 3 separate tours - which cover different arreas. I have done them all (on separate occassions) and they were good - though I had more time. Last time was the FISO Barca meet - and I was feeling a little bit green - but the fresh air was excellent

http://www.bcn.travel/destination-barce ... c-zoom-map

It's a bit cheesy but you see everything and the commentary is interesting too.

I actually thing La Pedrera is worth visiting too (Gaudi) but agree the cathederal is the one thing I would not have wanted to miss.

From memory if you start at Sagrada Familiar you can get the green line Metro to Placa de Catalunya, walk across to the Corte Ingles (department store) for your balcony coffee and then walk down the Ramblas taking in the gothic quater, indoor market and then down to the harbour. From there you can get the cable car up to Mont Juic so its nice and compact.

Say hello to Calle Carmen, just off the Ramblas at the market, my abode of 20 ( ) years ago.

Can't top the excellent advice on here. I enjoyed three fabulous weeks there last spring visiting my daughter, who lives beside La Rambla. Gaudi, La Rambla, the museums, the food, the atmosphere. Wonderful. One point I can add. Be very, very watchful of your gear on the Metro. The pickpockets are skilled, audacious and plentiful.

It rather depends on what you want from your day. Cram as much Barcelona History in or just have some fun?

As Knulpuk says, the bus trips are not only a good way to get about, but encompass much of Barcelona's History. And Pincher is definately a good point of contact. The Sagrada Familia is perhaps the prime Tourist Attraction, a Gaudi Church.

Having been there myself, A morning at Sagrada Familia, an afternoon along Las Ramblas finishing with some Paella at the harbour & an evening at the Magic Fountains of Montjuic would be my "one" day in Barca.

Have a great trip & let us know how you get on!

Catch the bus to Tossa de Mar

Got back last night. I'm a little bit in love with Barcelona now.

Thinking of taking the good lady there for our 10th anniversary Unc....I take it you'd recomend it?

Many thanks to everyone for the advice, both on this thread and via PM (cheers Pincher). I would normally buy books and do research online, but it was essentially a work trip to speak at a Conference, and I only decided to go out a day early and take 'auntie' at fairly short notice.

In summary, we arrived late Friday night. Late, but not late enough to walk down Las Ramblas and sit in a tapas bar with some Patatas Bravas, Chorizo, Manchego, Jamon Iberico and Cerveza 'Muy Grande' til 3am

Out early on saturday, walked to Sagrada Familia, metro to Catalunya, down Las Ramblas and Bari Gotic. Harbour, cable car, Mont Juiic, olympic stadium, fountains and metro back to Passeig de Gracia where the Hotel was for a beer on the rooftop bar before dinner at the Gallery Hotel (the start of the conference).

The view from our hotel's rooftop bar was stunning. You can see the whole city and the close up view of Sagrada Familia from there is probably better than at ground level.

Auntie got a bus tour on Sunday with some of the other conference WAGS and we had a great meal at El Principal (restaurant just off Passeig de Gracia) on Sunday night before a few (free!) beers back at the hotel. Had to decline the early hours Salsa dancing club visit though as I was speaking to 100 odd accountants and lawyers on Monday morning, many of whom don't speak English as their first language.

Monday morning was shopping for Auntie while I did my presentations, then a bunch of us wandered back down Las Ramblas for a last look round Bari Gotic, the Mercato and have a cold beer and (fantastic) hot Paella on one of the tables round the outside of the market.

Wonderful city, perfect weather and great advice from the FISO community.

Muchas gracias a mis amigos en FISO

Definitely. Does she know about it? Don't want to spill the beans if it's a surprise

All top secret Unc...

Its a wonderful city.

I never lost that "travelling" feeling of walking out of my front door on the way to work in the morning, looking around and thinking "wow, i'm somewhere".

And then there was the football team ................

Glad to hear you had a good time Unc - packed a lot in on that first day - well done!!

Thanks again for the assistance. Yep - pretty tired legs after the Saturday. We're both pretty fit though so don't mind walking all day, especially in such great surroundings. Probably couldn't have done quite as much without your (and others) help though.

Will definitely be going back sometime.