Trip IdeasFodor's Barcelona, 2nd Edition
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About This Book
Fodor’s. For Choice Travel Experiences.
Fodor’s helps you unleash the possibilities of travel by providing the insightful tools you need to experience the trips you want. While you’re at the helm, Fodor’s offers the assurance of our expertise, the guarantee of selectivity, and the choice details that truly define a destination. It’s like having a friend in Barcelona!
•Updated frequently, Fodor’s Barcelona provides the most accurate and up-to-date information available in a guide book.
•Fodor’s Barcelona features options for a variety of budgets, interests, and tastes, so you make the choices to plan your trip of a lifetime.
•If it’s not worth your time, it’s not in this book. Fodor’s discriminating ratings, including out top tier Fodor’s Choice designations, ensure that you’ll know about the most interesting and enjoyable places in Barcelona.
•Experience Barcelona like a local! Fodor’s Barcelona includes choices for every traveler from eating paella at a beachfront terrace to seeing Gaudí’s whimsical buildings to wandering the Gothic Quarter’s narrow streets , and much more!
•Indispensable, customized trip planning tools include “Top Reasons to Go,” “Word of Mouth” advice from other travelers, and tips to help save money, bypass lines, and avoid common travel pitfalls.
Visit Fodors.com for more ideas and information, travel deals, vacation planning tips, reviews and to exchange travel advice with other travelers.
Fodor’s helps you unleash the possibilities of travel by providing the insightful tools you need to experience the trips you want. While you’re at the helm, Fodor’s offers the assurance of our expertise, the guarantee of selectivity, and the choice details that truly define a destination. It’s like having a friend in Barcelona!
•Updated frequently, Fodor’s Barcelona provides the most accurate and up-to-date information available in a guide book.
•Fodor’s Barcelona features options for a variety of budgets, interests, and tastes, so you make the choices to plan your trip of a lifetime.
•If it’s not worth your time, it’s not in this book. Fodor’s discriminating ratings, including out top tier Fodor’s Choice designations, ensure that you’ll know about the most interesting and enjoyable places in Barcelona.
•Experience Barcelona like a local! Fodor’s Barcelona includes choices for every traveler from eating paella at a beachfront terrace to seeing Gaudí’s whimsical buildings to wandering the Gothic Quarter’s narrow streets , and much more!
•Indispensable, customized trip planning tools include “Top Reasons to Go,” “Word of Mouth” advice from other travelers, and tips to help save money, bypass lines, and avoid common travel pitfalls.
Visit Fodors.com for more ideas and information, travel deals, vacation planning tips, reviews and to exchange travel advice with other travelers.
Table of Contents
About This Book ............ 6
Chapter 1: Experience Barcelona ............ 7
Barcelona Planner ............ 8
Top Barcelona Attractions ............ 10
Great Itineraries ............ 12
What’s Where ............ 14—16
Quintessential Barcelona ............ 18
If You Like ............ 20
Barcelona Today ............ 22
Chapter 2: Exploring Barcelona ............ 23
The Rambla: The Heart of Barcelona ............ 26
The Barri Gòtic: Medieval Splendor ............ 44
The Raval: West of the Rambla ............ 55
Sant Pere & La Ribera: The Medieval Textile & Waterfront Districts ............ 62
La Ciutadella & Barceloneta: Near the Port ............ 74
The Eixample: Moderniste Barcelona ............ 81
Gràcia: Radical Chic ............ 101
