Hi All,

My husband and I booked flights to Barcelona for a week in July (arriving in Barcelona on a Monday and departing the following Monday afternoon). It's my 30th birthday and I wanted a mix of touring and beach relaxation and I could only get 1 week off from work which is why we picked Barcelona.

Is it ok to stay in Barcelona for the full week? OR do Barcelona for 4 days and then visit one of the beaches in Ibiza, San Sebastian or Palma de Mallorca?

Which would be easiest to get to?

Thanks in Advance!

You really could do either one - it depends on your travel style. Barcelona has a ton of things to do and see, and there's a lot that's accessible via day trip, so if you want to stay in one place and not move around, you could definitely do a lot from there. Personally I'd probably add one more place. I haven't been to Ibiza or Mallorca, so can't give much information on those. San Sebastian has a beautiful beach (well, a couple), but it isn't a resort scene, if that makes sense. If you're looking to lay on the sand with a drink, you probably could do that in SS, but somewhere like Ibiza might be more your speed, I would think. SS is beautiful and has fascinating history and great food. The poster kimhe here has a lot of posts with great information on it.

We did three nights, two full days in SS last year followed by five nights, four full days in Barcelona, and that was about right, I think. We flew Vueling between the SS/Hondarribia airport and BCN; flying to Bilbao is also easy - there's a bus that goes direct to SS from the Bilbao airport.

Of course it's okay, but it's totally up to you. There is enough to do there, if that's what you mean.

Majorca is probably easiest to get to from Barcelona, at least by ferry. It's closer than Ibiza, but you can take the boat to either. Some are a lot speedier than others. I think the fastest ferry is about 3 hours to Majorca. The train takes 6 hrs or more to San Sebastian. If course you can fly to any of those.

It really depends on what YOU want to see and experience. You might want to consult some guidebooks (buy a few or go to your local library) to see what YOU want to see and do, how your time would play out, and -- if you do decide to add something -- what most captures your interests. Enjoy!

The 39th edition of the Grec festival goes on in Barcelona during all of July. Great concerts/performances every night by mainly Catalan artists, and many of the events are in the outdoor Grec theatre: http://lameva.barcelona.cat/grec/en/...ival-barcelona
It all takes place in La Ciutat del Teatre at the foot of Montjuic (Jewish mountain): http://www.barcelonaturisme.com/wv3/...el-teatre.html

Be sure to have a late night dinner in close by, old school and rock'n roll Xemei (reservations a must). Had one of the best meals of my life here a couple of months ago. The Bigoli en salsa Veneciana tasted unlike anything I've ever eaten (after 1:30 in this video): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Lvcjtoh0tU

Another Fodorite who went to Xemei recently:

"...headed to Xemei with 5 minutes to spare before closing at 4p. Our cab driver turned into Andretti. We called to make sure and talked to Stefano who was so kind to say he'll wait for us. When we got there we all shook hands and he reserved the back corner table for us...the best table! I love this place.

Of course I ordered the bigoli pasta...the whole point of dashing there.

Okay, how would you even describe that taste?!

Omg! Seriously it was out of control!! You were right...nothing I've ever tasted. It was so good my bf kept trading scoops of his steak tartar for bites of it lol. We ordered campari to start then a glass of wine. He got some 12 year whiskey and they left all the bottles on the table for us! Also had grilled octopus with eggplant and the catch of the day which was turbot. They were all delicious but nothing beat the pasta. I'm going to crave that taste and will not know where else to get it without requiring a flight."

If you browse this forum for "Barcelona", you'll find that there is more than enough in the City to fill a week. The beach in the Barceloneta area can give you what you're looking for for the beach holiday even though you're in the city for everything else.

If you fancy a day trip, then there's Montserrat, Girona, Tossa de Mar, Figueres, San Sadurni d'Anoia, more than enough for a week.

However, if you want a change of scene altogether then you could have a few days on Mallorca at maybe Illetas. Nice beach, 20 minutes from the airport and good hotels and restaurants in the area. In that case, fly into Barcelona and go straight to a flight for Palma. Then spend the latter part of the trip in Barcelona so that you have no issues with getting to the airport on your departure day.

I agree with the comments. We found lots to do in Barcelona itself for 5 days. Along with the other suggestions for day trips, you could take the high speed train to Zaragoza or take a train to Sitges, which is a beach resort town quite close to Barcelona.