mrs_pinchy

DH and I are going to Sitges, Barcelona for a conference at the end of October (I'm going for the conference, he's going for company) and I'll have one free day before it starts to see Barcelona. Given we'll be staying in Sitges & have to catch the train to Barcelona and we've booked the flights so we can't change dates to extend time in Barcelona (going to London for a week, then Paris for a week before heading home to Oz) what do you think we absolutely must see in Barcelona?
A bit about us - we're in our 30's, no kids, not into all night partying (wondering why we're going to Barcelona yet?), and on a budget that means I won't be taking home an extra 20kgs worth of shoes/ handbags/ shopping I'm keen to see some Gaudi and I've been told the shopping is great, so any specific suggestions would be much appreciated!

mimipam

My favorite sites were Sagrada Familia and Casa Batllo. Also just walking around and looking at the fabulous buildings. I did not go to Parc Guell so can't compare that. Also, I am not much of a shopper. Just walking Las Ramblas was enough for us though it is an interesting site with all the "mimes" etc. Passeig de Gracia is a good street for shopping and walking. We also went to the Picasso museum and the cathedral but with one day I would just do the Gaudi sites and walk around. Happy travels!!!

ribeirasacra

Read through this:
http://w3.bcn.es/XMLServeis/XMLHomeL...3719_3,00.html

zeppole

To me, all of Gaudi's work pales in comparison to the Palau de la Musica Catalana


http://www.google.it/images?client=s...w=1104&bih=702

If you can attend a concert there, great. If not, you can tour the buidling. It is the richest architectural site in Barcelona, and important monument to Catalonian culture.

jgg

I agree with the Gaudi sites - Sagrada Familia and Casa Batllo were my favorites as well, but a look through Casa Mila is important. We enjoyed Parc Guell, but it is a little further out so you would have to plan accordingly.

ncounty

I loved Parc Guell, even though it is further out and not easy to get to.

CAPH52

I know hop on/hop off tours aren't everyone's cup of tea. But we loved the one in Barcelona and it's hard to beat in terms of a way of getting an overview when you don't have a lot of time.

Lifeman

The train from Sitges into Barcelona only takes about half an hour, so if you set off early, you'll have a long day. These are the sights that I'd head for:

Sagrada Familia
Parc Guell Both of these are a little out of the centre and should be done together


Shopping on the Passeig de Gracia--lots of top end shops
Casa Mila on the same street, go up to the roof.

Stroll down the Ramblas to:
Barri Gotic and the Cathedral

Early dinner at the 4Cats (Quatre Gatos)a one time haunt of Picasso and his set.(Just off the Placa de Catalunya in a narrow side alley called the Carrer Montsio off the Portal de l'Angel. Very atmospheric place.

You will have to book in advance to get into the tour of the Palace of Catalonian Music. I'm guessing that you won't have time for a concert even if there is one on the day that you get there.
That should be a full day!

Fashionista

There are tourist hop on hop off buses and you can buy a day pass. This runs in a circle and you can easily get to the cathedral, all the Gaudi buildings and park. Its open top so you get to see the city as well.

You get a leaflet so can plan your day from there.

ncounty

I think the tourist buses are about 20 euros per person. A more economical way is to buy subway passes, I think ten of them for about 7 euros. Two people can share them and quickly zip around the city. The only hard spot was Parc Guell where the walk to the parc from the subway spot was quite a hike..... you can take a bus there but we didn't know that till we were well into the walk. It is also very steep and there are outdoor escalators that help get you up there. The view once you are there is majestic; you see all of Barcelona all the way down to the harbor. I think we would see our cruise ship from there.

jubilada

The bus is # 24 to Parc Guell.

mimipam

We chose not to do the hop on/hope off bus because we thought we could do better walking and using subway to see the top sites on my list.

ncounty

yup, that is what we did as welll, mimipam. we prefer to walk so we could see things up close and personal and use the subway to cover greater distances. It was also so much cheaper for two that way, 7 euros versus 40.

mrs_pinchy

Thanks for all those excellent suggestions! I think we'll go for the subway/ walking option too and now I know the bus number to look out for we'll try and make Parc Guell. Thanks lifeman for your list - I agree it's going to be a full on day to see it all, but now I've got some ideas of where to focus on it should be great last time we were in Europe we did Rome in a day, so we could make a habit of this kind of express travel haha
cheers amanda

Fashionista

<<<I think the tourist buses are about 20 euros per person. A more economical way is to buy subway passes,>>>

But on he underground you dont see the city! 20 Euros is about £16 - if your short on time that seems very cheap to me for a ready made solution - easy quick and direct access to all the major sites.

Aduchamp1

I think we have an advertisement.

ncounty

I had less than one day as well, fashionista. I was on a cruise and by the time we got started, it was 1 pm and we only had till 9 am. Thing is, I love to walk and explore so it is six of one, half a dozen of another. The major sights are contiguous to each other and I don't think you really "see" a city from a bus either. So, I preferred to walk from one area (the waterfront, up the ramblas, down to the cathedral, etc) and see the contiguous areas thoroughly, then take the underground which is very quick and get to a more remote area. The area I am not "seeing" via the underground is not what I wanted to see on my one day any way. We took the subway from the underground to La sagrada familia, then took the subway from there to Parc Guell, then the subway back to the waterfront to get back to the boat. I feel that we more thoroughly "see" what we really want to see, up close and personal, and did not see things that we might have passed in transit.

Friends from the ship did the off/on bus and said they only ended up doing two stops; and they didn't get nearly as far as we did.

There isn't a right or wrong, my way was right for me. I prefer an in depth exposure to a few places rather than a cursory exposure to a lot of places. I also prefer to spend most of my time and transportation walking. This allowed me to eat lavish meals and come back two pounds less.

ncounty

sorry, error above: I meant we only had till 9 pm. We had 8 hrs in Barcelona.