kleeblatt

Hello Barcelona Experts!
I’m organising a 4-day trip to Barcelona for 16 adults (ages 30 – 75) from March 19 – March 22.

Rough Itinerary:

Thursday: Arrival from Zürich in the morning. (we are Swiss)
- Check in at Hotel H10 Marina
- Sit down lunch
- Market B… and Ramblas
- Guided Tour of Barri Gothic
- Early dinner (we will be tired from the very long day)

Friday:
- Tour of Guided of Gaudi Houses and Park Guell
- Lunch
- See Sagrada Church
- the Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau
- walk through Gracia
- Dinner

Saturday:
- Day trip to Sitges
- Magic Fountain in Barcelona
- Dinner in Barcelona

Sunday:
- Open for travelers. I’ll suggest some ideas such as:
- Walk through Xiemple area or walk from Port Vell along the beach
- Go to Montjuic
- Monastery of Pedralbes –
- Santa Maria del Mar Basilica
- Sant Pere del Camp church
- Early Evening flight to Zürich

I’m looking for suggestions on:

- Other Sightseeing ideas

- Restaurants:
Some ideas are:

Lunch at Academia, Paca Meralgo, Can Toni del Poble 9 (due to location of H10 Marina), El Tio Che, Can Miralletes (location near Sagrada)

Dinner at Pla Angels, Con Margarita, Con Majo, La Luna, Comerc24

I’m trying to find restaurants that allow reservations for a large group, have good quality/price and allow us to fully appreciate the large selection of dishes Barcelona has to offer.

Thanks so much for any advice!

kleeblatt

Note: This is the 10th trip I've organised for my group so we know each other well and I can delegate such duties as:
- public transportation responsibility
- splitting the bill at restaurants

Thanks!

kleeblatt

ttt! Thank you!

Maribel

Hi schuler,
Of your listed restaurants, I only know Comerc24, Paco Meralgo (just love it!)and Café de la Acadèmia plus El Tío Che (the orxatería), so I though I'd throw out some alternatives-


Thurs:

for a sit down lunch within easy walking distance (5 blocks) from your hotel-
"Agua"

on Passeig Maritim 30 in Port Olimpic
(phone: 93 225 12 72)
It opens for lunch from 1-4:45,
is a member of the Tragaluz group,
Mediterranean cuisine and terrace dining right on the beach
www.aguadetragaluz.com

then after lunch take your stroll up the Ramblas to visit the Boquería and guided tour of the Barri Gotic.

For your early dinner:
you might take the metro from Bogatell, 2 stops, to Barceloneta and have your early dinner at one of two places on the Pla del Palau at edge of El Born-

"Lonja de Tapas"
or
"BossBorn"

Both have group space and even a group menu or just order a la carte. LdeT is open continuously from noon to midnight, so an early dinner is made easy. BossBorn opens for dinner at 8:30, still early for this city.

www.lonjadetapas.com
www.bossborn.es


Fri:

After your visit to Parc Güell and Casa Vicens for lunch in Gracia you might consider
"La Cova d'en Vidalet"


on Carrer del Torrent d'en Vidalet,
serves catalán cuisine. I think they could accommodate a group.
http://tinyurl.com/78n7ed

Or close to the Sagrada Familia, on
Provença 379
"L'Encis"

phone: 93 457 68 74
email: [email protected]
http://tinyurl.com/87vpyx


Dinner:
might be back down at a pretty terrace at the water's edge, next to the Museum of Catalan History on Placa de Pau Vila (Port Vell)
"Merendero de la Mari"

www.merenderodelamari.com
It opens at 8:30 and can handle a group your size. Quit nice.

An alternative:
"El Suquet de l'Almirall"

phone: 93 221 62 33


Sat:

For Sitges you have many options on the Passeig de la Ribera, but some (Maricel, Fragata) can be quite expensive. Your best bet for price and room for your group may be at the hotel restaurants, Santa María or La Pinta.
www.lapinta.net

Dinner:
if you want avant-garde, molecular gastronomy el Bulli style, then Comerc24 would be a good bet, but a full degustation menu with wine can run 60+ p.p. (I believe their degustations run 43-60)

Another of the Adriá school on Comerc 17-

"Santa María"
www.santamania.info
(I'm assuming his new place, el Santa and Santa María have same menus)

Sun:

Another idea for your "open" day would be MNAC, the National Museum of Catalan Artin Montjuïc, just an astonishingly rich museum, which can be overwhelming, but folks can just concentrate on one section, either
the Romanesque collection
the Gothic
or..

the most fabulous Sorolla exhibit, murals from NYC's Hispanic Society, will be there from Feb. 19-May 3. Not to be missed!!!! Great exhibit!!
Joaquín Sorolla, from Valencia, was Spain's great Impressionist, and this is just a wonderful traveling show-a real treat.

