The covered market 111op recommends is called La Boqueria.
-Sharon

We found Barcelona humid, crowded and chaotic. People not very friendly, which we found to be typical of Spain as a whole. We prefered Nice and Marseilles - welcoming people and the food is good too:)

We were in Spain this past June.

We started in madrid and were pleasantly surprised that is wasn't chaotic or noisy but it was far from a higlight other than museums.

We then went to seville and really liked it. The Alcazar was the 'highlight'.

Then on to Granada. Disappointed in the Alhambra. Not because of anything but hype and hype is hard to meet. Were pleasantly surprised with the city.

Then on to Barcelona. The Ramblas is nothing. The architecture in Eixample is beautiful. We didn't take a tour bus but walked up and down the streets. The Gaudi stuff is more a curiosity but very interesting. The Gothic area was nice to walk around in. The food was fine. After being in places where they won't serve tapas outdoors, this was a pleasant surprise.

1. Seville.
2. Barcelona.

I was in Barcelona for four days in April, and I confess that for the first couple of days I was underwhelmed. But once I left, I was hooked. There are so many cool little shops... you can find anything there!

Try to get lost in the back streets in the old part of town, near the Picasso Museum. Hit some of the tapas bars on Montacada. Check out the Parc de la Ciutadella, which is lovely and green and quiet.

You said not to suggest anything Gaudi but Parc Guell is a great place to hang out, even if you don't like Gaudi.

La Boqueria is also a must. Eat at one of the tapas bars inside and you'll change your mind about the food not being good.

Shannon (who lives in San Diego, one block from the ocean, and loves it.)

Ok you don't like it, fair enough. But how can anyone compare Barcelona to SAN DIEGO? Am I missing something here?

Hi, I'm glad we are not the only ones to feel like that. We thought the Ramblas pretty tacky - the Gaudi cathedral is worth a look, but that's about all. My cousin, stuck in Barcelona for longer than he wanted, did some day trips to a sparkling wine house about an hour from B, up in the mountains (sorry, I can't recall the name, but maybe a tourist office could help?) - he said it was wonderful, great scenery.

Why do guidebooks always recommend Las Ramblas? It's just a big sidewalk with tons of newspaper stands, tons of tourists, a few "living statues", some con artists trying to get you to "follow the ball" and I'm sure pickpockets. That's it. Shame on the Fodor's "See It Barcelona", which says "no trip to the city is complete without seeing Las Ramblas, considered to be its very heart."

Sorry got cut off before - I was apologizing for the San Diego comment - living in LA, San Diego is great for a long weekend and in all fairness even though I live in LA I wouldnt recommend it as a tourist spot.....Anyways, back from Barcelona now, husband ended up with food poisoning so that kind of killed our last few days there. Alas, maybe I will give it another shot at some other time!

Topman, give the superior attitude a rest. You and M_Kingdom2 sound like nasty twins.

I thought I was the only one! I've been to Barcelona twice -- once in May 1985 and again this past August. I didn't like it either time. Everyone raves about it, and it is the new IN place for foodies. But I just don't get it. I especially agree about The Ramblas. Yuck.

Cities I love in Europe are (in no particular order): Venice, Rome, Lucerne, Florence, Dublin, Edinburgh, London, Oslo, Stockholm, Copenhagen, Berlin . . .

Shopping in Barcelona is very much below par, it was impossible to buy any clothes by Galliano, Prada (mainline), Dior by Hedi Slimane, Jil Sander.. to name but a few.

Bilbao, which is a far smaller city, had such superior shops, in a more welcoming less touristy atmosphere.

I just got back last week from Barcelona and I really liked it. I mainly went because it was my husbands choice (my choice was Venice too- ahhh Venice....) but i did have a wonderful time in Barcelona. I think it just depend on your taste. My husband really raved over the Gaudi stuff- I enjoyed it but not to the level he did. We also went to Paris- which i thought SUCKED!!!!! I had such high expectations! Both Venice and Barcelona blew Paris away...... in my opinion.

Paris is one of the world's greatest cities, I adore Paris, Barcelona can't compare. You need your head seeing to.

Barcelona is a touristy, pretentious dump that is very up itself with lots of awful forced modernist architecture.

Sometimes I worry that M_K might be MY evil twin - I agree with her (his?) opinion, though on a much less extreme level. For me, the modernist Eixample area is basically Hausmann's Paris on LSD - fun to see once, but it won't keep me coming back.

When you start comparing the truly old parts of Paris with those of Barcelona, that's when things start to get very ugly for Barcelona. Don't even get me started on cultural activities (and I don't only mean shopping ;-) )

Gotta say that the MNAC is an absolute gem though.

Andre

Amadakr,
I very pro-Barcelona so I am wondering if your (-) experience was due to weather or illness (impending food poisoning of your husband?). I know that both have happened to me on my travels and impact my opinion of the place.

I didn't care for Barcelona either. It is the only place I've been to in Europe that I wouldn't bother going back to.

I am another person who did not like Barcelona. I thought it was maybe because I was there in the winter (January) although the weather wasn't too bad. I wasn't all that fond of tapas (I will eat anything) and after seeing the Guadi architecture and enjoying a few old streets around the Picasso museum, I was ready to leave. Maybe getting out of town into the surrounding areas would give a different prospective but it's not a place I would visit again.

Paula (who lives in San Diego county and loves it)

When I returned to Paris from Barcelona, I felt a sigh of relief as if I were back home! (isn't that wild?!)

Maybe I should start a new thread, but how many days would you recommend staying in Barcelona to get a good overview. Also, Would you start your trip there and end up in Paris, or vice versa?? I'll post this in the France section and see what people say.Thanks everyone!

definitely start a new thread! I'd like to know the answer to your question myself!