Upper Barcelona: Sarrià & Pedralbes ............ 107
Tibidabo, Vallvidrera & the Collserola Hills ............ 114
Montjuïc ............ 117
Chapter 3: Where to Eat ............ 123
Where to Eat Planner ............ 124
Best Bets for Barcelona Dining ............ 126
Cafés & Tapas Bars ............ 156
Wine Bars ............ 164
Chapter 4: Where to Stay ............ 167
Barcelona Lodging Planner ............ 168
Chapter 5: Nightlife & the Arts ............ 197
Nightlife ............ 198
The Arts ............ 209
Chapter 6: Sports & the Outdoors ............ 217
Chapter 7: Shopping ............ 225
Chapter 8: Catalonia: The Costa Brava to Tarragona ............ 251
The Costa Brava ............ 256
Inland to Girona ............ 288
Southern Catalonia ............ 300
Catalonia Essentials ............ 310
Chapter 9: Excursion to Bilbao ............ 315
Exploring Bilbao ............ 316
Where to Eat ............ 337
Where to Stay ............ 343
Nightlife & the Arts ............ 348
Sports & the Outdoors ............ 351
Shopping ............ 352
Bilbao Essentials ............ 353
Barcelona Essentials ............ 357
Getting Started ............ 358
Booking Your Trip ............ 363
Transportation ............ 372
On The Ground ............ 385
Spanish Vocabulary ............ 399
INDEX ............ 405
About Our Writer ............ 416
BARCELONA IN FOCUS
Exploring Barcelona
Gaudí: Architecture through the Looking Glass ............ 88—93
Where to Eat
Spain’s Food Revolution ............ 141—145
CLOSE UPS
Catalan First, Spanish Second ............ 28
La Diada de Sant Jordi: Barcelona’s Lovers’ Day ............ 37
Barcelona: An Architectural Toy Box ............ 39
El Call: The Jewish Quarter ............ 48
The Fragrances of Sant Ponç ............ 59
The Barrio Chino ............ 61
Picasso’s Barcelona ............ 71
On the Menu ............ 133
Refuel Around Town ............ 139
Barcelona’s “Must-Eat” ............ 146
With Children? ............ 152
Ground Rules for Coffee ............ 157
Tapas: The Ultimate Movable Feast ............ 161
Lodging Alternatives ............ 178
Care to Order a Beer? ............ 201
Move Over, Milan ............ 232
Savory Souvenirs ............ 243
On the Menu ............ 277
Farmhouse Stays ............ 295
Abandoibarra: Bilbao’s New Heart ............ 327
MAPS
The Rambla ............ 32
Barri Gòtic ............ 46
The Raval ............ 57
Sant Pere, La Ribera, La Ciutadella & Barceloneta ............ 65
The Eixample ............ 84
Gràcia ............ 102
Sarrià & Pedralbes ............ 109
Montjuïc ............ 119
Where to Eat in the Barri Gòtic & Born-Ribera ............ 130—131
Where to Eat in the Rambla, Raval & Poble Sec ............ 135
Where to Eat in Barceloneta & the Port Olímpic ............ 138
Where to Eat in the Eixample, Gràcia, Sarrià, Pedralbes, Sant Gervasi & Tibidabo ............ 148—149
Where to Stay in the Ciutat Vella, Barceloneta, Port Olímpic & Fòrum ............ 173
Where to Stay in the Eixample ............ 185
Where to Stay in Upper Barcelona: Gràcia, Sarrià, Sant Gervasi, Putxet & Pedralbes, Tibidabo & Vallvidrera ............ 192
Catalonia ............ 258—259
Girona ............ 289
Bilbao ............ 322—323
Where to Eat in Bilbao ............ 341
Where to Stay in Bilbao ............ 345
Chapter 1: Experience Barcelona ............ 7
Barcelona Planner ............ 8
Top Barcelona Attractions ............ 10
Great Itineraries ............ 12
What’s Where ............ 14—16
Quintessential Barcelona ............ 18
If You Like ............ 20
Barcelona Today ............ 22
Chapter 2: Exploring Barcelona ............ 23
The Rambla: The Heart of Barcelona ............ 26
