MovelerMom

Driving SOUTH OF BARCELONA

Visit Sitges – nice, small & special city close to Bcn
Visit the monasteries of Poblet, Santes Creus & Valbona
Visit Tarragona (Tgn) – historic roman city.
To Eat in Tgn - xamfra del forum - http://www.xdfrestaurant.com/ $$ - or any tapas place in "el Serrallo"(port in Tarragona) $
Beaches in Tgn - Arrabasada & Platja larga & Cala romana
To check for Castellers (human castles) in Tgn or Valls (cute city)
Great amusement park close to Tarragona – Port Aventura - http://www.portaventura.es/

Driving NORTH OF BARCELONA

Cadaques and Port Lligat where Dali lived many years – it’s a must!
Visit Figueres (city with Dali museum) – not priority #1
Cap de Creus - national park for walks and nice calas – small beach of stones
Sant Pere de Rodas monastery
Roses & Begur (small cute cities)

Wine&Dine

Barcelona: Torre de alta mar - http://www.torredealtamar.com/en
Barcelona: Abac (famous chef Jordi Cruz)
Wine Tasting: Sant Sadurni d’Anioa – region famous for Cavas and Wine - http://www.enoturismepenedes.cat/en/proposals/sant-sadurni-danoia-theatrical-city-tour
Wine Tasting: Bodegas Torres - http://www.torres.es
Cava Tasting: Freixenet - http://www.freixenet.com/

Local Tips

Be very very careful with your belongings. The pickpocketers are so professional there.
There is a huge number of markets in Barcelona and as you know the food is amazing. One of the biggest and famous ones is La Boqueria.

Barcelona y Catalonia

Barcelona – the cosmopolitan of Spain

Barcelona… it is a city people fall in love with. It has everything: nice food, friendly people, lively city life, fashion, art, music, soccer, lots of events and history, great weather, the coastline and beaches, sun and fun, what else do you need to live happy? Maybe just a bit less tourists, as Barcelona is always full of tourists… well once you visit it, you’ll know why.

To stay in Barcelona the best would probably be somewhere between Paseig de Gracia y Les Rambles. That means city centre. This way you can walk to most of the places from our list. Only park Güell is located a bit to the north, but the metro works pretty OK, so you shouldn’t have any trouble at all.

Barcelona has many amazing hotels (and pretty expensive..) like W Barcelona or Arts Barcelona. Just check www.trivago.es or www.booking.com for good deals. AirBnB is also a good option, we had a very interesting experience staying there with AirBnB (but this is a different story)

Sightseeing & Culture

Take the sightseeing bus Hop off and Hop on. There are 2 different routes, take both!
Visit in Bcn all Gaudi buildings: Güell park, Casa Mila - la Pedrera, Casa Batllo (events at night with jazz music), La Sagrada Familia (avoid qeues - online booking)
Port Maritim, el borne, barrio gothic – walk around
Catedral del Mar – worth a visit – Read the book!
Soccer fans must visit the Nou Camp, both museums and stadium for a match!!
Flamenco shows – not typical Bcn, but Spanish