www.mnac.es

Lunch:
I like to dine at Paco Meralgo on Sunday since great Sun. dining is at a premium. This would be a great place to organize a delicious final lunch, if they can fit you-more probable at lunch than Sun. eve, when it's just jammed with locals.

www.pacomeralgo.com

I see that the Picasso Museum isn't on your rough draft. It and MNAC are my favorites. Since it has longer hours, 10 am-8 pm, perhaps you could fit it in somewhere. Don't think you'll need an entire day in Sitges, which will be quiet in mid March (post Carnaval, pre Holy Week) so perhaps late afternoon on Sat.?

www.museupicasso.bcn.es

Hope this helps a bit.

Lily

I think your trip sounds wonderful. I agree that you should add the Picasso Museum - there is a guided walking tour that ends at the museum.

Also have you considered a daytrip to Montserrat instead of Stiges? Or there is a guided bus tour that goes to both.

kleeblatt

Maribel,

Thank you so much for your wonderful suggestions. I've just changed much of my itinerary to reflect your ideas.

I especially like the idea about Sitges, the Sunday lunch at Paco Meralgo and the possible exhibits on Sunday.

As you might have noticed, my group enjoys good food but isn't necessarily impressed with expensive restaurants, which is why I've tried not to include any.

By the way, I apologize for all the spelling errors. I know it can hurt a local's eyes to see such spelling abominations.

Lily: My group is from Switzerland and seeing beach towns is a real treat. We are in the mountains all the time which is why I found Sitges to be a better alternative for us.

kleeblatt

Hi Maribel or other Barcelona Experts:

Do you think it would be a good idea to go to Mercat de Santa Caterina for lunch on Thursday (after checking in at the hotel)?

Remember: we are 16 people.

My thought is that walking through the food section at this market would give us a good idea on what to expect from Barcelona's gastronomy.

Is having lunch within the Mercat de Santa Caterina a good idea? Is it possible to sit down inside? Or should we skip it for the time being?

Thanks!

Maribel

Hi schuler,
We think alike! I was going to recommend the Cuines de Santa Caterina in the Mercat for your first lunch on Thursday. The only reason I hesitated is that I thought you would want something closer to the H10 Marina-hence I mentioned Agua. But the Mercat is not that far, and I think CdeSC would be a very good choice, and a lively one, with a broad variety in the menu. We have tapas at the bar there and enjoy the well priced fare a great deal.

kleeblatt

Fantastic! I see they don't accept reservations but I think if we are there at 13.00, it shouldn't be a problem.

We can take a stroll through the market beforehand and aquaint ourselves with Barcelona's delicious variety of food.

Thanks again!

Maribel

Sounds like a good plan, schuler!
By substituting Agua for CdeSC, you will still be able to try one of the Tragaluz group restaurants and not have two restaurant meals down by the water. Smart move.

Maribel

should read "substituting CdeSC for Agua", but you know what I meant!

missypie

A tour of the Palau de la Musica Catalunya was a highlight of the trip. We were there in mid-March also, and the morning tours tend to be taken up by school groups. You may be able to get a slot after lunch.

A bit of advice: Take a nice long lunch break like everyone else. Things really do close for siesta...the best advice is to rest when everyone else is resting.

The Maritime Museum is quite interesting. I know that the audio tour is available in English but I don't know what languages the folks in your group speak.

Maribel

Hi schuler,
Ditto to the Palau, which I forgot. I would certainly include that as an option for your folks.
www.palaumusica.org

kleeblatt

I checked the Palau de la Musica Catalunya website and noted you can only reserve a tour a few days in advance. I will try to fit the tour somewhere into our itinerary.

I had originally thought about attending a concert there but decided against it because I'm not sure if everyone would appreciate it.

Thanks for the ideas!

beckytx

I loved Cuines de Santa Caterina also! Gosh I wish they served suckling pig in Dallas.

Cowboy1968

I would second Maribel's suggestion:

Dinner:
might be back down at a pretty terrace at the water's edge, next to the Museum of Catalan History on Placa de Pau Vila (Port Vell)
"Merendero de la Mari"

I also found the museum itself very fascinating if you are interested in a very lively visualization of Catalan history.

From the restaurant which Maribel mentioned you can watch the boats in the harbor, and see the ferries pulling in or leaving.

If the weather is maybe already a bit warm, it is nice to stroll down after dinner on the Pg Joan de Borbó to the beach and walk back to the hotel on the beach promenade (Pg Maritim). There are several bars on (or under) the promenade for a copa, but this will probably be only an idea for a really nice night.