The Barri Gòtic: Medieval Splendor ............ 44
The Raval: West of the Rambla ............ 55
Sant Pere & La Ribera: The Medieval Textile & Waterfront Districts ............ 62
La Ciutadella & Barceloneta: Near the Port ............ 74
The Eixample: Moderniste Barcelona ............ 81
Gràcia: Radical Chic ............ 101
Upper Barcelona: Sarrià & Pedralbes ............ 107
Tibidabo, Vallvidrera & the Collserola Hills ............ 114
Montjuïc ............ 117
Chapter 3: Where to Eat ............ 123
Where to Eat Planner ............ 124
Best Bets for Barcelona Dining ............ 126
Cafés & Tapas Bars ............ 156
Wine Bars ............ 164
Chapter 4: Where to Stay ............ 167
Barcelona Lodging Planner ............ 168
Chapter 5: Nightlife & the Arts ............ 197
Nightlife ............ 198
The Arts ............ 209
Chapter 6: Sports & the Outdoors ............ 217
Chapter 7: Shopping ............ 225
Chapter 8: Catalonia: The Costa Brava to Tarragona ............ 251
The Costa Brava ............ 256
Inland to Girona ............ 288
Southern Catalonia ............ 300
Catalonia Essentials ............ 310
Chapter 9: Excursion to Bilbao ............ 315
Exploring Bilbao ............ 316
Where to Eat ............ 337
Where to Stay ............ 343
Nightlife & the Arts ............ 348
Sports & the Outdoors ............ 351
Shopping ............ 352
Bilbao Essentials ............ 353
Barcelona Essentials ............ 357
Getting Started ............ 358
Booking Your Trip ............ 363
Transportation ............ 372
On The Ground ............ 385
Spanish Vocabulary ............ 399
INDEX ............ 405
About Our Writer ............ 416
BARCELONA IN FOCUS
Exploring Barcelona
Gaudí: Architecture through the Looking Glass ............ 88—93
Where to Eat
Spain’s Food Revolution ............ 141—145
CLOSE UPS
Catalan First, Spanish Second ............ 28
La Diada de Sant Jordi: Barcelona’s Lovers’ Day ............ 37
Barcelona: An Architectural Toy Box ............ 39
El Call: The Jewish Quarter ............ 48
The Fragrances of Sant Ponç ............ 59
The Barrio Chino ............ 61
Picasso’s Barcelona ............ 71
On the Menu ............ 133
Refuel Around Town ............ 139
Barcelona’s “Must-Eat” ............ 146
With Children? ............ 152
Ground Rules for Coffee ............ 157
Tapas: The Ultimate Movable Feast ............ 161
Lodging Alternatives ............ 178
Care to Order a Beer? ............ 201
Move Over, Milan ............ 232
Savory Souvenirs ............ 243
On the Menu ............ 277
Farmhouse Stays ............ 295
Abandoibarra: Bilbao’s New Heart ............ 327
MAPS
The Rambla ............ 32
Barri Gòtic ............ 46
The Raval ............ 57
Sant Pere, La Ribera, La Ciutadella & Barceloneta ............ 65
The Eixample ............ 84
Gràcia ............ 102
Sarrià & Pedralbes ............ 109
Montjuïc ............ 119
Where to Eat in the Barri Gòtic & Born-Ribera ............ 130—131
Where to Eat in the Rambla, Raval & Poble Sec ............ 135
Where to Eat in Barceloneta & the Port Olímpic ............ 138
Where to Eat in the Eixample, Gràcia, Sarrià, Pedralbes, Sant Gervasi & Tibidabo ............ 148—149
Where to Stay in the Ciutat Vella, Barceloneta, Port Olímpic & Fòrum ............ 173
Where to Stay in the Eixample ............ 185
Where to Stay in Upper Barcelona: Gràcia, Sarrià, Sant Gervasi, Putxet & Pedralbes, Tibidabo & Vallvidrera ............ 192
Catalonia ............ 258—259
Girona ............ 289
Bilbao ............ 322—323
Where to Eat in Bilbao ............ 341
Where to Stay in Bilbao ............ 345
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