best area to stay in Barcelona

Old Jan 12th, 2011, 11:22 PM
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ita
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best area to stay in Barcelona

Mother and daughter travelling to Barcelona. We want a safe area in the centre of the sites. So far we are considering the Eixample or the old city. We are not great for night life and bars, but would like to be near the museums and possilbe shopping, lots of place to eat
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Old Jan 13th, 2011, 01:35 AM
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It's 6 years since I last visited Barcelona but I've flights booked for a return trip in October, so I'm looking at where to stay as well.

Last time I travelled with my daughters, then aged 15 and 13, and we stayed in El Born - in the La Ribera part of the old town. We felt safe enough there, we were close to the metro station Jaume 1, 5 minutes from the Catedral and Picasso Museum, 10 minutes walk from the port and Las Ramblas. It was a great location.

The Old Town is a maze of narrow streets, many of them traffic-free, lined with tall old buildings with washing lines strung high up across them. It has a charm all of its own, as does any old city. It can be a bit dark and cramped, but then you turn a corner and there's a plaza opening out before you.

Eixample is very different - wide tree-lined avenues, newer buildings, and it just feels much more spacious. From what I've read and heard this also is a safe place to stay.

Personally, I love old towns and on this trip will be staying in the Barri Gotic or La Ribera.
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Old Jan 13th, 2011, 01:57 AM
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We just visited Barcelona for the first time this past November. I also like the feel of the old city. When we visit Paris we always stay in the Marais. This trip to Barcelona however I changed my pattern and stayed in the Eixample. I was uncertain if I had made the right choice. I can now say that we most definitely did! The Eixample does have wide streets with upscale shops, however, it also has areas with the neighborhood feel to it. We stayed in an apartment from habitatapartments (La Pedrera)on Rambla de Catalunya. This street had much more of neighborhood feel to it than say Passeig de Gracia which ran parallel to it. There is a middle promenade where restaurants have set up sidewalk cafes. There was a wonderful bakery/cafe near our apartment, Mauri, where we had our morning coffee and pastry every morning. The Diaganol metro was right on the next corner and there were many shops, restaurants, tapas bars, etc. all within easy walking distance. We were very happy with the decision to stay in this area.

All that said, it was easy to either use the public transportation or walk to everywhere. One evening we went to a jazz club in Born and strolled home in about 20 minutes. If you click on my name you can see my trip report to Barcelona with pictures that include our apartment and area we stayed in.
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Old Jan 13th, 2011, 06:04 AM
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thank you opaldog. I did read your report but I thought your trip was some time ago. I guess I mixed it up with Nikki's. I didn't find la Pedrera on the Habitat website but I will look again.
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Old Jan 13th, 2011, 09:16 AM
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ita: Here is the link to La Pedrera http://www.habitatapartments.com/en/...ew/pedrera.htm I actually decided to stay in the apartment after I read Nikki's report. If it's available I would go for it.
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Old Jan 13th, 2011, 11:00 AM
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I booked an apt. right off Pl. Catalunya, on a street perpendicular to the eastern side. Looks very easy to access from the aerobus.

I'd stayed a couple of blocks up Passeig de Gracia previously, across from Casa Batllo.

But this location seems more central, hopefully less walking back and forth.
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Old Jan 13th, 2011, 11:11 AM
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I stayed on La Rambla in the old part of Barcelona. I thought it was a great place to stay and very central for just exploring the old part of Barcelona. The only negative is there is some noise from the street that lasts until pretty late in the night. If this would bother you, make sure you get a room without a street view.
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Old Jan 13th, 2011, 01:16 PM
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We have stayed in many areas of Barcelona over the years and feel El Born or the Barri Gotic (cathedral area preferred) is best for first-time visitors. If you are careful you can find an apartment that is located on a safe street, where you can feel comfortable at any time of day or night. If you aren't far from the Jaume 1 metro station you'll have direct access to the Eixample, too.

Here's an example, in a building we've stayed in: http://tinyurl.com/4ov9ubj
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Old Jan 13th, 2011, 02:52 PM
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scrb11-can you give me more details about your apartment? Also opaldog, when I looked up Lapredera the price range was astronomical. I guess you have to phone to get an exact price
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Old Jan 13th, 2011, 03:16 PM
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Did you put in your exact dates? I was able to get the accurate price by putting in my exact dates. I did travel in the low season, November. I'm not sure when you are planning to travel. We paid total for 5 nights, 375 euro.
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Old Jan 13th, 2011, 08:58 PM
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Here is the site.

You can see the maps for each apt. to get an idea of the general area:

http://www.friendlyrentals.com/ViewP...By2=ASC&Zone=7
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Old Jan 14th, 2011, 02:58 PM
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opaldog: I sent the agency an email. I inquired about the last week in October. They quoted me 123 Euros per night, much more than you paid.

We really don't like to sightsee in hot humid weather. What is it like at that time of year?
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Old Jan 14th, 2011, 04:06 PM
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We were there Nov. 9 - 14, (I think those were the dates) and the weather was very nice. It was sunny most days and up into the low 70's. One day was cooler and cloudier and threatened rain. It cooled down in the evenings to the high 40's. I also noticed that it was the very beginning of lower rates on the habitat website. I think you would have to go in November to get those low rates. I thought it was the perfect time. Of course I'm not sure if the weather is always that nice in November.
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Old Jan 14th, 2011, 07:11 PM
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fom reading another post, I am asking the question about smoking. Are these apartments non smoking? That is a must for us.
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Old Jan 14th, 2011, 08:27 PM
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'We paid total for 5 nights, 375 euro."

is lower than we ever paid with habitat.
We stayed in their apts. late April, early Oct. and mid- March. We had 2 bed. apt.
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Old Jan 15th, 2011, 07:14 AM
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I know it was a great price, but that is what we paid. I did notice when I was looking into airfares and accommodations, that after the first week of November the prices went down considerably. I think that, that in itself would steer me toward traveling at that time of the year to Barcelona again.
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Old Jan 15th, 2011, 07:18 AM
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I just went to the habitat website and put in the same date for Nov. 2011 and the rate is still 375 euro for 5 nights.
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Old Jan 15th, 2011, 07:31 AM
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Opaldog,please answer my query about non smoking apartments. It is something i am beginning to take for granted in North America. It is very important for us to have non smoking accomodation
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Old Jan 15th, 2011, 09:19 AM
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If you read the fine print in the conditions section of the habitat apartments website (on our confirmation anyway), it states all apartments are no smoking. Smoking is allowed on terraces. Our apartment did not have a terrace. We did not smell any smoke or notice any sign that anyone had ever smoke in the La Pedrera apartment. There were no ashtrays. The young woman who met us at the apartment and gave us our tour did say that there was no smoking allowed.
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Old Jan 20th, 2011, 07:44 AM
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We stayed in Hesperia Ramblas Hotel. It's just a block of La Ramblas, but with a room with a window over the back alley, we never heard a peep. Couldn't recommend it more highly. It was 309 euro for four nights; I think there was a promotion for 20 percent off.
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