Barcelona with large family
 

We are a family of 6 (2 adults and 4 children) and will be traveling to Barcelona in June. We will be arriving 3 days prior to our cruise departure out of the Barcelona port.

I am having a hard time finding a hotel in Barcelona that can accomodate our family at a reasonable price. I have found a few hotels approximately 35 miles up the coast in Calella area that advertise as "family friendly" hotels with all-inclusive rates. They can accomodate our family, but I am unfamiliar with the area. Does anyone have a recommendation?

Also, if we stay in Calella, how do we get there from the airport with all of our luggage? Taxi - how much? Train - is it reasonable to travel by train considering the luggage issue and traveling with 4 children under 12 years old?

Also, what would you recommend seeing or doing in Barcelona with small children?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

How old are your children and what is your hotel budget per night?

I went to www.venere.com and put in 3 days in June with 6 people and 2 rooms. It gave me a list of hotels that could accomodate that with a wide range of costs. I would suggest you start there.

I agree with Sandi Travelnut. Just get two triple rooms. If the kids can't sleep in a room alone you can have one parent sleep with two kids. It shouldn't be that difficult to find triples.

I am not familiar with Calella, but 35 miles up the road would not seem at all convenient to me to be visiting Barcelona.

We were just there in March with our two kids (ages 11 and 14) they loved all the Gaudi buildings. Be sure and take them to Parc Guell.

Thanks for the responses thus far! You can't imagine how much I appreciate all of your input.

The children ages are 4, 7, 11, and 13. My mother and her husband just confirmed, so now we are a party of 8 people. 4 adults and 4 children. I looked at the H-Top Calella Palace and the H-Top Amaika in Calella del Mar. They seem pretty reasonable - about $200 per night (including food) per room for 4. They even have kid's activities and playground.

I figure we can take the train or bus in and out of Barcelona once we get checked in. However, from the Barcelona airport I plan to take a taxi - just because of the luggage and number of people traveling. Any thoughts regarding transportation?

Thanks for the tip regarding Venere.com; I will see what I can find within the city.

Thanks again! Our family is extremely excited for this trip and your help is greatly appreciated.

We just recently rented a 3 bedroom apartment for 4 nights in Barcelona. Google "Apartment rental Barcelona" and you will find numerous websites to check. Much less expensive than hotel rooms plus you get a kitchen, dining room and a place for everyone to hang out together.

..please find something in Barcelona. The Calella you are talking about (Calella Costa) is a resort town that has seen much better days...and I am being polite. It will cost you quite a bit to get there and when you get there you will want to turn around and come back!

I did use a web site and found an apt in Barcelona (but I was travelling alone so apt wouldnt be great)..Loving Barcelona and they do do 3 day rentals..as do other agencies.

..I did re-read your $ re transportation. Taxis expensive- I think it is about 30 miles from the center of Barclona. There are trains which are cheap (?5e) but again, please rethink this town..you can do better.

I see that you are not used to planning family trips out of North America or Australia. It is not easy to find quads for families in Europe etc. although some hotels have them.
Unfortunately these quads are not often shown on web sites or travel guides and you have to ask the hotels for them.
There is a Citadines aparthotel at the top of the Ramblas which has one bedroom apartments which would hold two adults and two children. Cost should be around E200/ night. Nice to have a small kitchen with children and a laundromat downstairs.
Typical three star quality and clean and safe.

I am traveling with the family (4 adults, 2 teens)in July and staying at ArtHostal near Plaza Cataluna for 120 euros per day. They have a kitchen donwstairs and is very home like environment. Check their website, it was a more much better alternative $$$.

I have emailed Sasha several times and she has been very good responding and giving me information.

arthostal.com

Oops! one correction

120 euros per day for the big room for two adults and two teens. You may want to check with Sasha to see if this room is good for 6.

They do have a room next that the big room that we are also taking that will be ocupied by two of us for 60 euros/day.

Look at friendlyrentals.com this very moment. They have some 4 and even 5 bedroom apartments that look lovely.

We are in Barcelona right now in a fabulous resort on a beach outside of the city. We fine this MUCH preferable with a younger child. It is easy public transportation into the city for sight seeing.

BUT it is a huge city packed with tourists,so it is also really nice to spend time at the beach and in the pool and running around in nature.

We are in an area with lots of vineyards and stone houses & great catalan ( sp) cooking. I think it is the best of both worlds...especially with kids.

It is a really nice way to see the best of Barcelona with young kids.So I would keep an open mind to that.

Ack, sorry about all the typos!

WTnow..mind telling these folks exactly which resort you are staying in?

WTnow,

What city/area are you staying in? Also, what about transportation from the airport to where you are staying...

Thanks.

Thanks again for all of the comments and insight. We are very excited about our trip and your comments are a great help.

I think that we have now changed our plans and will be booking an apartment in Barcelona, instead of staying Calella/Pineda De Mar areas. Calella seems too far away from the city.

We identified the Matesse II which appears to be an ideal location in the heart of Ciutat Vella. From there it appears that we can easily get around to see all of the main attractions - or simply stay close to the apartment and relax.

We will ultimately find the beach when we go to Italy and France on our cruise.

Again, I know that a taxi is going to be more expensive than the train or bus, but with the kids and luggage I think that it will be worth the expense for the ease of travel. Your thoughts? :)

Also, I have heard a lot of stories about pick pockets in Barcelona...is it true and what should we do to protect ourselves?

I did not mention exactly where we were because we are on a multi year trip around the world and don't like to expose our exact location as a safeguard against stalkers.

This is a fantastic place, so I will eventually list it in my resource page. BUT there are MANY such places & very popular with Europeans and even families from Barcelona on the weekend or the recent May day holiday. Right now we have lots of families from the Netherlands as they are on school holiday for these 2 weeks.

Ours has 3 huge pools ( including an indoor one ) with jacuzzi, sauna,laundry service,great restaurant and take out, store, rental bikes & scooters, tours to Barcelona and Monserat,sports courts and workout room, massages available etc etc.

It is off season here so quiet and very cheap. We are paying 18 dollars a night & actually less as there are discounts the longer one stays.

This is typical of a holiday resort for middle class Europeans.It has everything but the hotel and there are a ton of cabins and cottages to rent.We are in a motorhome which I think is the best longterm way to travel with a family in Europe.

But you could also rent one or two of the cottage/cabins available as there are many available at this time of year.( This will not be true in July and August).

Just look up European camping/holiday sites near Barcelona. Most are set up to be compatible with flying in and airports ( since most European middle class families do these kind of holidays) but I do not know the details on that.

It does sound like you have found something that works for you ( which is great!), but I am just leaving this information anyway for the future in case any one else could use it.

We were just going to stay 3 days here, but it is so nice and fabulous way to see Barcelona with a young one, that we have stayed on for going on 3 weeks now!!

Enjoy your stay!

By all means take the taxi. You will probably have to take more than one taxi unless you find one that is a van.We recently did a tour with 3 generations of our family around Spain with 2 octogenarians and it is a challenge moving a larger group around.

The cruise will work like these holiday resorts,no unpacking & repacking, entertainment for the kids and all ages etc..so it should get easier once you get on that.

tkhunt - I wouldn't stress too much about it and get a taxi. We did take the Aerobus, but that was only because it stopped at Placa Catalunya, right near where our hotel was. It won't stop near Ciutat Vella, and you would probably need a taxi from there anyway. We did take a taxi from our hotel back to the airport, it cost us 16 euros, plus 10 euros for the bags (I believe it is 2 euros/bag). The Aerobus is 3.90 euro/person. You will need 2 taxis.